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

Today may well be Robbie Makinen’s last day as head of the Area Transportation Authority.

On June 16, I reported that I’d heard Mayor Quinton Lucas wanted Makinen out and also wanted Tom Gerend, executive director of the Streetcar Authority, to replace him.

I think it’s likely that at least the first half of that equation will come to fruition at a special 1 p.m. meeting tomorrow of the ATA Board of Commissioners.

The board today published a meeting notice with only one main item of business: “adjourning to executive sessions” to discuss “any issues relating to personnel, performance, litigation and legal actions with legal counsel.” Those issues, the notice said, could include “negotiated contracts.”

It doesn’t look good for Makinen, who has led the ATA the last several years and, before that, served as chairman of the ATA board — an unpaid position.

Whether or not Gerend gets appointed tomorrow is another matter, but the fact that the ATA agenda calls for “executive sessions” — plural — tells me a one-two punch could be coming. By law, the board might not be able to address both issues in the same closed session.

**

I heard the rumor about Makinen on June 16, a day after The Star published a long and troubling story about significant problems at the ATA, including service cuts and long wait times for buses.

If Makinen is ousted, he will be best remembered for pushing for bus service to be free to the public. The ATA went to zero fares in 2020, with the support of Lucas and the other City Council members.

In June 2019 appearance on Steve Kraske’s “Up to Date” show on KCUR, Makinen said, “Public transit needs to be free.”

Lucas, who had recently been elected mayor, posted on Twitter: “Robbie’s right. Let’s make it happen.”

Just because they agreed on that, however, doesn’t mean they were joined at the hip. I don’t know when the service problems got serious, but I suspect it was after the onset of zero fares.

The ATA has a budget of more than $100 million a year. It operates RideKC bus service, the MAX Bus Rapid Transit service, Flex demand-response routes, RideKC Freedom paratransit service for the elderly and persons with disabilities, and RideKC Van, a ride pooling service.

**

Here’s how the politics of the ATA works. The agency is run by a 10-member board, with five members from Missouri and five from Kansas. I’m not sure how many members Lucas appoints, but one person he appointed is Michael Shaw, director of the city’s Public Works Department.

Another member — whom Lucas may have appointed — is Louie Wright, an attorney and former president of Local 42 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which supported Lucas in the 2019 general election when he defeated Councilwoman Jolie Justus.

The ATA board chairwoman is Melissa Bynum, a member of the Wyandotte County Unified Government Board of Commissioners. The vice chairman is Reginald Townsend, a member of the Raymore City Council.

Although Lucas doesn’t appoint a board majority, he is the most powerful political figure in the Kansas City area, along with U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, whose popularity is off the charts.

…In the wake of that June 16 post, no one told me I was off base or it was a bad rumor. The report has stood uncontested for the better part of two weeks. I don’t believe Makinen will be sleeping very well tonight.