Has Johnson County city been ‘reckless’ on finances? Candidates spar as election nears

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Shawnee mayoral candidate Mike Kemmling, a council member, said he’s helped the City Council break out of its status quo of “rubber-stamping” decisions.

But his opponent, former Councilman Mickey Sandifer, sees things differently. He argues that city politics have become too partisan and the current council has repeatedly ignored staff’s expertise, leading to “reckless” financial decisions and the resignation of several department heads.

That contrast is the common theme in each of the mayor and council races in the Nov. 7 election. Incumbents say the city has changed for the better since gaining a 7-1 conservative majority a couple of years ago, including by challenging developers and lowering taxes, Kemmling said.

“When I first got on the council, I felt like staff would come in and recommend something, and the council would blindly accept it,” said Kemmling, a dentist and councilman since 2013. “It felt like we weren’t very responsive to citizens. I was wanting to cut back spending and lower the mill levy, and that was the opposite direction in which it was going. I think we’ve changed quite a bit in the last two years, which I think is positive.”

But opponents argue that Shawnee is headed down a dangerous path.

“Our staff is not being appreciated. Our staff are excellently trained to do their jobs,” said Sandifer, who owns an industrial leasing company and served on the council from 2004 to 2020. “When staff bring things to the council, and council tells them they don’t want their advice and make a reckless decision above them, it’s very difficult for them to handle. I don’t believe the public is being heard. I believe the City Council has been reckless.”

Both Kemmling and Sandifer are competing for mayor, a seat left open as incumbent Mayor Michelle Distler steps down after serving in the role since 2015. On the council, two longtime incumbents hope to retain their seats in contested races. And two newcomers are competing for a seat left open by Jill Chalfie, the council’s lone progressive. Councilman Kurt Knappen is running for reelection unopposed.

The election comes after city leadership has made a noticeable ideological shift since 2021, when conservative candidates swept their races and pushed the council further to the right.

While the council is technically nonpartisan, party politics have not been kept secret. A campaign mailer for incumbents sent out this fall reads, “Thank our Republican Shawnee City Council for standing strong for Shawnee families.”

The city has gained widespread recognition in recent years for the redevelopment of its downtown, which has managed to maintain its small town feel while bustling with new restaurants and bars, including the cocktail spot Drastic Measures, a James Beard Award finalist.

But the new council has taken some controversial steps, including voicing support for a statewide ban on transgender athletes participating in girls sports — legislation that lawmakers passed last session. Council members also approved an ordinance limiting how many unrelated people can live together, a move that’s embroiled in a lawsuit. A federal judge earlier this fall sided with the city. The plaintiff, a property management company, is now appealing.

The city has seen several department heads and high-level staff members resign in the past two years. Shawnee has lost a city manager, communications director, finance director, deputy city manager and others. Incumbents argue that it’s simply normal staff turnover. But with notable leaders leaving, it’s become a major talking point among newcomer candidates, who argue the council’s attitude and rejection of staff expertise are causing employees to resign.

Incumbents say the council has simply become more critical of staff recommendations. Most notably, members this fall lowered the city’s property tax rate more than staff recommended for the third year in a row, going against advice that the larger cuts would drain the city’s reserves and make it harder to fund projects.

The council majority has argued the city has kept more money in reserves than needed, and that residents deserve a more meaningful cut amid rising property values.

“We’ve lowered the mill levy three years in a row without cutting services. Time has shown we’ve been able to do that,” Kemmling said, arguing that the council has been more conservative with spending in other areas to offset it. “There’s almost an argument being made here that whatever staff recommends we have to do. To me that’s not real leadership.”

But Sandifer argues the council should heed city staff’s advice, worried the city is risking a future revenue shortfall.

“I believe in low taxes, but not recklessly low,” Sandifer said. “When you’re cutting something to the point it’s dangerous and damaging the city, according to the advice from trained staff, we have an issue.”

