KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas City, Missouri, City Manager Brian Platt posted a farewell message on social media Wednesday, nearly a week after the KCMO City Council voted to remove him from his position.
He thanked Kansas City for an “amazing 4+ years” and said it has been “an incredible honor and privilege” to serve the city, helping “elevate our quality of life for all Kansas Citians.”
“City government is more responsive, inclusive, and approachable, and our city is unquestionably better now than it was four years ago,” Platt posted.
He went on to highlight his favorite projects, some of which include the South Loop project, planting 10,000 trees, converting streetlights to LEDs, street resurfacing and opening the new single terminal at the Kansas City International Airport, among other accolades.
Thank you Kansas City for an amazing 4+ years. Being your City Manager has been an incredible honor and privilege and I am extremely proud of the work we have done to elevate our quality of life for all Kansas Citians. City government is more responsive, inclusive, and… pic.twitter.com/bBXpebEx37
— Brian David Platt (@BrianDavidPlatt) April 2, 2025
“I’m going to continue to be a Kansas City fan on social media and beyond — I care so deeply about this community and there are so many exciting things happening here,” Platt wrote.
His final words of advice: “Everything is great.”
Platt was placed on paid suspension March 6 following the result of a civil lawsuit against the city in which Chris Hernandez, former city communications director, was awarded nearly $1 million.
In the suit, Hernandez alleged Platt told communications staffers in a meeting on Jan. 3, 2022, “Why can’t we just lie to the media?”
Hernandez said he disagreed but Platt pushed back.
“Why not? In Jersey (where Platt worked before coming to KCMO), we had a mayor who would just make up numbers on the fly from the podium, and no reporters ever called him on it,” Platt replied, according to the suit.
Come March 20, the city council voted unanimously to extend Platt’s suspension.
KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas told KSHB’s Charlie Keegan at that time he expected a final resolution “in days as opposed to weeks or months.”
The next week, the council voted in a special closed session to remove Platt.
“No one enjoys this moment. It is with great disappointment this step was taken," Lucas said March 27.
Lucas shared some of the reasons Platt was removed: failure to take criticism, loss of confidence from council leaders/city staff, failure to mitigate risk, ineffectiveness in handling personnel matters, failure to effectively establish goals/visions for city departments, and asking staff to lie and demoting an employee who refused.
Platt was hired in 2020 and extended his contract in 2024.
Kimiko Gilmore was tapped to serve as interim city manager during his suspension.
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