ShawneeDispatch.com

Dan Pflumm

In the race for Shawnee's mayor, concerns have been raised that Dan Pflumm would not have the time for all of the mayor's duties.

In fact, last year, a majority of the Shawnee City Council voted to appoint Council member Mickey Sandifer as Council president, the mayor's stand-in when he is unavailable, rather than Pflumm. They expressed concerns that because his business always seemed to keep him from attending city functions, he would not be available to take the mayor's place.

Pflumm says those concerns are unfounded.

"I believe I do have the time, and that's why we do have a Council president: when the mayor's not there, the Council president substitutes for him," said Pflumm, currently a Ward I Council member. "Anyone who says I don't have the time is not in my shoes. If they were wondering if I was going to run for mayor, they should have elected me to Council president to see if I had the time."

Lowering taxes and increasing economic development have been Pflumm's main campaign issues, and Pflumm said he thinks there are places where the city could cut spending.

"We need to look at every single budget, and go back through and try to cut costs wherever we can, wherever it's possible, to keep from raising taxes," he said.

Pflumm said economic development is the key to keeping taxes low, though he admits "it's not a quick fix; it takes time to do things like that."

To attract more development, Pflumm said the city needed to add to its financial incentives policy, which he said focuses too much on tax abatements. He said he would like to see more done with Tax Increment Financing and Transportation Development Districts.

"The other thing is we need to investigate what type of entertainment venue we could bring here to use STAR bonds from the state of Kansas," Pflumm said.

Though he said he's not sure what the entertainment venue could be, he suggested possibly a tournament-level soccer facility or an aquarium.

"We should try to find something that is not in Kansas City that could benefit the whole area," he said. "Being right south of the race track and the Legends and the new water park that's going in up there, we should have something that could complement those developments."

Pflumm said one area a soccer facility might work is south of the Mid-America Sports Complex on Johnson Drive, between Barker Road and the railroad tracks to the west, land that is partially owned by the county parks system. He said the visitors to a soccer facility would generate funds in sales taxes and hotel stays.

He said such funds could help build a western aquatic facility. Pflumm said he supports a western pool, but he doesn't know to what extent the pool would be built. He said if the city is going to consider creating a full community center, he thinks it should conduct a study to determine if adding on to the current Civic Centre would be more economical.

Pflumm said he supports the city's branding project, and he'd like the city to look into other companies that help identify businesses and retail to come into an area.

"It could possibly help; it's another thing out there we could possibly use," Pflumm said.

Pflumm believes there are other actions the city could do to help the commercial centers that have vacancies and boost sales taxes. He said TIFs could be use in a blighted area, and he thinks they could be a solution to bring businesses to shopping centers like Westbrooke Village.

As candidates have discussed the city's smoking ordinance while campaigning, Pflumm has expressed his dislike of the way the ordinance came about from the task force appointed by Mayor Jeff Meyers.

"If you pick six pro-smoking people, and six pro-nonsmoking people, you will not have a smoking ordinance that is completely smoke free," Pflumm said.

Pflumm voted for the ordinance last year, but at the time he said he would rather have seen a total ban.

Pflumm said he felt the Johnson County Behavioral Study, which surveyed residents about their dining habits in restaurants and bars where smoking was concerned, was enough of an indication that a majority of the county was against smoking.

The survey found that 85 percent of those surveyed were nonsmokers, and 79 percent of respondents said they requested the nonsmoking section at restaurants. Of the nonsmokers, 74 percent said they would not choose the smoking section to sit in, if they did not get their first choice.

The Justice Center was an issue of controversy last year, as well. Pflumm was among those who voted against awarding the contract to build the Justice Center, saying the city should investigate putting the facility in the former Hy-Vee at 65th Street and Quivira Road.

Pflumm said he still believes the city could have saved money by using the grocery store building, but he has accepted that the city has moved forward with the Justice Center.

"There were five votes to build the Justice Center, so we're building the Justice Center, and I'm behind it 100 percent," he said. "Everybody thinks that I'm not behind the Justice Center, but that is not correct."

Pflumm said he's not sure what exactly should move into the vacated Safety Center once the Police Department moves to the Justice Center, but he believes the city should use all the space it has before building anything else.