Council members also have taken a harder stance on development, often pushing for lower-density projects when apartment plans are proposed. A developer recently retracted his request for apartments off of Kansas 7 Highway after council pushback. While incumbents say the council is protecting Shawnee’s neighborhood feel, opponents argue there’s been a chilling effect on development and worry about a lack of housing diversity for working families.

The council has rejected Distler’s recent appointments to the city’s planning commission, where many of those development decisions get made.

Johnson County residents can vote in advance starting on Saturday. On Nov. 7, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Ward 1

The two candidates in the 1st Ward, covering northeastern and central Shawnee, have drastically different ideas on the direction the city is headed.

Councilwoman Tammy Thomas, a longtime Shawnee resident who previously served on the De Soto school board and worked for the Kansas Department of Children and Families, is running for a second term. She faces a challenge from newcomer Sierra Whitted, a Wichita native who moved to Shawnee in 2020 and works as a lab technician focused on lung cancer research.

Thomas believes the city is in a better place than it was four years ago, including the council lowering property taxes over the past few years.

“We have taken too much of the people’s money in previous years with 57% in reserves. ... Lowering the mill levy has been positive for citizens as they are keeping more of their own money. I will consider another mill levy decrease, if it is responsible action, with our next budget,” she told The Star in an email.

Whitted said she was inspired to run when she “saw staff leaving, the effects of votes and statements that discriminated against people in our community, votes that made housing even more difficult to attain. We chose Shawnee because of the care that was put into the city to make it successful. I want to keep Shawnee a Hometown with Heart.”

She does not support the council’s support of the state’s transgender sports ban or the city’s ordinance limiting how many unrelated people can live together, both of which Thomas supported.

Ward 2

In the city’s 2nd Ward in eastern Shawnee, Councilman Eric Jenkins is running for a third term against newcomer Jeanie Murphy.

Jenkins, a retired veteran who worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and also previously served on the city’s planning commission, said the city is on track, lowering taxes and being more critical of development proposals. He also pointed to his efforts to revitalize the city’s downtown while sitting on the board of the Shawnee Downtown Partnership.

“Before the council turned over on the leadership side, I heard a lot of talk that we need economic development. Well, they didn’t do anything. Talk is cheap. Now we’re actually doing something,” Jenkins said. “I’m creating an economic engine in downtown Shawnee. Not talking about it, doing it.”

Murphy is a former ballet dancer turned ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, who also has worked at Kansas City’s reStart Inc. homeless shelter. She said she wants to see a return to “respect and dignity” among the council and city staff, and to “get rid of some of the name calling and distrust.”

On taxes, Murphy said, “nobody wants to pay more taxes. Our taxes are going up. And you can decrease the city’s part of that, which for the average homeowner will be a $7 to $10 a month decrease, while all other parts go up. I know it’s really popular to have our taxes go down. But we’ve done this before, made incremental cuts and then the housing bubble breaks and all of a sudden we aren’t bringing in enough money and we have to raise the mill levy.”

Ward 4

In Shawnee’s 4th Ward, south of Shawnee Mission Parkway, two newcomers are competing for an open seat.

Laurel Burchfield, marketing director for Jewish Family Services, is running against Megan Warner, a veteran who owns a real estate appraisal business.

Burchfield said she has been “very disappointed with the tone and decisions being made” on the council, arguing that only a “faction of our city residents” are being heard.

She said she’s seen “the national trend of ugly partisan politics encroaching into our local government” and wants to “be part of the change to correct that.” And she is also focused on increasing housing options for working families and older residents.

Warner said her priorities are “lowering taxes, supporting our public safety officers, and preserving our single-family neighborhoods.” She said the city needs to find a better balance between building more housing to attract businesses, while preserving a small-town feel.

And she believes the city has changed for the better, saying past councils pushed through “property tax increases, uncontrolled spending, road projects unsolicited by residents, high-density, towering apartment complexes, or massive corporate welfare structures.”