Streetside: Chill out about the Westport sidewalk vacation

In October 2017, longtime Westport bar owner Bill Nigro was quoted in a Kansas City Star story about what the city’s social scene is like for African Americans. Nigro is a reporter’s dream: he speaks his mind, gives colorful quotes, rarely backs away from controversy.  

“I don’t believe in playing hip-hop and rap music and drawing a specific crowd,” he told the paper. “I’m not looking for that. I’ve owned a few country nightclubs, and I’ve had fewer problems out of that crowd. If that makes me racist, fine. If somebody’s offended by that, fine.”

He went on: “People get afraid to talk about race, but you have to talk about it when you’re in the nightlife business. Security, too. They go hand-in-hand. And if you don’t talk about those two things, it’ll put you out of business.”

Hoo boy. Maybe those kinds of comments fly in a 1998 Hearne Christopher, Jr., gossip column, but in 2018, they land with a big ol’ thud. And the article came out at a time when Nigro and other Westport bar owners were being extra careful not to be perceived as racist. The Westport Regional Business League had been trying for over a year to get the city’s blessing to privatize the sidewalks in the entertainment district. To do so would allow the WRBL to set up entry points around the district and wand patrons for weapons before they enter on Friday and Saturday nights. 

Nigro and others with the WRBL argued that their plan was the best solution to the gun violence that has long plagued Westport. (In 2016, there were 16 gun-related offenses in the district; through just nine months of 2017, there had already been 65 gun offenses.) Still, something about the proposal felt a little icky. Were these guys trying to turn Westport into the Power and Light District, where there’s a well-documented history of racially discriminatory practices? Was “preventing violence” really just code for excluding African American patrons from the district? Those perceptions already made WRBL’s quest difficult. Then Nigro starts running his mouth in the Star. Short of a literal racial slur, it is hard to imagine the man saying something less helpful to his own cause. 

In the end, though, the WRBL got its sidewalks. In late December, after several grueling months of city meetings, the City Council voted 8-5 to allow the sidewalk vacation. I attended a couple of those meetings, and I monitored social-media outrage about the privatization. I was struck by the gap between the information revealed in the former and the opinions held among the latter. Many of those who opposed this ordinance seemed to be unaware, or willfully ignorant, of several relevant details contained in it. 

For example, lots of people believe that roping off the entrances to the district means the WRBL could implement a dress code that will target black patrons. This is a very legitimate concern, as this exact same thing has been tried at Power and Light. But a civil-rights protection amendment was attached to the sidewalk ordinance that prohibits dress codes. Nor can security officers manning the entrances check patrons for outstanding warrants. 

The NAACP opposed the ordinance despite these amendments. After listening to some of their concerns at a planning meeting, Alissia Canady — a black councilwoman who noted that she is both a former prosecutor and a victim of violent crime — piped up and identified what she sees as the real problem: recklessly lax gun laws enacted in Missouri in recent years that hamstring the efforts of local law enforcement in urban centers like Kansas City. 

“For anyone who wants to race-bait on this issue, shame on you,” Canady said. “Racism is real, but this is a different time. People are now allowed to walk around with assault rifles in public. If we don’t do something to deal with this [in Westport], we stand the risk of looking back and saying ‘Woe is us’ because we did nothing. This [ordinance] doesn’t solve gun violence, but it deals with it in a popular entertainment district where thousands gather…We can’t let the haunting history of racism stop us from keeping the people of Kansas City safe.”

When civil rights concerns are dispensed with, as they are in the finalized ordinance, the only thing about which to object is the selling off of a public asset (sidewalks) to Westport business owners. But this is a very small public asset. And it offers an opportunity to get a handle on violent crime in Westport, something that only naive people would deny has long dogged the district. And if the city doesn’t like the way the WRBL is conducting itself on these sidewalks, a clause in the ordinance allows for the city to yank the sidewalks back at any time, with only 30 days’ notice. 

Nevertheless, there was no shortage of people loudly railing against this thing, mostly on Twitter. Here are some of those complaints, along with some possible responses: 

Ordinary citizens won’t be able to enjoy historic Westport anymore without being wanded. The gates will be up from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Nobody comes to this square block of Westport during these hours to do anything but party. And if you want to do something besides party, you’re allowed to. You just have to be 21 years old and not carrying a gun. 

Most of the violence happens after midnight. Why not just close the bars early? Because it’s a nightlife district. Sorry. 

Most of the violence occurs outside the area that will be gated off by security, so why even bother? As KCPD representatives — as well as Councilwoman Heather Hall, who is married to a KCPD officer — noted in a meeting, alleviating gun concerns inside the security area would allow police to devote more resources to patrolling the area outside the gates. 

This is a slippery slope. Other entertainment districts, or even bars, will try to get their sidewalks privatized now. Good luck getting that through the council. This plan received a huge amount of scrutiny, was tweaked multiple times to address concerns, and still only squeaked by with an 8-5 vote. 

It’s too costly. If the city wants to take back the sidewalks, it’ll cost taxpayers $150,000. That is peanuts compared to the other ideas for dealing with crime in Westport, most of which involve paying more police to patrol the area. 

At City Council, several speakers noted that there aren’t any studies out there showing that privatizing sidewalks to combat crime is an effective idea. They meant this as a bad thing. I think it’s a good thing. We’re trying something new. And the ordinance has been sensitive to community concerns, through amendments that prevent civil rights abuses and minimize the financial risk to the city. This is, so far, a positive story. Should it start to look otherwise, we’ll be watching. 

A public meeting to discuss the “Westport Plan” — an effort to guide future development in the area — will be held tonight, February 1, at Westport Presbyterian Church (201 Westport Road), from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.