ShawneeDispatch.com

A week before the election, candidates for two wards in the Shawnee City Council race and the mayoral candidates had their first group meeting with the public.

Candidates from Wards II and IV, as well as Mayor Jeff Meyers and his opponent, Dan Pflumm, answered questions Tuesday in a “Meet the Candidates” night sponsored by the Benninghoven Elementary, Trailridge Middle and Shawnee Mission Northwest High schools’ PTAs. Candidates for Ward II were Neal Sawyer and Ron Weigel, and candidates in Ward IV were Frank Imgrund and Mickey Sandifer.

Candidates answered six questions submitted by those in attendance, given five minutes to introduce themselves and two minutes to answer each question, and the order in which they answered questions was determined by a coin toss.

The event was set for only those candidates whose constituents are within Northwest’s boundaries, so Ward III candidates did not participate. Ward I incumbent Cheryl Scott, who no longer has an opponent, spoke briefly to encourage everyone to vote for the mayoral race and to vote for her, as her opponent withdrew too late to have her name removed from the ballot.

Candidates first introduced themselves, giving their backgrounds and qualifications. Sawyer said as a Council member, he was instrumental in helping set up the Shawnee Downtown Partnership and worked with the businesses and residents on what to do with the Downtown Streetscape. He said the streetscape, which was revised several times to meet concerns of those downtown, was a good example of how the government should work, by getting the input and a consensus from the people.

Weigel said in his job with Valenite Inc., he often has to go to businesses and solve problems for them. He said he decided to run for Council because he was concerned about the city’s recent tax increase and the need for economic growth.

Sandifer said he was on the Council because he enjoyed helping people and being involved. He said he knows a lot of people are worried about economic development, but he thinks some candidates are making too much of last year’s tax increase, because it has not been an issue for anyone he has talked to going door to door.

His opponent, Frank Imgrund, said in his job with DST Systems, he has been responsible for multi-million dollar budgets and been asked to cut those budgets on a moment’s notice. He said he’s been able to do that without cutting people or services. He said he thought some Council members don’t have the experience to look at the budget and find places to cut spending.

Meyers said he has been involved in Shawnee city government for 19 years, and he liked to make a positive impact on people, which is reflected in his job as a teacher and coach. He said there are three principles he works by: do what is right by being honest and trustworthy, do best that he can and treat others how he wants to be treated. He said he has followed those principles as mayor.

Pflum said he was running because of last year’s property tax increase, saying Meyers had said he would not to raise taxes during his first campaign, but two years later, taxes were increased. He said the city should have tried harder to save money, referring to the Downtown Streetscape, lawn mowing services and the Justice Center as three instances in which the city could have possibly saved money.

The following are the candidate’s paraphrased responses to six questions asked of them:

Question 1 – How do you hope to encourage productive use of empty retail space? How can Shawnee be competitive to attract businesses from other cities?

Weigel: He said this was one of the reasons why he’s running. He noted all of the commercial buildings that are vacant, and said the city just needs to be more aggressive to attract businesses to fill them. “I’m not pointing fingers at any body. If we need to have more people or a task force to look at this, that’s what we need to do.”

Sawyer: He said it’s true Shawnee have empty buildings, but he pointed out that several resulted from situations he doesn’t feel that the city has control over. He said he would agree that we probably need to work harder to get those spaces filled, but the city is still collecting property taxes on them. He said the city has had some successes in the past filling vacancies in the downtown area, but as a Council member, he didn’t have “the magic wand” to make businesses occupy the buildings.

Imgrund: He said there’s no single answer, but he would like the city to help out by hiring a search firm to do a nationwide search for companies to occupy the bigger spaces. He said the city could hire people or use its existing people to pound the pavement to attract smaller stores here, as well. He said the city needs to do some type of financial incentive to get companies to be competitive with neighboring cities.

Sandifer: He said the city has an exceptional economic development council right now, noting that the city has a goal of 35 percent commercial property in the city. He said the city already has moved from 22 to 27 percent commercial property. He said the only other thing to do is to pay an adjustment for someone to get out of their lease in the former grocery stores. He said the city couldn’t spend money for consulting services when it was already paying people in house. As for moving the Justice Center into the former Hy-Vee, he said people when people voted to have the Justice Center tax, it was promoted as being built at Johnson Drive and Renner Road. He said he would not change what the people voted for.

