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Thanks for the responses to last week's newsletter. I want to reiterate that I think Seth Nelson and the Post have done some genuinely valuable reporting on Kirkwood. My biggest complaint is that sometimes it seems like they're more interested in pushing out negative stories that drive clicks than in objective journalism.
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Here, for example, is a story about the negative impact that Kirkwood's financial struggles might have on the Kirkwood Parks Department's long-term financial standing. This is sort of an interesting angle, but it's also sort of an accounting property: the City of Kirkwood is more or less a few different linked bank accounts that comprise a single financial entity, so it makes sense that overruns incurred in one account would cause shortfalls in another as you shift money around. In my opnion, the story doesn't really meet the threshold for news unless you're on the "Kirkwood is in crisis" beat and are viewing everything through that lens.
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But beyond the question of the story's inception, there is also the question of whether it conveys factional information that the Council and public can then use to make better decisions. I worry the story muddies the water instead. Take a look at this line:
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"While its overall budget has been in the black, the rec centers — including the city ice rink and community center — have lost money for years, forcing officials to shift cash from other parks funds to cover the losses."
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It makes it sound like maybe the Council needs to shutter its ice rink. But is it true? Well, the Community Center regularly loses money, but the ice rink is one of the biggest revenue-drivers in the department's budget and has more than covered its expenses in four of the past five years, according to the city's most recent budget. The exception was COVID, when it covered 98% of its expenses:
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It's a small mistake. I sort of feel dumb for even bringing it up. But I also didn't bring it up; Nelson and his editors did, and it's our job to hold them to a high standard.
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Modern Brewery is coming to the old Mission/Session Taco location in Downtown Kirkwood. I've long been a big Modern fan, so this is very exciting for me (even if I would've loved to see some multifam development on the B-2 zoned site). It's going to take a lot to compete with 4-Hands so hopefully they have something special planned!
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City Council is set to vote on the Double Eagle site proposal (sans tax abatement) for the old Public Works site at tonight's meeting. I'm still very unclear if the site plan is still moving forward as a formality and is dead on arrival without abatement, as a reality with a new purchase price to be negotiated later, or if everyone else is as uncertain as I am, but I guess we'll find out tonight!
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Have a great weekend everyone!
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