Kansas City suburb spends $350,000 in COVID bailout money on cameras for soccer stadium
It’s both a red flag and a red card in the budget.
A Kansas city will spend $350,000 of coronavirus relief money on cameras for a soccer stadium, the Kansas City Star reported. The Overland Park, Kan., city council approved the decision 10-2.
Overland Park, an upper-middle class, southwest Kansas City suburb, said the cameras would allow fans to watch soccer games from home, encouraging social distancing.
The city will receive 70% of the money from people paying to watch and download the soccer games at Scheels Soccer Complex, according to the city council proposal. The other 30% will go to Musco Sports Lighting, which will stream the games online.
The two council members who voted against the proposal have kicked off a campaign to get it reversed.
“On the surface, it didn’t seem logical to me,” Faris Farassati told local Fox affiliate WDAF. “I don’t think the council members who voted yes for it were paying attention to the fact that this is a clear example of detachment of government from reality."
Some Overland Park residents were upset by the decision, and Farassati said he’d move to rescind it at the next council meeting, the Star reported.
Johnson County, which Overland Park is within, approved the funding, according to the Star. The county received the federal CARES Act money and then approved Overland Park’s application, though commissioners told the paper that the suburb’s application was rather vague.
Chris Newlin, a council member and soccer coach, told WDAF that broadcasting the games was necessary because parents and other fans don’t social distance at games.
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