Candidates for KC council address ongoing violence

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - KC Common Good sponsored a forum today with 15 candidates who are all vying for seats within the Kansas City council.

Not all the candidates were asked the same questions about how exactly they would fix the ongoing violence issues, but the ones who did said the community and more resources are part of the solution.

“My answer to violence is increasing opportunities, helping with trauma care, helping with mental health care, and helping people increase their levels of emotional intelligence, situational handling, and critical thinking skills so that we can learn to work together as a community,” said Sheri Hall, who is running for the 3rd District.

“Bridge that divide,” Lindsay French, candidate for the 2nd District At-Large. “That’s, again, with the community showing up, the police officers showing up within the communities. Again -- as it was said -- not at basketball nights, not at ice cream socials, but continually walking with the community.”

“People do not just commit violence because they want to commit violence,” said Michael Kelley, who is running for the 5th District At-Large. “They commit it because there’s an unmet need, whether it be lack of access to a job, lack of access to health, lack of access to education. What that means is we, as council members, have to do more to meet people’s needs.”

Some of the other topics that were mentioned surrounding the violence conversation were homelessness and providing employment opportunities for those in the community, as well as the Kansas City Police Department, its staffing, response times and local control.

For all the details on each candidate, you can check out KCUR’s election guide here.

Previous coverage: City leaders holding violence prevention forum amid recent spike in crime

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