• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« This is getting obscene…
Kansas City Star: Like the prime suspect, “Nowhere to be found” »

Freedom Inc. rejects Jackson County sales-tax proposal

October 3, 2013 by jimmycsays

Freedom Inc., a powerful African-American political organization that runs up large vote margins in the Kansas City wards where it works, voted unanimously tonight to oppose Jackson County’s proposed half-cent sales tax for  “translational medical research.”

The development was a bitter blow to the hopes of tax proponents, who, earlier this week dumped another $400,000 into their campaign effort, bringing their campaign committee’s total fund-raising to nearly $1.4 million.

It was also a seminal moment in the history of 51-year-old Freedom Inc., whose slogan is “No permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent interests.”

With the Committee for Research, Treatments and Cures – the committee working for the tax – dangling a reported $200,000 in front of Freedom to promote the measure leading up to the Nov. 5 election, Freedom’s board stood on principal and turned its back on the money.

Asked about the deciding factor in the decision, State Sen. Kiki Curls, a Freedom board member, said:

“Feedback from the community. We found very few people who supported the tax.”

She added that over the last five years, central city residents have lost, not gained, community services and that if there was to be a tax increase, “it would better be put to use for basic services” than translational medical research.

Curls noted that if Jackson County were to become “a research mecca, it would be an awesome opportunity for the city.” But the financing method needed to be rethought, she said.

P1030049

State Rep. Gail McCann Beatty and State Rep. Kiki Curls, Freedom Inc. board members, at Freedom headquarters last night. They stood in front of a photo of the late Bruce R. Watkins, a Freedom Inc. founder.

Many opponents of the tax contend that most, if not all, of additional hundreds of millions of dollars for medical research should come from the private sector, such as corporations, foundations and wealthy individuals.

Proponents have acknowledged that 10 Kansas City area institutions, including Children’s Mercy Hospital and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, already are spending more than $550 million a year on research. The new tax would raise an additional $40 million to $50 million a year for at least 20 years.

Rodney Bland, a Freedom board member, said 36 of 72 dues-paying board members attended the meeting, which was held at Freedom headquarters, 12th Street and Brooklyn Avenue.

Curls led the meeting in the absence of former Freedom president Charles Hazley, who died recently.

Another board member said he had heard that the treatments and cures committee, anticipating Thursday’s board vote, had already begun to put together an African-American rump group, to be called something like African-Americans for Medical Research.

Historically, such groups have made very few inroads against the traditional, powerhouse political organizations.

Freedom’s strength is on the east side of Kansas City, from Independence Avenue all the way to Grandview.

Earlier this week, the Kansas City branch of the NAACP voted to oppose the proposed tax.

The local affiliate of the League of Women Voters was the first major organization to come out against the tax.

Editor’s note: The same story is on the stopabadcure.org website.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized |

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 511 other followers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    %d bloggers like this: