Legislator hosts town hall to discuss how Royals, Chiefs stadium plans impact Jackson County

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Dozens of voters showed up at an open town hall meeting to ask questions about the future of the Royals and Chiefs stadiums.

Legislator Manny Abarca held the meeting at the Fowling Warehouse, claiming transparency as his goal.

“The purpose of tonight is really about hearing from folks and making sure that we are dispelling some of the rumors and myths about the stadium discussions, to try and understand where the teams are right now, the best I can share,” Abarca. “It’s something that may be fast-tracked, may not be, it may have impacts if we don’t fast track.”

During the presentation, Abarca said a decision has to be made by Jan. 23 in order to get the tax extension on the April 2 ballot.

“We are trying to create a scenario where we are fully vetting every opportunity; we have to understand what’s on the table for us as taxpayers, what the teams look to gain from us and our investments, and where else they may go to receive whatever supplemental funding,” Abarca said.

Abarca said until then, there are some things that they need to work on; he listed those off as negotiating and approve lease(s), determine lease length, community benefits agreement, and ballot language.

“I believe my job is to bring you the best deal possible as an elected official, and it’s your job to decide whether to invest in it or not, and it’s ultimately up to the teams to decide as well,” Abarca said.

WATCH: Town hall held on future of Royals, Chiefs in Jackson County

During his presentation, Abarca brought up economic effects, scenarios, and the real threats of both teams moving out of the county or out of the state.

“There is true economic impact from the peripheral,” Abarca said. “Not to mention the cultural impact of this is regionalism. We are saying that we are Chiefs fans, and we are Royals fans. If we don’t have these teams here, does that regionalism happen? For me, it is a goal to keep all the teams in Jackson County.”

Voter Paul Salavitch said he left the meeting feeling better informed about the situation.

“I thought it was a graduate-level briefing, very informative,” Salavitch said. “It’s important to me how our dollars are being spent and what benefit comes back from the community. I know it’s a difficult process, that’s the feeling I got from him, that it’s a very difficult ongoing process, there’s professional negotiators on both sides.”

Salavitch said he is a huge fan of both the Chiefs and the Royals but worries about the return on the investment for taxpayers.

“One thing I did catch tonight is that the teams coming in here from out of town, those taxes go to the city, not the county,” Salavitch said. “I think the county should be the stewards; I think a lot of times we don’t get the return on the investment.”

Voter Mark Morales said he came to the meeting to help preserve the legacy of the Royals in Kansas City.

“It’s such a tradition we need to keep here,” Morales said. “It’s hard getting everyone to the table to talk about it, but I have faith that we can strengthen this working relationship and keep it here in Kansas City.”

Abarca said he was pleased with the outcome and the discussion.

“We need to figure out what we want as a community together and then ultimately vote on whether or not we are going to make those investments,” Abarca said.