Missouri governor considers plan to keep Chiefs, Royals in the state

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — Missouri Governor Mike Parson was in Kansas City on Monday for a number of events.

One of his goals was to talk about ways to try and keep the Chiefs and Royals in the Show-Me State after Kansas legislators approved Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond legislation to try and make their state more attractive to them.

“I think we still have a lot of options on the table. We’ve got six months. In this arena, six months is a lot of time,” Parson said in an interview with reporters on Monday. “That’s why we’re here today, kind of meeting, some of the meetings we’re going to today.”

In at least two separate meetings Monday, Parson met with leaders from Clay County and leaders from Jackson County, along with Mayor Quinton Lucas.

Friday, FOX4 found out where Clay County leaders were meeting with Parson. They actually met with him south of the river at the Burns & McDonnell campus near Bannister and Wornall. One of the questions FOX4 asked the governor was whether he wanted the Royals to move north of the river.
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“Well, I don’t think there’s any question you look at all the options on the table, and that’s what we’re here today,” he said. “I mean, Clay County was a great meeting. I think those people are very serious about trying to be part of that solution, but again, the teams have got to be involved, and a lot of things have to happen.”

Parson said the Chiefs and Royals were not a part of the meeting at Burns & McDonell.

“I’ll be speaking to them at a time, and we’ve been speaking to them all along, so we just need to get a plan in place,” he continued. “I think the big thing is, I think we all realize there’s going to be a separation between the Chiefs and the Royals, and we just have got to move forward with that and see what the best plan is for each venue to be able to go.”

Parson said he was going to meet with Mayor Lucas next. FOX4’s Jacob Sloan said Parson met with Jackson County leaders at the Courthouse before 5 p.m. and after his public bill signing in the southern part of the city. Two of the people who met Parson at Burns & McDonnell earlier in the day were Clay County Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte and North Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Bryant DeLong.

“I would never put words in his mouth. He was just here to find a plan to keep both teams in Missouri,” DeLong said when asked if he thought the governor was on his side in trying to get the Royals to move north of the river.

“It was great to hear from the governor because the thing is, this requires a team effort,” Nolte said. “That’s one of the things that I think we’ve had going for us for a long time, and that is the partnership between Clay County, between North Kansas City and between the Governor’s Office and the state.”

A stadium site north of the river in Clay County and North Kansas City was one of the Royals’ final two locations for where they wanted to build their new stadium until February, when the team decided they did not want to build in the East Village of Jackson County or the site near 18th and Fayette in Clay County. They wanted to build in the East Crossroads of Kansas City and Jackson County instead.

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