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Prairie Village Ward 4 City Council candidates: The biggest issues facing the city

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Today, the candidates for the Ward 4 City Council seat in Prairie Village share their thoughts on the most pressing issue facing their ward and the city as a whole:

Dale Beckerman (incumbent):

The City’s biggest challenge is to remain a livable residential community while maintaining our current high level of fiscal responsibility.

That requires balance. Young families often favor expenditures for parks, trails and recreation programs. Those on fixed incomes may not. Without young families more schools close. Older residents add much to our community.

The City is 60 years old. Many streets and sidewalks require expensive repair. (Ward 4 is in better shape than some.) Deterioration of those assets leads to deterioration of neighborhoods.

If we do not act soon, the expense will be even greater. With the City’s AAA credit rating, we have been able to finance repairs when costs are low. We need to continue that kind of initiative.

Redevelopment of Corinth Square is important to Ward 4. Corinth is a vital element of our physical and commercial landscape. It dominates a main entrance to the City. It creates an image of the Ward and the City.

Under Highwoods’ ownership Corinth deteriorated. It was approaching the condition of the Nuts & Bolts center at 95th & Nall.

We’ve had significant improvements at Corinth even before the expenditure of CID funds – BRGR, CVS and Urban Table. Tippin’s is coming down today. Those changes reflect the confidence private investors now have in the future of the Center. Without the CID that would have been impossible.

Lane4 is scheduled to make a public presentation in the Council Chamber at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday February 21 about plans for more changes this Summer. Now that this has become a subject of the campaign, I hope residents will attend. Confirm the agenda first.

Mission Valley will be an issue. If KCCS buys it, we will need to address its 79th Street site. If KCCS passes, it will not sit idle. The City cannot afford to make it a park (or justify a third large park south of 75th with so little parkland elsewhere). We must sensibly prepare for its future use.

Brooke Morehead:

The closing of Mission Valley School (MVS) and how it relates to the future of KC Christian School (KCCS) in PV is the most pressing concern for those of us in Ward 4. If the Council allows the former MVS to become Senior Living and KCCS moves to a larger facility in OP, PV and Ward 4 both lose! Our property values will suffer as well.
We must not allow the former MVS site to be used for a purpose other than a school. As your Council Representative I will work to ensure that the City is doing everything within its power to help facilitate this transition.

Should KCCS be afforded the opportunity to move into the former MV, then the question becomes what to do with the current KCCS site. Regardless of the future use, the City must learn its lesson from the Mission Valley fiasco and begin the process of engaging the local property owners sooner rather than later. Too often we have been reactive rather than proactive.
For the City as a whole, the biggest issue is budgeting for delivery of services in a fair and responsible manner. Will we continue to spend, tax, borrow, and tax more, as our current Councilman advocates? Or, will we choose to be wise with our tax dollars? As a businesswoman, mom, and grandmother, I know how hard it is for all of us to earn a dollar.
I’m running for City Council because I believe we need a representative who is more in touch with the everyday realities of Ward 4 families. I promise to look after our tax dollars to give Prairie Village a fair deal. I’m asking for your help and your vote. www.brookeforpv.com

Tim Pickell:

The biggest issue facing Ward 4 seems to be how to best use our beautiful pool complex. My wife and I are among those who use it daily in the summer, for recreation as well as for exercising purposes. For years now, there has been talk of whether the complex could be used year-round by our citizens, rather than sit idly for almost nine months of the year. The key is putting pen to paper, and determining how to create an affordable “pay as you go” complex so its enhanced use would not unduly burden the City to run and maintain. I believe this can be done.
Close behind the issue in Ward 4 of how to best use our pool complex is the current concern in our adjacent Ward over how to best develop the Mission Valley School acreage. This has just become an issue of major concern to all P.V. citizens. It will greatly impact all “village people!” This will directly impact our property values, so it must be carefully developed. In my conversations with Ward 4 folks, it is strongly felt that the best use is residential. There is also a strong desire to maintain green space for our City.

Tomorrow, the candidates answer the final question in our questionnaire:

5.) What’s your overall vision for the city What’s one new initiative you would propose if elected?

About the author

Jay Senter
Jay Senter

Jay Senter is the founder and publisher of the Post.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in business at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he worked as a reporter and editor at The Badger Herald.

He went on to receive a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, where he earned the Calder Pickett Award. While he was in graduate school, he also worked as a reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World.

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