Beto Lopez, Lee's Summit Mayoral Candidate | 4-1-26

. Vince Coladay's here and I'm coming up at 11 after Kevin Keatsman on 95 seven FM KCMO talk radio. Intriguing mayor's race over in Lee's summit. You may have heard one of the candidates send a raider on with Kevin Keatsman couple of weeks back when we were out there in Lee's summit for an event. The other side of that is Beto Lopez joining us on KCMO talk radio 95 seven FM streaming on the KCMO talk radio at Beto. Good morning. Thanks for being here. For people who maybe are unfamiliar or they're just getting to learn about you and your background ahead of their race next Tuesday. Who is Beto Lopez and why are you running for mayor of Lee's summit? First of all, thanks for having me Pete. Really appreciate the opportunity and absolutely. I mean most people within Lee's summit the community here knows has heard my name for a number of years. I've served on the city council for the last eight years. Two term candidate and then I've served on planning commission here in our community prior to that for about four years. But yeah, I mean most people that know me know that I'm very civically minded and I mean objective is just to continue to be relevant and help our community. So when it comes to your time on the planning commission and then on the city council, one of the hot button issues in Lee's summit and in other suburban parts of Kansas City has been the growth of apartments and the ability for many developers to really get what they want on the apartment front. Where where you add on that issue and how you balance growth with also maintaining what people are drawn to in communities like Lee's summit. Well, I think I think the word of the comment question about apartments pops up because you know we've been following a citizen led strategic plan that show that we're behind with more certain multi family high rise type units eight years ago. You know they've been part of mixed use developments, which have been involved a lot of commercial, which has increased our tax base and balance our tax base and so I think as a community we you know we just need to evaluate where we're at with, as far as the goals that were set eight years ago regarding apartments and continue to focus on housing just attainable housing in general. I think most communities have a challenge with housing and affordability and and having the right mix for, you know workforce type of families. So what exactly how would you define what that right mix is and do you think Lee's summit has done a good job on that mix over the last few years. I believe so I mean we have all of our plan and you know we've had one of the highest single family construction building permits in the entire metro area. The last couple years and the problem is you know the housing costs you know with labor and material costs. That makes it a challenge for every community. So we just have to continue to work hard and and one of the things that I announced here the last couple weeks is that I will form a citizen led task force on housing. And so I may not have all the answers but I want as much community input as possible. So what would that look like I mean I know you've heard from a lot of people who I'm sure maybe don't like a lot of the development that is happening at Lee's summit so what when you find those voices how how would someone end up with a up on that citizen board that may disagree with what your vision is for the growth and development of Lee's summit. Well I wouldn't say that most people do not like the development I think that plan that we've been following most citizens that were involved as for more retail and restaurant and grocery opportunities and that's what we've done. We've grown our tax base so that the burden is not on residential taxpayers but spread it out a little bit with new commercial tax generation. And so I think we need to continue that path as far as housing. I mean people that know me that have worked with me know I'm fully transparent and very engaging. And as mayor I absolutely will continue to operate in that that capacity. What do you think the biggest issue facing Lee's summit is right now. You know Lee's summit is one of the fastest growing cities in the state of Missouri. I think the next mayor and city council need to be as prepared as possible here in this community to absorb that population growth. And from my perspective the way you you address that is simply you know by focusing on public safety which includes to continue to support your your fire and police departments with adequate and competitive pay but also providing them with the right equipment right and resources so they can do their job as best possible but also improving our streets. You know not only neighborhood streets but a lot of our highway and arterial streets just need to continue to we got to focus on continuing to improve and keeping the roadways as safe as possible and to me that's how you absorb population growth. And what is it you know as you figure out that balance right and you mentioned public safety in particular that comes with a cost obviously that the city has to figure out what what that is to continue to grow police and fire to keep the city safe. Well also not blowing out the budget. I know that public safety in particular is something that hits home for you for people who who don't know or may not have connected the dots obviously it was it was your sister who was tragically lost in the Super Bowl parade shooting over two years ago now so how does your personal experience tie in to the public safety element of what you want to see for Lee's summit if you are elected mayor. Yeah I've been very open about that you know I've for many years I have family members and friends that are involved in public safety personnel or career paths. So I've always been very supportive of our public