Kansas City, let’s think big with a new Royals stadium and South Loop Link park | Opinion

Why not both?

Since a new downtown stadium for the Royals is inevitable, and the city wants to build a new South Loop Link park over Interstate 670, why not negotiate some way to do both? Build the park just south of the T-Mobile Center and put the stadium just southeast from it, maybe from McGee to Locust streets. Then put a big parking lot in the East Village and run courtesy trams to shuttle fans.

If done right, we would have another great entertainment venue Kansas City could be proud of for many decades.

- Daniel J. Perez, Prairie Village

Yankees’ lesson

Some fans insist the Royals don’t need a new stadium, but the club shouldn’t punt on the upgrade promised by CEO and owner John Sherman. When the Yankees left their original stadium — the House That Ruth Built — many thought they should merely do patch-fixes in light of all of the history there.

Kauffman Stadium has housed the Royals’ biggest highlights and all-time players — the most recent .400 batting average race, Salvador Perez’s scintillating playing and a fitting Frank White statue, to name a few.

Funding for a new ballpark would require some tough decisions. But picture a $2 billion stadium and entertainment complex, with a retractable roof for scorching summer days, and enticing transportation and parking options. It’s time to embrace the new stadium plans for the next generation of fans, rather than being lumped in with the “dinosaurs” with the oldest stadiums. The sooner the better.

- Adam Silbert, New York, New York

Who’s in charge

Like many people these days, we take advantage of paying bills online. No checks to write or stamps to buy; also no worries about things getting delayed or lost in the mail. Dozens of transactions monthly for utilities, car payments, insurance payments and more are routinely facilitated by a third-party company called Automated Clearing House or ACH.

It’s widely used by governments and businesses, and often charges the payees, not us, a nominal fee. It’s well worth it to payees. They get their money instantly, with no bounced checks, no one stuck opening envelopes and posting account data, and on and on. It’s truly a win-win.

That works for every entity we make payments to, except for tax payments to Jackson County. Oh, it used to do it the way everyone else does with ACH, but a few years ago a local company, PayIt, somehow persuaded the county to let it take over. Now we taxpayers have to set up an account with this PayIt company and pay it a “convenience fee” for handling the transaction.

What really gets my goat is when PayIt takes the money from my bank, the entry on my electronic ledger shows that it was processed by ACH!

- Larry M. Helsel, Raytown

Outside control

I see all the concern about the 92 homicides Kansas City has seen so far in 2023. Omaha, a city only 180 miles away with about the same population, has had three homicides this year — lower than usual, but that city’s historical numbers are still much lower than ours.

If I was Missouri’s governor or a member of Kansas City’s police board, I wouldn’t be proud of these statistics, since they have responsibility over our police department and can’t place the blame on anyone else.

Where is the accountability?

- William Kenney, Kansas City

Not God’s plan

As an 87-year-old man, I have seen many changes in our country. Most of what I see is scary. It’s either racism or politics. There doesn’t seem to be any “You do your thing and I’ll do my thing, and we’ll all live together in peace.”

We all have thoughts and opinions. We have to accept that.

For instance, I served in the Army in the 1950s and spent time at Fort Hood in Texas, now renamed Fort Cavazos. I didn’t know why it had the name, and I didn’t care. I was serving my country. Why the big deal about renaming Troost Avenue? Very few people care where the name came from. History is just that: Learn from it and leave it alone. You can’t change it.

I am Christian by faith, Methodist by choice. In our church, we are a mixed-race congregation. We go to church on Sunday to worship God. We are all the same in his eyes. The color of our skin is not important. We need to open our eyes and hearts. Get to church and learn about God. His plan is not what’s going on now.

- Charlie McVey, Raytown

Tax help needed

My husband and I moved to Waldo from Brookside three years ago. We are approaching retirement and wished to cut expenses. We went from 2,000 square feet to 850. The taxes on our Waldo home are roughly $700 less than we paid on our much larger previous home three short years ago.

Senate Bill 190, which would let counties freeze senior Missourians’ property tax rates, sits on Gov. Mike Parson’s desk awaiting his signature. Apparently banning drag queens and “offensive” books is more important than caring about those who have worked hard and paid their taxes in this community for more than 50 years.

We have worked diligently to save for our golden years, only to watch our money disappear because of these unreasonable and what appear to be arbitrary numbers thrown out to see what sticks. Jackson County is doing wrong by its oldest residents.

- Margaret Damico, Kansas City