Citizens for Responsible Government sues Kansas City over denying convention hotel petition initiative

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Some unsurprising news to start the week: A citizen watchdog group, whose petition initiative to put the downtown convention center to a public vote was turned away by the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council, has sued to reverse that decision.

Citizens for Responsible Government announced on Monday that it had filed legal action in Jackson County Circuit Court asking a judge to put public financing for the downtown Kansas City convention hotel before voters. A development team wants to build an 800-room Hyatt convention hotel near Bartle Hall, a $311 million project that’s financed about halfway through tax abatements and taxes generated by the hotel.

CFRG had gathered enough signatures to force a public vote on the project.

“The purpose of the filing is to get the City to place the petition for the partial financing (with taxpayer money) of the downtown hotel on the ballot,” CFRG wrote in a press release. “It is also an attempt by CFRG to hold the City accountable to follow the City Charter as written in such matters and also to protect the integrity of the petition process.”

The city contends that what their petition sought to do was illegal because the city had already entered into binding contracts with the developers.

City officials weren’t immediately available for comment on Monday morning but probably aren’t caught off guard by CFRG’s lawsuit. The citizen group had done much of the pre-litigation posturing (demand letters, etc.) prior to filing the suit on Monday.  

The lawsuit will likely move quickly by normal litigation standards. There aren’t many facts in dispute or much evidence to present. Rather, a judge will have to weigh competing interpretations of what’s allowed and not allowed for petition initiatives under the city charter and contract law.

If a judge finds CFRG’s argument persuasive, a vote on the hotel will follow. It’s just not clear when. City officials are wary of CFRG because they suspect the group wants to put the petition on the April ballot when Kansas City voters go to the polls to decide whether to renew the earnings tax.

Dan Coffey, the spokesman for CRFG, says he’s not sure when the convention hotel will end up on the ballot if a ruling goes his group’s way.

“That’s not our call,” he tells The Pitch. “I’d say the sooner, the better.”

Mike Burke, the development attorney who is leading the convention hotel project, says CFRG’s lawsuit was expected. He adds that the hotel team has slowed its search for private and bond financing until the lawsuit gets resolved because investors get jittery about funding a project that’s in dispute.

“From our point of view, it [CFRG’s lawsuit] presents an opportunity to get a legal ruling on what we feel is a very strong case that the petitions are unconstitutional, invalid and illegal,” Burke tells The Pitch. “We are prepared to respond quickly to that. I have not yet seen the petition, but we will be working, I’m sure, with the city on our response.”

Kansas City Mayor Sly James has been a supporter of the convention hotel project. Michael Grimaldi, a spokesman for James, said the mayor had nothing to add beyond the city’s previously stated legal position.