KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Blue Summit, Missouri, an unincorporated city just about five miles north of Kauffman Stadium, is fighting to be heard.

Their concerns are safety, cleanliness and the need for more support. Saturday, neighbors held a community meeting with key stakeholders hoping to get answers.  

This city sits at the intersection of Kansas City and Independence and is coined: “Dog Patch.”

“We have been neglected; we’ve been neglected for 40 plus years,” Tracie Rice, the Chair of the Blue Summit Neighborhood Association said.

The city has faced rising crime and is battling what law enforcement calls arsons being set all over the city.

The fire chief says they are only escalating, and there are issues with cleanliness. Another concern for community members in Blue Summit is the vacant building around their community. 

“It’s important for me to continue to hear the concerns of some of the neighbors,” Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte said.

Sheriff Forte was one of the many key participants in today’s meeting, which included four county legislators and the fire chief.

“I’m glad that we came together as a community to talk about this,” Inter City Fire Protection District Chief, Jeff Jewell said.

While not all the problems facing the people of this small town were solved in a day, they got some promises, including more visibility by Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputies.

“Continue the open dialogue and be responsive and hold each other accountable, so when we come to the meetings, we’re not just meeting to meet. We need to be held accountable,” Forte said.  

“It’s going to take time, it’s going to be baby steps, but yeah, I think we finally have been heard,” Rice said.