Mayor Quinton Lucas, without clout in Jefferson City, finds allies in Washington

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas was standing alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Capitol Wednesday, promoting President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, when word came that the Missouri Senate passed legislation to remove the city’s residency requirement for police officers — a measure Lucas and other city leaders vehemently oppose.

“How does this bill make a single Kansas Citian safer? They can’t tell me that. How does this bill make sure we build a more diverse police department? Nobody can tell me that,” he said later in an interview. “How does this bill actually make sure that Kansas City’s police departments grows closer and has better relations with its community?”

Passage of the bill by the Missouri Senate’s GOP supermajority and Lucas’ visit to Washington this week underscore a political reality for the first-term mayor: He is effectively shut out in Jefferson City and surrounded by allies in Democratic-controlled D.C.

“It is the darndest thing that it’s easier as a mayor who is from Missouri — I’m from Kansas City — who has an easier time probably getting his voice heard in the White House than perhaps he does in the Missouri General Assembly,” Lucas said.

Lucas said his personal relationships with cabinet members like Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, both former mayors, ease his access to the Biden administration on key issues.

“I think we are able to push more of Kansas City’s agenda, which is really simple — making our community safer, investing in core infrastructure and making sure that we have quality, affordable housing in Kansas City. We are able to have that received in Washington,” Lucas said.

Pelosi promised the Democratic-controlled House will pass Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure package before July 4.

The road will be tougher in the 50-50 Senate. But Lucas presented his priorities to Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt ahead of the senator’s Thursday meeting at the White House on a potential compromise.

“Whatever the definition of infrastructure is Kansas City wants to be at the top of the list,” Lucas said.

Lucas’ Washington trip comes as he has increasingly hinted at his interest in running for the retiring senator’s seat in 2022. While the Kansas City mayor’s post is nominally non-partisan, Lucas is a Democrat.

Pelosi made a subtle reference to the aspirations of Lucas and other mayors featured at the infrastructure event, noting that “mayors make great members of Congress.”

Lucas said he did not take any meetings related to a potential Senate campaign during the trip, which he said focused on advocating for the city’s agenda to the Biden administration and lawmakers from the region.

But he still indicated that he’s actively considering the race.

“There is a voice for Missourians, particularly Missouri cities, that needs to be heard in the corridors of Congress and not just on the House side, also on the Senate side,” Lucas said.

In the interest of projecting the city’s voice, Lucas met with Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.

Lucas had been outspoken in his criticism of Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley for his role in leading the efforts to object to Biden’s Electoral College victory, an action Lucas and other Black leaders condemned as an attempt to disenfranchise minority voters in swing states.

Lucas told The Star earlier this year that as the city’s mayor he could no longer work with Hawley because as mayor he had a responsibility to work with people “who respect our government… and respect common decency.”

But the two worked out enough of a truce to sit down Wednesday.

“He’s never walked back anything he’s said and I’ve never walked back anything I’ve said particularly as it pertains to events of earlier this year. Me and I think most other people find the incident on Jan. 6 to have been a trauma for our country and I think that those who were part of provoking certain sentiments should consider that,” Lucas said.

“The reason for my visit today, however, was to talk about infrastructure and development in Kansas City and in Missouri,” he said. “I have a very simple view, which is that the people of Missouri elected Josh Hawley to be our United States senator. He is our junior senator. I will work with him as long as he’s senator and I’m mayor.”

Lucas said housing was an issue on which he and Hawley still have common ground and opportunities for collaboration.

In addition to his meetings with lawmakers, Lucas’ trip also included stops at the Departments of Labor, Transportation and Justice.

It was after his stop at the Department of Labor Tuesday that he publicly ripped Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s decision to forgo the federal aid to provide an extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits.

He said Wednesday that Parson should be collaborating with the department on strategies for training more workers rather than cutting benefits.

Lucas has grown increasingly critical of the governor in recent months for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues. When he asked Parson last year to convene a special session on gun violence, the resulting session devolved into an effort to undermine St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s jurisdictional authority.

He said his relationship with Parson remains cordial.

“Look, I have great respect for the governor. He’s a good man. He’s got a great family. But we disagree on any number of issues and I think we’ll continue to do that. However, do I think we can pick up the phone and call him today? Absolutely, yes,” Lucas said.