The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners moved into Community Builders of Kansas City’s The Shops on Blue Parkway, located at 4407 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri, in September. The 26-person staff occupies 20,000 square feet of space in the office directly east of KC Sun Fresh on the Boulevard.
The Board of Elections had been looking for new space for its polling, training and other operations when its lease came up for renewal in July of this year.
“The Shops on Blue Parkway appealed to us for several reasons,” explained Lauri Ealom, director of Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners. “The space is centrally located, putting us 15 minutes from every poll which is more convenient for voters. It’s right on the bus line, accessible for differently abled voters and there’s plenty of free parking.”
In person absentee voting for all elections will now take place at the new office, including for the upcoming Nov. 7, 2023, election. In person absentee voting for this Nov.’s election began Tuesday, Sept 26, and runs through Monday, Nov. 6.
The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners is a bipartisan board appointed by the Missouri governor and charged with control of elections and voting procedures. It is responsible for maintaining current and accurate voter rolls, maximizing voter registration and voter turnout efforts, educating the voting public and conducting efficient, fair, honest and impartial elections at a minimum cost to the electorate.
In addition to Ealom, current board members are Sharon Turner Buie, secretary; Sarah (Sally) Miller, chair; Aimee Gromowsky, commissioner; Ralph F. Munyan II, commissioner; Shawn Kieffer, director; Charles Renner, attorney and David Raymond, attorney.
The Shops on Blue Parkway development was built in 2005 to provide missing services and products to the area. It provides residents with valuable services like KC Sun Fresh grocery store, H&R Block and Vivent Health as well as national brand retail stores and restaurants such as Hibbett, T-Mobile, Subway and Wingstop. Comprising 155,000 square feet of Class A retail/office space, the development represents an investment of more than $35 million dollars.
The Shops on Blue Parkway, which are at 97 percent occupancy, have been recognized with a Cornerstone Award from the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri. The shopping center serves an estimated 74,000 residents and more than 3,000 employees within a three-mile radius.
“We look forward to growing our new partnership with CBKC and the surrounding community and are excited to be able to draw some of the 300,000 people we serve to The Shops on Blue Parkway,” said Ealom.