New Community Board Will Oversee Dress Codes At P&L

Kansas City, MO – Officials at the downtown Power and Light district announced today that they will create a new board to oversee the implementation of its controversial dress codes. The board will contract an independent company to hire and train bouncers for the KC Live block.

The Cordish Company, which developed and manages Power & Light, sent invitations today to local civil rights organizations like the NAACP and the Urban League, as wells as business groups, to participate on the board. Operations director Zed Smith said he was confident that the implementation of the dress code has been color-blind.

SMITH: But look, we hear the people. We understand there's some concern out there. And we think the best way to allay and issues they might have is to open up the process, to be transparent.

Smith said this was not a response to this weekend's protest organized by African American ministers, who said that the dress code is being used disproportionately against people of color. Smith says there have been very few official complaints about the dress code, especially compared to the millions of people who have visited.