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Brian Platt is the City Manager of Kansas City, Missouri, United States. He began his role as City Manager of Kansas City in December 2020. He previously worked as the City Manager for Jersey City, New Jersey.
Raised in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, Platt attended Mountain Lakes High School before attending Emory University, where he competed in track and field. [1] He previously served as City Manager for Jersey City, New Jersey. He had served as Jersey City's first Chief Innovation Officer and established the City's Office of Innovation in 2015. [2] His previous work experience includes management consulting with McKinsey & Company and serving as a kindergarten teacher with Teach For America. Platt earned his Master of Public Administration Degree at Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in philosophy at Emory University. [3] [4]
As City Manager for the City of Kansas City, Missouri, Platt oversees a staff of 4,500 employees delivering city services to Kansas City's 508,000 residents. [5] [6] Platt began his role as City Manager of Kansas City in December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic while delivering basic services with a shrinking budget. [7] [2] He created a 24-hour snow removal strategy that added plows for residential streets and increased salting. [8]
Platt developed a new street maintenance plan that doubled funding for street resurfacing, uses improved technology, and holds contractors accountable when they dig into streets. [9] The city is now resurfacing more than 3.5 times the historic average and broke 500 lane miles of resurfacing in fiscal year 2024.
He also launched the Vision Zero Campaign, with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 by improving high-risk intersections and adding 30 miles (48 km) of protected bike lanes in the first 18 months alone. [10] [11]
Platt is working towards a more inclusive workplace by creating the Chief Equity Officer position, installing all-gender bathrooms, negotiating a new union contract with the Kansas City Fire Department that works to end past discriminatory practices, and investing in staff training, recruitment, and development. [12] [13] [14]
Platt's plan to build the largest city-owned solar farm in the country has advanced and is projected to begin construction in 2024. [15] [16] [17] His other goals include developing new sustainability initiatives to reduce waste, energy usage, and dependence on fossil fuels; [18] creating programs to produce more affordable housing and to address homelessness; [8] and finding new ways to leverage technology to improve city services. [2]
Platt was a finalist for City Manager position in Austin, Texas, but withdrew from consideration to remain in Kansas City. [19] The Kansas City Council subsequently renewed and extended his contract with Kansas City until August 1, 2027. [20]
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by population and area. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Platte, and Cass counties. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090, making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States, as well as the sixth-most populous city in the Midwest. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.
The following media outlets serve Kansas City, Missouri and the surrounding Kansas City metropolitan area.
KCTV is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV. The two stations share studios on Shawnee Mission Parkway in Fairway, Kansas; KCTV's transmitter facility, the KCTV Broadcast Tower, is located in the Union Hill section of Kansas City, Missouri.
KMBC-TV is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside CW affiliate KCWE. The two stations share studios on Winchester Avenue in the Ridge-Winchester section of Kansas City, Missouri; KMBC-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Blue Valley section.
KSHB-TV is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Lawrence, Kansas–licensed independent station KMCI-TV. The two stations share studios on Oak Street in southern Kansas City, Missouri; KSHB-TV's transmitter is located at the Blue River Greenway in the city's Hillcrest section.
KCWE is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside ABC affiliate KMBC-TV. The two stations share studios on Winchester Avenue in the Ridge-Winchester section of Kansas City, Missouri; KCWE's transmitter is located in the city's Blue Valley section.
KMCI-TV is an independent television station licensed to Lawrence, Kansas, United States, serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside NBC affiliate KSHB-TV. The two stations share studios on Oak Street in Kansas City, Missouri; KMCI-TV's transmitter is located at the Blue River Greenway in the city's Hillcrest section. Despite Lawrence being KMCI-TV's city of license, the station maintains no physical presence there.
WDAF-TV is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal Hill section of Kansas City, Missouri.
Walton Marshall Bodine was an American broadcaster and author most notable for his career in Kansas City, Missouri. Better known as Walt, he was a fixture in Kansas City broadcasting for seven decades. Still broadcasting into his nineties, Bodine hosted the talk radio show The Walt Bodine Show on KCUR, the Kansas City area's NPR member station from 1983 to 2012. His final broadcast was April 27, 2012.
Archbishop O'Hara High School was a Catholic high school in Kansas City, Missouri. It was located in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The school was also associated with the De La Salle Christian Brothers, and was one of the ministries of the Midwest District of the Brothers.
Chris Hernandez is an American former reporter for KSHB-TV in the Kansas City, Missouri metropolitan area and a current municipal official in Kansas City's Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity department.
The Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) is the principal law enforcement agency serving Kansas City, Missouri. Jackson County 16th Circuit Court Circuit Court Judge Jen Phillips swore in Stacey Graves as the 46th chief of police of the KCPD on December 15, 2022. Graves, who served as head of the KCPD's Deputy Chief of the Patrol Bureau, became the city's 46th police chief on December 15, 2022.
The KC Streetcar is in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Streetcar system construction began in May 2014 and opened for service on May 6, 2016. It is free to ride, as it is funded by a transportation development district. As of December 2023, the streetcar has had 13 million rides since opening in 2016. Extensions north to the riverfront and south to University of Missouri-Kansas City have been funded, with the southern extension under construction.
The 2019 Kansas City mayoral election took place on June 18, 2019, to elect the next mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections, and was officially nonpartisan.
Quinton Donald Lucas is an American politician serving as the 55th mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. He was elected in 2019. He is affiliated with the Democratic party and is the city's third African-American mayor. Before his election, Lucas was a private practice lawyer, community leader, city council member, and a lecturer on law at Washington University. He was also a volunteer instructor at prisons in New York and Kansas, where he taught courses on constitutional law.
Hasna Sal is an American glass sculptor known for designing and sculpting large-scale glass sculptures and glass jewelry.
Tyrone A. Garner is an American politician and retired police officer who is currently serving as the 30th mayor of Kansas City, Kansas since 2021. He previously served as the deputy chief of the Kansas City Police Department (KCKPD).
On May 27, 2022, Leonna Hale, a 26-year old black woman, was shot five times by the Kansas City Police Department at a Family Dollar parking lot, in response to a suspected carjacking. She told officers she was pregnant before being shot.
Mark Allen Alford Sr. is an American politician and former television news anchor serving as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 4th congressional district since 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party.
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