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

I'm coming up at 11 after Kevin Keatsman on 957 FM KCMO talk radio.

Intriguing mayors race over in a lease summit.

You may have heard one of the candidates send a radar on with Kevin Keatsman a couple

of weeks back when we were out there in lease summit for an event and the other

side of that is Beto Lopez joining us on KCMO talk radio 957 FM streaming on the KCMO

talk radio at Beto. Good morning. Thanks for being here for people who maybe are unfamiliar

or they're, you know, 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 lease summit?

Well, first of all, thanks for having me be really appreciate the opportunity and absolutely.

I mean, most people within the summit, the community here, those that's heard my name

for a number of years. I've served on the city council for the last eight years to

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 lease 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 are you at on that issue and how you balance

growth with also maintaining what people are drawn to in communities like lease summit?

Well, I think, I think the word of the common question about apartments pop said because,

you know, we've been following the citizen led a strategic plan that show that we're behind

with most 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 balanced our tax base. And so I think as a community,

we, you know, we just need to evaluate where we're at with the far as the goals that were

said eight years ago regarding apartments and continue to focus on housing, just attainable

housing in general. I think most communities have a challenge with the housing and affordability

and having the right mix for, you know, workforce type families.

So what exactly how is you define what that right mix is and do you think lease 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 of 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 one of the things that I announced

here the last couple of 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 lease summit. So when you

find those voices, how would someone end up on that citizen board that may disagree with

what your vision is for the growth and development of lease 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 asked for more retail and restaurant

and grocery opportunities. And that's what we've done. We've put on 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 capacity.

What do you think the biggest issue facing lease summit is right now?

You know, lease 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 address that is simply,

you know, by focusing on public safety, which includes to continue to support 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've 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 that is to

continue to grow police and fire to keep the city safe, but also not blowing out the budget.

I know that public safety in particular is something that hits home for you for people 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 Summit

if you are elected mayor? Yeah, I've been very open about that. You know, 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, we, it hurt my family the most, but the first

responders that 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, they will continue to be a top, you know,

a focus for me and our community. When people think of Lee 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 properly. We have a trend for the last

15, 20 years. They come here for a reason. It's the quality of life. It's, 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 colleagues 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 text 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? In 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 day as you're only 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, acut,

not accusations, but some people have said, Hey, you know, Beto is on the city council. His

wife is a municipal judge and lease 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 and lease summit when they say, well, if the mayor is married to someone who's

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 lease summit. And when

she decided to run a couple of years ago, for the most part, I, not for the most part, but I

specifically abstain or refuse myself from anything related to the court system. And the court

system has a year or two, 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. Why is it 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. Beta Lopez running for lease summit mayor on KCMO talk radio 957FM. Last thing in

the final minute, Beta, what's something about you 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 continue 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, I will continue to bring resources to our community

and work with our other partners, they bring partners and we'll continue to grow in a balance

in a very responsible way and make this the best community in Missouri. How about that?

That sounds good. Beta Lopez on KCMO. Thank you for the time, Beta 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 lease summit. He is going up against Cindy Raider who is on with Keatsman a couple of weeks

back. You can find her interview on the Kevin Keatsman podcast. Apple Spotify and this conversation

with Beta Lopez will be up on our podcast after the show. So if you're in lease summit,

you can get both sides of that. Listen to both candidates and make your own decision ahead of

full send golf. You guys know how much I really, really love golf. I think every week would be dope

to post on the golf channel. I want to get a lot of guests on here. So, Liam's going to take lead.

I'm down to being it. It's not really work to play golf. Join the party on the golf course.

I was like, let's go to the range. So, what are we putting on it? We said 10k, right? 10k. All right,

we probably bet more than all the other golf channels, right? 10k, but nine holes. Those guys bet for

like cookies. So, I'm ashamed. This guy's been trading like a Navy seal when it comes to golf.

I'm very, very excited. You excited? Yeah. Full send golf. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

Tuesday. Full send golf. You guys know how much I really, really love golf. I think every

week would be dope to post on the golf channel. I want to get a lot of guests on here.

Liam's going to take lead. I'm down to being it. It's not really work to play golf.

Join the party on the golf course. I was like, let's go to the range. So, what are we putting on it?

We said 10k, right? 10k. All right, we probably bet more than all the other golf channels, right? 10k,

but nine holes. Those guys bet for like cookies. So, I'm ashamed. This guy's been trading like a

Navy seal when it comes to golf. I'm very, very excited. You excited? Yeah. Full send golf.

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