Early voting in Johnson County is in full swing and Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7, is upon us.
As Johnson County residents head to the polls and mail in ballots, we’ve put together election primers for each of the local races in the Post’s coverage area to give readers and residents in those communities an easy way to find out more about the candidates and where they stand on the issues important to you.
SHAMELESS PLUG
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See who the candidates are
Ward 1
Business executive Terry O’Toole is running unopposed
Ward 2
Engineer and businessman Ed Boersma (write-in candidate)
Small business owner and incumbent Councilmember Inga Selders
Mark Samuel (will appear on the ballot but is not running an active campaign)
Ward 3
Interior designer and incumbent Councilmember Bonnie Limbird
The Post hosted a candidate forum on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at Meadowbrook Clubhouse.
All candidates participated except for Lori Sharp, who said she was fighting an illness that night.
Immediately following the video are the questions each candidate answered during the forum that evening. Timestamps are included in bold at the end of each question to help navigate through the forum video.
Opening statements [5:24]
If elected in November, what will be your biggest priority or priorities over the next four years? [16:40]
For the past year, Prairie Village has been involved in a spirited — at times contentious — debate over housing. Much of it centered around a set of housing recommendations issued last summer by an ad hoc housing committee that aimed to begin a conversation about how to address the rising cost of housing. The Post hears frequently from readers who say that the skyrocketing cost of housing in Prairie Village is the single biggest issue this election season. According to Zillow, the average price for a home on the market in Prairie Village is now roughly $417,000. Regardless of where readers fall politically, they all seem to agree that they are feeling priced out of the community they call home. If elected, how do you want Prairie Village to continue to address rising housing costs? What specific measures, policies or action steps will you advocate for? [30:34]
Though they will not appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, a group of residents did put forward three petitions this summer, two of which proposed making substantial changes to city government, including abandoning the current form of government and adopting a new form of government with a city council half the size of the current 12-member body. A third aimed to limit rezoning in single-family neighborhoods. A judge threw out that rezoning petition and the governance one related to adopting a new form of government. If elected, would you support continuing to explore these proposed changes, both regarding governance and rezoning? [54:10]
We have a few questions about Village Vision, that was kind of the antecedent to the housing recommendations so we have several [audience] questions regarding Village Vision: People raising concerns about the process of Village Vision, of course this is four or five years at this point, but of course, being during the pandemic it limited input, not enough people took the survey. In general, all of this leading to the question — Should Village Vision 2.0 be revisited? [1:15:33]
We’ve heard a similar tension from different groups of readers when it comes to spending and budgeting. This audience member asked how can Prairie Village best provide city services while lowering the mill levy? There is that tension of wanting to reduce property tax burden, even if it’s not a lot at the municipal level, but also providing a robust set of city services maybe that Prairie Village has been known for. Where do you fall on the spectrum of wanting to cut taxes but also making sure Prairie Village is fully and adequately funded? [1:25:32]
The city is moving forward with exploring the idea for a new city-run community center on the site of the aging Paul Henson YMCA near 79th and Mission. Total cost estimates and exact plan designs remain up in the air at this point. Do you support the idea of a new city-run community center? Why or why not? [1:38:02]
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