On June 20, 2011, MORE² Clergy Rev. Steve Jones (Prairie Baptist Church, Prairie Village, KS), Rev. Jarvis Collier (Pleasant Green Baptist, Kansas City, KS) and Mayor Joe Reardon (Kansas City, KS) met at the White House with Derek Douglas, Special Assistant to the President, Domestic Policy Council (Office of Urban Affairs), and Lauren Dunn, Policy Assistant, Domestic Policy Council.

Actions from this meeting:

• Community Outreach in the GSA process: Derek Douglas and Lauren Dunn were asked about the GSA process in making the decision to move the EPA building. Ms. Dunn committed to reviewing statute to determine if there should have been community outreach in the process. Derek indicated that he would explore whether the process could be reopened. (This is all dependent upon the review of statute and the alternate proposal that the city submitted.)

· Fairness in the GSA process: A need to reopen the case, which is still in process of being considered by the GSA as “under protest” by the building owners of the EPA building in Kansas City, KS. If their statute review reveals a discrepancy in fairness, Mr. Douglas and Ms. Dunn agreed to ask the GSA to reopen the case so that all the costs (including the “hidden costs”) can be revealed and considered.

From the White House, this delegation made their way to Congressman Kevin Yoder’s office (R-KS).

Conclusion from this meeting:

· Review of the GSA process: An acknowledgment by Jordan Austin, Legislative Assistant to Mr. Yoder, that he has been frustrated by the lack of responsiveness by the GSA in answering the simple questions about the process of the move. Mr. Austin is going to follow up with GSA using the chart of financials that Mayor Reardon provided—this chart provides more information about real costs involved with the move.

Approximately sixty MORE² leaders called the GSA Administrator, Martha Johnson, to express their opinions, opposing the relocation. On two occasions, citizens were “accidentally” hung up on.

MORE² thanks the Transportation Equity Network staff (Cynthia Jarrold) for pulling this effort together.

On June 9, 2011, at the 6th Annual MORE² Banquet, MORE² presented two awards in front of 300 people from our congregations, the community and beyond.

The first, the 2011 MORE² Courage Award, was awarded to Donald Hall Jr.  The MORE² Courage Award is given to individuals or companies who exemplify the courage to stay the course and change the inequity in our metro area.  The twenty MORE² Congregations were unanimous in believing that Mr. Hall was deserving of this award because of their very public role in supporting the Save KC campaign to renew the Earnings Tax.

“”With a name like his, it’s hard to hide who you are,” remarked Rev. Ron Brooks, “Don Hall put his name and his company on the line to protect the future of all the citizens of our metro area by joining the earnings tax renewal campaign.”

• Click here to view Donald Hall’s acceptance

The second award was the 2011 MORE² Equity Partner of the Year award to Missouri Senator Yvonne Wilson.  While in the Senate, in 2009, Senator Wilson sponsored and supported a MORE² initiative called the “Persistence to Graduation” act, which provides for innovative programs to prevent children from dropping out of school.  Through this initiative, Senator Wilson provided direction to our leadership.   We believe that she learned from our leadership as well.

“Whenever a community group asks me, ‘How do you make change?’, I tell them, do what MORE² does,” she remarked, “Whenever I told them to show up, they did.”

• Click here to view Senator Wilson’s acceptance

MORE² congratulates all the winners and the MORE²  Board for a successful Banquet!

On May 24, 2011, the Full Employment Council (FEC) awarded MORE2 the Outstanding Community Partner Award.
At the 24th “Jobs in the Business Sector” Luncheon, Clyde McQueen remarked that MORE2 was on the forefront of calling for social justice in the metro area.
We recalled the early days of MORE2 when Clyde spoke out at a community meeting, characterizing our work, “Nothing much was happening until these pastors came along.”

Rev. Bob Hill (Community Christian Church), who did the invocation at the lunch, stated (quoting Marge Piercy), “‘The pitcher longs for water to carry/and a person for work that is real’–MORE2 congregations came together because of a longing for justice in our bistate, metro region.  This award is an honor to all of those in our congregations who have the courage to act for justice.”
Present to receive the award were Rev Hill, Rev. Michael Brooks (Zion Grove Missionary Baptist Church) and Mary Lim-Lampe. 

Congratulations to all the members of the MORE2 congregations!