Trey Runnion has resigned from the embattled Port Authority of Kansas City.
The city agency has come under criticism for allowing its general counsel, William Session, to enter into a multimillion-dollar contract to excavate land that the Port Authority sold to a private developer. Runnion signed off on the arrangement amid a complaint that Session's familiarity with the project at the former Richards-Gebaur air base gave him an unfair advantage.
Session's work as an excavator was first described by The Pitch in November. The Kansas City Star has reported that Session's company, TWS Technical Services, was paid nearly $10 million to do grading work at Richards-Gebaur. Session told The Pitch that there was no conflict of interest in the only public comments he's made about his extracurricular work as a dirt pusher.
In the months leading up to the recent controversy, Runnion and Session were guiding the Port Authority on a path to become a more assertive, more autonomous development agency. Runnion's leadership was aggressive to the point of impatience. He lobbied the City Council to appoint him to another term when Mayor Mark Funkhouser would not come to a decision. Session wrote the legal opinion that said the council had the power to make such an appointment, a move that City Attorney Galen Beaufort determined did not comport with the city charter.
Funkhouser called Runnion a squatter. Last month, the executive committee of the Economic Development Corporation, the Port Authority's parent agency, encouraged Runnion to step down.
Runnion, a self-confident and semi-retired corporate executive, agreed to the half-measure of stepping down as Port Authority chairman last week. Now he has decided to walk away altogether.
Citing the "negative energy" around the Port Authority and his appointment, Runnion has submitted his resignation to the City Council. The letter reads, in part:
It is unfortunate that the debate has arisen at this very important time in the Port Authority's evolution. Based on the unsettled nature of this dispute and its unclear resolution, it appears that the best outcome would be for me to resign my position as Commissioner of the Port Authority effective immediately.
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Resist the temptation to declare that justice has been achieved by Runnion's resignation and that the EDC and its sub-agencies are now thoroughly cleansed and are deserving of the public's trust. This is far from it. When there has been wrong doing by a bureaucrat and he is exposed, his co-conspirators are hopeful that their comrades' demise will fend off further scrutiniy into their shady dealings. This type of corruption has been ingrained into the culture of the EDC and has defined the nature of the tax assisted development process in Kansas City. There is much more to be uncovered. If we want to achieve genuine reform on how these agencies operate, they must first be thoroughly investigated. This examination should be performed by the Justice Department and not the City.
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