Vote for Henry McClure

Henry McClure’s grandfather, James A. McClure (McClure Elementary School was named after him) was a district court judge who helped implement integration in the public schools after the landmark decision of Board of Education v. Topeka in 1954. Developing properties in cities in major markets across the country has given Henry the experience and understanding needed to help solve fiscal problems in Topeka and Shawnee County. He was born July 13, 1959 at Stormont-Vail, baptized at St. David’s the same year, November 29. “My dad’s grandfather, Sam McClure, was a Presbyterian priest. He was discharged here. He was a Yankee chaplain, the third priest at the Presbyterian church, and went around opening up Presbyterian churches. “My dad and my mom met at K.U., but my mom and dad were married for 20 years before they had me. They adopted three kids, Robert, Allison and John. They were all five years apart and I was five years apart from John.” Henry got a real estate license at the age of 18 or 19, and started working for Bill Lewis Real Estate. He started painting houses for Bill Lewis while he was going to KU on a gymnastics scholarship. He and a friend had painted houses for him in high school, and later on he and his friend became commercial painters. Between their senior year of high school and their freshman year of college they both made $20,000 each. Then they sold their painting company to one of their employees who “bought the whole shooting match!” Later, Henry went to work in Winter Park, Florida, but hated it, and thought he’d made a terrible mistake. “I’d gone from being a salesman to, you know, showing up in a tie and sitting in a filing room. This big guy calls you up and you go in there and take notes, but on the third day I come in and there’s this thing called the Macerich Happenings, and I start reading about this big project in Boulder, $40 million, we’re building a mall, adding two department stores, 125 new shops, renovating the whole property, tying it together, tip, financing, man, I go, they need a guy like me on that project. So, on the third day, the boss goes, ‘Hey, come in my office.’ “So, I got my note pad, and I’m ready to take notes. He goes, ‘We have this mall in Boulder. “I go, ‘When do I go?’ “He says, ‘Who told you?” And it was great. I got to go in, I was the tenant construction coordinator. I was a grunt. It was so fun. I cut my teeth in the mall business. Getting all the plans in, getting them approved through the system, four sets of plans, the sepia, the sample board, mylar, sign detail, was it a split system, H/E A/C. Later on, I had 100 general contractors. In the beginning, that was always the best way to see how the deal was going to go was how the plans went, so, my job was to get the plans turned in and get them going, so that was the best indicator, while the lease was in process. “So, I worked for management and reported to the leasing committee, and then one day this fella named Henry Nathan Sims walks in my office and hands me a radio. “He goes, ‘Look, you know the plans better than anybody. Now make sure they build them to plans.’ “So, I start working for Henry Nathan, and, make sure of the tenants, because we had a grand opening. “Boulder was a time when Macerich-Murren, you know, we paid all our bills, we got out of debt. It catapulted us into the future We were known as the ‘Mall Doctors,’ and, boy, Mace was the head surgeon. It was so fun. “So, the night of the grand opening dinner, that night, Mace asked me, goes, “What’re you gonna do now, go into leasing? And I was telling him how much I liked working for Henry Nathan, and his nephew elbowed me. His nephew is actually—all this artwork here in the Aha Gallery, that’s Mike Siegel, Mace’s nephew. “And Mike goes, ‘Henry, leasing runs the company that runs the industry.’ “And I said, ‘Mace, I’m going into leasing.’ “And he goes, ‘I’ll get you an assignment as fast as I can.’ So, I ended up preparing the pad site for Mervin’s and working for Henry Nathan and doing the punch list, working with the City of Boulder, and this was an experience at age 22-23, that was second to none, you know, I was working on what was then a $40 million project, had to know about construction, know about deal making. I mean this story is the essence of Henry McClure.” Henry’s commercial real estate success and working for Macerich took him to Chattanooga, Denver, Reno, and Long Beach and Lakewood, California, Kansas City and more, but he said that "the only one thing that made as big an impression on my life–life changing—happened on May 2, 2015." That is his story of the spiritual experience that changed his life. Henry McClure says, “It’s about streets, fresh water and public safety with the fire and police department. Those are the three main things. We’ve got to stop giving money to economic development that’s not economic development.” Henry McClure knows how to get things done that will save Topekans money and stop padding the pockets of non-governmental organizations. The properties developers have not paid taxes on for ten years should be sold to the land bank, and he will not vote for property taxes to be raised to finance projects that do not help Topeka. If you want change, vote for Henry McClure. Otherwise, everything will stay the same.