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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Quinton Lucas took the oath of office Thursday to become the city’s mayor in a packed council chambers, saying he hopes to move the city forward through regional collaboration.
Lucas, 34, is the youngest Kansas City mayor in 120 years. He said he’s eager to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas introduced Lucas at the ceremony. The two were classmates at Cornell University law school, and both were raised by single mothers.
Davids’ attendance is symbolic of the cooperation Lucas hopes to achieve in leading Kansas City to improve services like trash collection, road repairs and development outside of downtown and the Country Club Plaza.
“I want to make sure I’m always being collaborative with and working with the city council,” Lucas said. “I hope all of the battles we were having just a few weeks ago are behind us. I look forward to saying in every situation we can, we are going to work together. We are going to agree. We are going to collaborate. Where we have some disagreements, it’s not going to get nasty.”
The new mayor also revealed some lofty goals.
One of them is to get Kansas City off of the FBI’s top ten most violent cities in America list by the end of his first term. To start he’d like to see more community police officers and reduce the homicide rate consistently below 100 every year.
Outgoing Mayor Sly James had some parting gifts for Lucas. He gave him a pair of sterling silver KC cuff links, so Lucas can wear his Kansas City pride on his sleeves.
James also gave him a flask, saying he would need it to sneak away from the burdens of the job.

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