At last, a little respect?

Now that Jackson County, including Kansas City, Mo., has become our suburb…

OK, that’s a bit of a stretch.

But if trends continue, that may ultimately occur, at least as jobs and population are concerned.

To quote from The Kansas City Star, “If Johnson County continues its recent pace of private industry job creation, it will soon surpass Jackson County as the employment center of the Kansas City metro area.”

In the private sector, Jackson County had 304,000 jobs last year, compared to Johnson County’s 284,000. But our job growth continues to boom, while Jackson County’s is almost stagnant.

Our county’s population of 550,000 far exceeds the 450,000 in Kansas City, Mo., and we are headed toward 625,000 in 2020, when it is projected we will have surpassed all of Jackson County as the leading population center in the metro.

Unfortunately, much of our growth has come at Kansas City’s expense, but it is what it is now. Nothing will change the future for the two counties.

Meanwhile, the media is still riveted on downtown.

Consider the focus placed on Mark Funkhouser’s every move. Yet, we rarely read in the metro daily or see on television about the goings-on of Carl Gerlach, mayor of Overland Park, or Annabeth Surbaugh, county chair.

Every utterance of Funkhouser is news. Yet, we over here who are providing the jobs, hardly get mentioned.

Consider how much focus there is on the Kansas City, Mo., school district. Its student population of 17,000 – at most – is dwarfed by Shawnee Mission’s or Olathe’s 27,000 each. Yet, you would think the Kansas City, Mo., schools are the center of the education universe.

We knew Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser didn’t get it when he called a regional summit for a certain time and day, and didn’t ask the mayors of our largest cities, before the fact, whether that would fit into their calendars. It didn’t.

And what about the 1 percent earnings tax levied on everyone who works in Kansas City, Mo., even if they live in Johnson County? That made sense when downtown was the heart of the metro, but now? It needn’t be rescinded, since the money does go to pay for regional amenities. But it may be time for Johnson County cities to start levying their own earnings tax. After all, our “suburbanites” are using our roads, which we must keep widening and keep in good repair.

We have been called a bedroom community, decades after we stopped being that. We have beaten that drum until we’re blue in the face. Now, finally, the latest data confirms what we knew: Namely, not only are Missouri counties becoming our suburbs for work, but the vast majority of Johnson Countians who live here, work here. That means their connection to downtown and Kansas City, Mo., unfortunately, is zilch.

That doesn’t mean we should ignore Kansas City, Mo. We shouldn’t. After all, nearly all the cultural amenities and the airport belong to our brethren across the state line.

All we are asking for is a bit more news and focus and perhaps dual taxation in what is becoming the real hub in this metro wheel.

Contact Steve Rose at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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