Patrick Tuohey
@patricktuohey.bsky.social
Dir of Policy Better Cities Project; Sr fellow Show-Me Institute; Columnist Missouri Independent; Regular contributor to The Kansas City Star and The Hill Born in DC, raised in NC, BA from BC, lives in KC
Once again, a downtown hotel is receiving public subsidies. And once again, we're being told the results will be fantastic! missouriindependent.com/2026/09/23/t...
The Muehlebach in Kansas City keeps coming back for taxpayer subsidies • Missouri Independent
Kansas City’s Muehlebach Hotel hosted every president from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. Harry Truman ran much of his political operation from the penthouse suite. It’s where he signed the Trum...
missouriindependent.com
Kansas City’s $352 million streetcar extension opened years late and cost 55% more than voters were originally told. Yet officials called it “on time and under budget”—and local media let them. www.kansascity.com/opinion/arti...
No, KC Streetcar extension was not on time and under budget | Opinion
Former City Manager Brian Platt claimed these projects cost $150 million a mile. That’s wrong, and he should have gotten pushback. | Opinion
kansascity.com
This is deeply irresponsible. Government representatives supporting this plan and the rushed process are abandoning their responsibility to their constituents. There is no reasonable policy case for this. None.
Kansas City advances $600 million funding plan for new Royals stadium in major step
The move sets the stage for the City Council to give final approval for the city’s funding commitment later this week.
kansascity.com
#Datacenters in Quincy, Washington and Loudoun County, Virginia have funded major public investments and cut property taxes — but Kansas City's heavily subsidized deal with Meta and Google shows the model only works when cities don't pay for the privilege. better-cities.org/economic-pro...
Data Centers Can Fund a City's Future — But Only If Cities Don't Pay for Them Twice - Better Cities Project
Data centers in Quincy, Washington and Loudoun County, Virginia have funded major public investments and cut property taxes — but Kansas City's heavily subsidized deal with Meta and Google shows the m...
better-cities.org
Narrator: It was too much to expect.
J.C. Bradbury@jcbradbury.com · 2mo agoIs it too much to expect elected officials to have taken an undergraduate course on public finance? Devoting taxes from a newly created stadium district cannibalizes existing tax collections. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE STADIUM Read more here: jcbradbury.com/stadium-fina...
London’s #housing crisis is a warning about the power to say no better-cities.org/community-gr...
London’s housing crisis is a warning about the power to say no - Better Cities Project
London’s housing crisis shows that zoning is only one barrier to new homes. Discretionary review and repeated veto points can recreate the same housing scarcity even without conventional American zoni...
better-cities.org
All public stadium projects should be considered directly by voters. There is no legitimate excuse for not doing so.
The public should get a say in the new Royals stadium
In the words of Missouri Worker’s Power: Public need before corporate greed
royalsreview.com
Everyone, stop what you're doing and read David Hudnall's scathing piece on Jackson County, Missouri legislator Manny Abarca. It's a banger! www.kansascity.com/opinion/arti...
#KansasCity has overcome disparities in contacting with minorities and women. That should be good news, right? Right? showmeinstitute.org/article/stat...
Show-Me Institute Shines Light on Kansas City’s Discrimination Policies
Missouri Attorney General sues KC for violating anti-discrimination laws.
showmeinstitute.org
Good summary of KC's World Cup experience from Dave Helling.
Kansas City's $250 million World Cup comes to an end
Public spending over four years appears to have reached nearly $230 million; when private spending is added, the three-week party likely cost in excess of a quarter of a billion dollars.
open.substack.com
"Despite all this, Bough still claims to not have what she needs to make an educated decision. Yet she makes those decisions anyway." missouriindependent.com/2026/07/15/k...
Kansas City keeps approving subsidies without knowing whether they work • Missouri Independent
Kansas City keeps approving major development subsidies even as a top councilmember says the city lacks enough information to know whether they work.
missouriindependent.com
No, #KansasCity Cannot Rush #Royals Financing to Beat a Petition Vote showmeinstitute.org/article/corp...