safety first responders but absolutely after the incident that took my sister's life. I've made it a personal priority for me to you know that day if it wasn't for the first responders. Yes we heard my family the most but the first responders at present that day saved a lot of other lives and for me I think it's something that every community should focus on and as mayor that will continue to be a top you know focus for me and our community. When people think of Lee's summit under a beta Lopez leadership what exactly in your perfect world would that look like and how would that be defined. You know people come here and continue to come here probably we have a trend for the last 1520 years they come here for a reason it's the quality of life. It's the school districts it's the amenities that we have we have a robust and amazing park system and as mayor absolutely my job is along with our council members. My job as a local college is to protect that quality of life and I have a proven track record that has focused on ensuring that quality of life keeping it a safe community. Like I said with with our public safety top priority roadways and as mayor absolutely that'll be a priority for me to keep ensuring that we have the right tax generation to keep up with that growth and all these nice qualities of life amenities that people enjoy out here. Do you when you look at these races Beto do you think that partisanship should matter at yes or no and if yes is there a is there a political party that you prefer that you identify with as we look ahead to Tuesday. And our charter form of government it is nonpartisan and I don't believe we need partisan politics on a local level. I have never made a party focused decision on the die is here in Lee Summit Missouri and that would never be my intent. My intent is to make decisions on what's best for our entire city and every every citizen that is that lives in this community. How about I know this is a it's on your website so it's not something you're you're hiding or running from but I'm sure you've heard some of the you know acute not accusations but some people have said hey you know Beto is on the city council. His wife is a municipal judge in Lee Summit is that a or I guess the obvious answer to this is no you don't believe it's a conflict of interest so explain to people why that should not be a concern to them in Lee Summit when they say well if the mayor is married to a municipal judge is that potentially a conflict at all why don't you believe it is. Well I mean based on facts and charter policies. My wife was actually involved in the courts many years before I was ever involved as a public elected official within Lee Summit and when she decided to run a couple years ago. For the most part I not for the most part but I specifically abstain or recuse myself from anything related to the court system and the court system has zero to do zero control over any kind of city government administration so there truly is not a conflict at all. It's probably more of a perception or a political ploy just to make it an issue but it truly legally is not policy wise is not an issue there's no conflict there. But if there was anything that came in front of you that was somehow tied to the judicial system you you are promising that if elected mayor you would abstain from that. I've done it in the past and absolutely I will continue to keep that same ethics procedure going forward. Beto Lopez running for Lee Summit mayor on KCMO talk radio 95 7 FM last thing in the final minute Beto what's something about you that that people don't know that you want them to know ahead of Tuesday. People know that I am deeply committed to this community and I work extremely hard to fight for things that keep it continued to improve our community. I'm very regionally minded person work with all the local communities. We don't live on an island. I think we share a lot of the same roadways and infrastructure so people all will continue to bring resources to our community and work with our other partners neighboring partners and we'll continue to grow and a balance in a very responsible way. I think we should make this the best community in Missouri how about that. That sounds good Beto Lopez on KCMO thank you for the time Beto and best of luck ahead of Tuesday. Thanks be appreciated. All right you bet that is the city councilman who is looking to be your next mayor in Lee Summit. He is going up against Cindy Raider who was on with Keatsman a couple of weeks back. You can find her interview on the Kevin Keatsman podcast Apple Spotify and this conversation with Beto Lopez will be up on our podcast after the show. So if you're in Lee Summit you can get both sides of that listen to both candidates and make your own decision ahead of. Hey there I'm Paula Pan. I help people make the smartest money decisions possible. Do not ever worry about your salary. You need enough to make sure that you aren't in a bad financial position. Once you have that your salary becomes a big part of your job. Once you have that your salary becomes moot. What matters from that point forward upside gains any type of ownership stake or ownership potential that's the money. Remember you can afford anything just not everything. Afford anything. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Tuesday. Vince Colnays is redefining news talk with the Vince show. It is a reflection of your response to this program that we get to take this thing to the next level. These gigantic shows. This is going to be so much fun. It's unbelievable. In-depth interviews live-caller interactions and a front row seat to the most important conversations of the day. I've got updates. I've got big stories. We'll sort through the truth of what's really going on to buckle up. Here it comes. The Vince show. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.