Matt Alexiou, the owner of Southside Bar & Grille on 103rd and State Line, penned a letter to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and the Kansas City City Council about the growing crime problems in Kansas City that seem to be mostly ignored by the mayor’s office. Matt copied many media members, and I heard about the letter on Kevin Kietzman’s podcast and on Tony Kansas City’s website. I’ve copied and pasted the text of the letter here:
“Mayor Lucas, Members of City Council, City Manager Vasquez, Prosecutor’s Office, and relevant leadership,
I am sending this email and have included 80+ fellow business owners, along with members of the media. To be clear, I am not speaking on behalf of every person copied here. I am speaking for myself as a Kansas City small business owner who is frustrated, exhausted, and tired of watching businesses be expected to absorb the consequences of systems and policies that are clearly not working. I included other business owners because many may share some or all of these frustrations, and they deserve to see both the concerns being raised and any response from city leadership.
And I would appreciate an actual response this time.
Not another deflection.
Not another handoff.
Not another “we’ll pass this along.”
How many times have I emailed members of this City Council? How many times have concerns from South Kansas City businesses been ignored, redirected, softened, or passed down the line instead of actually addressed? At some point, silence becomes its own answer.
First, where credit is due: I do appreciate City Council ultimately doing the right thing regarding the 5 AM liquor license issue surrounding the World Cup. Whether that happened at the last minute by design or simply because the pressure became too great, it still gives Kansas City small businesses the opportunity to be a strong representation of our city when the world is watching.
That was the right call.
Now let’s talk about what isn’t. Yesterday, Mayor Lucas publicly stated in response to Town Topic reducing overnight hours after years of violent and nuisance activity and the recent 4 AM shooting that blame “rests primarily on individuals—criminals.”
Fair enough. Criminals commit crimes. But that directly contradicts years of messaging from city leadership. Because when discussions involve nuisance crime, loitering, panhandling, violent incidents, vacant lots, or single-serve alcohol sales, businesses and property owners are often told WE need to do more.
Hire security.
Install cameras.
Adjust hours.
Spend more money.
Change operations.
Protect ourselves.
So, which is it?
If crime is solely the responsibility of criminals, then stop shifting blame to businesses and property owners whenever City Hall wants to justify an ordinance or explain away failure. And if businesses supposedly have a role in reducing crime, then city leadership cannot pretend to have no responsibility when businesses like Town Topic are forced to change operations because public safety has deteriorated. As a business owner, I have personally dealt with break-ins, repeated public safety issues, property crime, and the burden of navigating a court system that often feels disconnected from reality.
I have personally had to go to court over individuals exposing themselves to patrons at my business.
I have watched cases drag on.
I have watched weak outcomes.
I have seen charges reduced.
I have seen charges disappear.
I have seen repeat offenders return.
That is lived experience.
And while many on this council are quick to criticize KCPD, I will say this:
I see how frustrating it must be for officers to arrest the same individuals only to watch them back on the streets before the ink is even dry on the paperwork.
And despite how often KCPD gets attacked publicly, many officers say the same thing to me:
“We’re all supposed to be on the same team.” That professionalism deserves acknowledgment. If you truly want to give KCPD the tools to succeed, then stop talking about public safety and actually follow through. Build the real city detention facility that was sold as part of the broader public safety conversation when voters were asked to renew the public safety sales tax. And to be clear, I am not talking about the modular jail currently being constructed. That facility should be the tip of the iceberg, not the end-all solution that City Hall pats itself on the back for. Kansas City needs actual detention capacity and real infrastructure that matches the size of the public safety problem we are dealing with, not another temporary political patch designed to create headlines while the underlying issues continue.
Because right now, from the outside looking in, the system feels like:
Catch.
Release.
Delay.
Dismiss.
Repeat.
And yes, I remember Shaun Brady being used as part of the public safety discussion and the argument for why stronger infrastructure and detention solutions were needed. So do it. Because his family, like many victims’ families, deserved better. I have been in communication with his sister, Sandra Obrien who lives in Nenagh, Ireland after a public video posted of a sitting 6th District councilmember appearing to place responsibility for Shaun’s murder back onto Shaun himself. She was disgusted. And honestly, who wouldn’t be? Her family has every right to feel abandoned by a legal system and city leadership that failed to protect the public from repeat violent offenders. That is not political rhetoric. That is a grieving family’s reality.
We have already identified numerous publicly reported food-service businesses victimized by burglary, robbery, theft, and property crime, including:
Betty Rae’s
La Bodega
Wrap It Up
Strip’s Chicken
Crows Coffee
Donutology
Mildred’s
Ruby Jean’s
Anchor Island
Buffalo State Pizza
Teocali
Torn Label
Messenger
Milwaukee Delicatessen
Broadway Café
Jalapenos Mexican Restaurant
Seven Swans
Garden House
Sagebrush
Governor Stumpy’s
Manny’s
Southside Bar and Grille
Tavern On 103rd
Ugly Joes
Sand Trap Bar and Grill
And that is only what made the news.
I have now submitted a Sunshine request seeking the complete numbers from 2019 to present involving food-service businesses across Kansas City. Because businesses deserve facts. If the current public safety approach is working, the data should prove it. If not, then say so honestly.
Again, I am not speaking for everyone copied here. But I am asking for a real response.
Not a press statement.
Not spin.
Not blame shifting.
Not another deflection.
A real response with measurable plans, accountability, timelines, and actual answers. Because Kansas City businesses should not have to keep redesigning how we operate around crime while leadership debates who to blame.
Respectfully,
Matt Alexiou
Owner
Southside Bar & Grille“
JM: Kansas City has had a crime problem for a while now, and business owners are justifiably fed up. Mayor Lucas blames everyone but himself for the issues, while presiding over some of the highest annual crime and murder rates in the history of the city. I would hope Matt’s letter might get the Mayor to do something more about this issue, but I am not holding my breath. I go to Southside at least a few times a year and it has always been a really good experience. Hope they can hang in there.
Kansas City isn’t the only place that has a crime problem. Check out this brawl at a Chipotle in Washington DC over the weekend.
JM: Check out the details of the brawl here. I guess you’re putting your life in danger going out for a burrito in Washington DC.
JM: I heard this story and am not sure I believe it. Why would Cuba attack Guantanamo Bay with drones? That makes no sense. But if true, I guess Colonel Jessup was right. Maybe the Cubans did want to kill him!
JM: I don’t know if this Spencer Pratt guy is really going to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, but his political ads sure are entertaining!
JM: I think the Obama meme here is pretty much perfect. Democrats spent years and years redrawing congressional maps in blue states to rig things in their favor. Now that Republicans are (finally) playing catch-up, they seem to have a huge problem with it. They are just a bunch of hypocrites.
JM: Artificial Intelligence is the next Industrial Revolution? I wish I had been there to boo her, too. What an awkward moment for the speaker. She didn’t quite know what to do. The students who booed are pretty smart. AI is mostly an annoyance to me. It clutters social media feeds, and what they show me is just garbage. Have you used Google search lately? Ever read the AI results? It is wrong/incorrect more than it is right. I suppose that is the fault of the human beings inputting the information that AI draws from, but it doesn’t matter. I find it mostly unusable and a waste. Sounds like at least some people agree with me.
JM: Have you seen the first two episodes of “Dutton Ranch?” It is pretty good and, so far, a great sequel and tribute to Yellowstone. “Marshal’s,” the other Yellowstone spin-off, has been a big disappointment. It was so bad that I could only make it through the first 20 minutes or so. “Dutton Ranch” is totally different. Hope it continues to be as good as the first couple of episodes.