Office: Mayor
Candidate: Mark Funkhouser

1. Bicycling and walking account for less than 4% of all trips made in Kansas City. This is less than half the national average.

Question: How would you increase this rate up to the national average?

I recommended in an April 2006 performance audit that the City Council adopt a sidewalk management policy. As mayor, I will lead the council in setting a sidewalk policy that recognizes that sidewalks are an important aspect of city infrastructure, provides for establishing links between new and existing neighborhoods, and provides for timely and equitable repairs. I’ll also support completion of the city’s trail plan by ensuring that developers dedicate rights of way or build sections of trail. The city is currently hiring a bicycle coordinator. We should also hire a pedestrian coordinator to review design standards, track condition of sidewalks, and better communicate with the public. My objective is clean, safe neighborhoods in a city that works for regular folks. Crumbling infrastructure, including sidewalks, hurt our neighborhoods and our local businesses.

2. Since 2002 Kansas City has had a Council-approved plan called BikeKC to create a network of on-street bikeways throughout all parts of the city. To date very little of that plan has been implemented, due to funding and organizational problems.

Question: How would you work to implement the existing plan?

One of my three budget priorities is to work toward establishing a regionally funded multimodal public transit system. Implementation of the bikeways system will complement transit and help bolster the city’s considerable investment in downtown housing. For too long, progress on trails and bike lanes has been hampered by reliance on uncertain, ad hoc funding sources and fragmented responsibilities between planning, public works and parks.

As mayor, I’ll implement environmentallyfriendly practices as part of an overall policy and budget framework that cuts across organizational boundaries. To this end, I will lead the council in establishing sensible development, housing, transit and infrastructure policies. I will establish goals to serve as the basis for setting priorities, making decisions, evaluating program performance, and making adjustments. I will restructure the budget process to explicitly link funding decisions to management strategies. I will request the city manger to submit department budget requests identifying the resources needed to achieve different levels of service or performance (targetbased budgeting). I will work with management to develop the tools elected officials and citizens need to provide oversight, such as meaningful performance measures.

3. Since 2003 Kansas City has had a Council-approved walkability plan, which identified several neighborhoods with deficient or non-existent sidewalk networks.

Question: How would you bring sidewalks to all neighborhoods in Kansas City?

I recognize that it could be difficult to meet existing design standards in some older neighborhoods and that some residents resist adding sidewalks because of the expense. I would support hiring a pedestrian coordinator to identify logical connections within and between neighborhoods and to work with residents to determine the type of sidewalks and funding arrangements that meet both neighborhood and city needs.

4. City policy treats sidewalks as the property of the home or business owner. Anyone who wants to, however, can use the sidewalks in front of a home or business.

Question: do you think the city should consider the sidewalk to be a public asset—part of the thoroughfare—or the personal property of the property owner?

Sidewalks are an important public asset that contribute to the quality of life in the neighborhood and also provide some benefits to individual property owners. The city’s current approach to funding sidewalk repairs, while common among cities, focuses too much on the personal benefits of sidewalks. I support a more equitable funding mechanism that recognizes both the public and private benefits of sidewalks.

5. Kansas City's bicycle and pedestrian programs are haphazard and dispersed through many departments, leaving us with no coherent policy and no mechanism to oversee the policy that does exist.

Question: How would you create an integrated transportation system that includes bicycles and pedestrians?

As city auditor, I strongly advocated for the City Council to adopt economic development, housing, and transit policies to set goals, coordinate efforts and target use of resources to get the best results. Clearly, an integrated transportation system ties these together. As mayor, I’ll lead the council in setting sensible policies and reduce fragmentation through the restructured budget process described above.

6. The city currently relies CMAQ and Transportation Enhancements for most of its bike/ped funding. This forces us to compete with all of our suburban neighbors for funding.

Question: Would you support the budgeting of city money for bicycle/pedestrian facilities, and if so how would you accomplish it?

Yes. These facilities are an important part of the city’s infrastructure and should be addressed as part of a comprehensive strategy. The city should continue to seek federal funds where available, but should do so to support an existing, ongoing program.