No, Kansas City Cannot Rush Royals Financing to Beat a Petition Vote
Kansas City Mayor Lucas told KCMO Talk Radio on Thursday morning that, basically, the city is going to ignore the petitions submitted with 4,500 signatures to the city clerk requiring […]
showmeinstitute.org
missouriindependent.com/2026/06/12/p...
PortKC’s oversight failures are now Missouri lawmakers’ problem • Missouri Independent
In June 2025, I wrote that PortKC, Kansas City’s ubiquitous subsidy-granting agency, was too powerful, too poorly run, and subject to too little oversight. Evidence from the past year has only strengt...
missouriindependent.com
I feel like the answer to the question, "are regional leaders leveling with us?" is always no, regardless of the time or the region or the circumstance.
J.C. Bradbury@jcbradbury.com · 4mo ago"Local leaders" are absolutely NOT leveling with anyone. They never are, especially when it comes to sports.
"Missouri and its legislators should be proud of what was accomplished in 2012 and 2018, and we should be eager to support those same reforms at the federal level." missouriindependent.com/2026/04/22/o...
On sentencing reform, Missouri can be the Show-Them State • Missouri Independent
Missouri’s moniker as the Show-Me State is said to originate from a Congressman who said that his midwestern roots preferred evidence over eloquence. “I am from Missouri,” he is purported to have said...
missouriindependent.com
better-cities.org/community-gr...
When housing costs push residents out, cities should pay attention - Better Cities Project
New research shows that when housing costs rise too high, residents leave—and often become homeowners elsewhere—offering a clear lesson for city housing policy.
better-cities.org
STOP IT! The County contribution for Truist Park was NOT paid for by taxes generated from The Battery development (some of the funding comes from a ~7 sq-mile area that includes the stadium), and the allocation was absolutely not recouped. Cobb runs a $15 million annual deficit.
J.C. Bradbury@jcbradbury.com · 5mo ago#KansasCity Earnings Tax Defenders Unable to Defend Earnings Tax showmeinstitute.org/article/taxe...
better-cities.org/community-gr...
New York City’s quiet shift away from the neighborhood veto - Better Cities Project
New York City voters approved ballot measures that limit local veto power over housing, offering a model for preserving community input while enabling more development.
better-cities.org
Once again, it turns out that a "privately funded" sports venue project is getting a public subsidy, and it's poised to get more.
Field of Schemes@fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 6mo agoYes, a new United Center development would pay more in property taxes than parking lots, but that's hardly free money — the city would still need it to pay for things like new schools. Add in potential TIF subsidies, and this is very much public cost: TBD.
#KansasCity earnings tax is a regressive giveaway to big corporations www.kansascity.com/opinion/read...
Kansas City’s earnings tax is a regressive giveaway to big corporations | Opinion
Because it isn’t charged on investment income, the burden falls most on wage earners, not wealthy businesses seeking tax incentives. | Opinion
kansascity.com
Your reminder: the people we elect to protect our interests are in on the stadium scam. These jock sniffers will give sports team owners pretty much anything they ask for if it means they might watch a game from the owners box, mingle with star athletes, or even get a free jersey.
Field of Schemes@fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe Kansas bill would not only give the Chiefs a voting seat on the state sports authority, it would exempt the stadium from oversight and competitive bidding rules. One state senator warns it would set up "an unaccountable 'Shadow Government.'"
My piece on crime and deterrence in the @missouriindependent.com missouriindependent.com/2026/03/11/i...
In Missouri crime debate, certainty of punishment matters more than severity • Missouri Independent
Recent murders in Kansas City and St. Louis — one at a nightclub, the other at a coffeeshop — have people asking why the assailants, both with histories of violent crime, were out on the streets in th...
missouriindependent.com