Pflumm: He said the city needed to make sure the construction of the interchange at Kansas Highway 7 and Johnson Drive didn’t hurt the development where the former Price Chopper is located. He said that the whole shopping center at 75th and Quivira is hurting right now, and when the Dillons store moves out April 1, smaller businesses will hurt. He said the city had to do whatever it can to give incentives for businesses to come to the area.

Meyers: He said Shawnee has an 89 percent occupancy rate, and that’s going up. He said he was to have meeting with Westbrooke Shopping Center’s owners Wednesday to discuss an overhaul for the development. “I think there’s going to be some very exciting news coming forward,” he said. “We don’t just sit on our hands when these vacancies come up, we go out and talk to people.” He said rent is still being collected on the former Price Chopper on Shawnee Mission Parkway, but the city will keep working on it. He noted some incoming developments, like a Best Buy and Holiday Inn. He said there are a lot of things on the horizon, and he is meeting with developers on almost a weekly basis.

Question 2 – Is there any reason why Shawnee residents have so little economic development, especially downtown? Why hasn’t downtown theater opened, as it could generate revenue?

Sawyer: He said the individual that owns the theater is very difficult to work with. The owner has talked about selling the theater, but making deed a restriction that it couldn’t be used as a theater. He said the city may have to try harder to get something done. As for downtown, he said he doesn’t believe that downtown is depressed anymore. There are things happening downtown, like a new building that is getting closer to starting construction on Nieman Road. He said businesses are working together to come up with a plan for Nieman, and special tax incentives are still available in downtown area for businesses and residents.

Weigel: He said he didn’t know much about what was happening with the theater. He said some buildings downtown have been remodeled, but he thinks the city can do a lot more about sprucing up that area. He said one downtown business owner asked him why he should spend money on his building when there were run-down buildings across the street. Weigel said everyone will have to be on board for more downtown improvements.

Sandifer: He said the man that owns the theater was remodeling it but wouldn’t allow inspectors in building to make sure it was up to code. The city demanded inspectors be let in, and the owner shut down the building and hasn’t done anything since. He said the city has set up a 90 percent abatement for new buildings and major improvements downtown, and the people that are not fixing their buildings up are the ones who won’t put the money out. But he said the incentives have brought a lot of improvements downtown.

Imgrund: He said he would support revitalization of downtown, and part of problem is people there are getting older. He said the city needed to revitalize neighborhoods so younger families move in.

Meyers: Downtown has had more than 30 million invested in it since 2004, he said, and the city is currently looking at what can be done along Nieman. But all of these things take money, and the Council has to be careful about how they budget for it. He said the city lowered taxes for 14 years, and with the 2007 tax increase, it is back to the same tax level it had in 1991. He said for $50 a month for a $250,000 home, residents get police and fire protection, parks and recreation and other city services. Did say there would come a day that taxes would come. We have lower mill levy than Lenexa, Olathe.

Pflumm: The city needs to work smarter, not harder, he said. The city can cater to the residents in the city by attracting certain businesses. He said his mother and uncle sold the theater to the man that owns it now because he promised to open it as a theater, and he has not lived up to those promises. Pflumm said the city needs to get back to bargaining table to get someone else in the theater and look for other ways to get small shops in downtown.

3- Do you feel money budgeted for parks and recreation is adequate, and how would you modify it?

Weigel: Shawnee has a very excellent parks system, he said, better than other cities around it. He said he wouldn’t modify it.

Sawyer: Shawnee’s parks are excellent, he said, and they’re that way because of the people of Shawnee. The city asks people what they want through needs assessments, and the people of Shawnee have voted twice for the Parks and Pipes sales tax. He said the city has delivered parks that people use.

Imgrund: The parks Shawnee provides are excellent, he said, and he doesn’t have a problem with the parks at all. He said he would not concede that the city is spending every dollar perfectly, but he would not cut out the parks budget.

Sandifer: He said as far as he’s concerned, the parks department is bar none the best. Parks staff bend over backwards for residents, he said. The parks are a necessary quality-of-life element to bring people and businesses into the city.

Pflumm: He said he believes Shawnee’s parks are great. He said he did recommend that city postpone parks development for a year and became known as someone against parks. He said he was only trying to be fiscally responsible. But he said the Parks and Pipes Tax needs to be used to pay down debt on parks that are already built.

Meyers: He said he is very proud of the parks system. The city has put out needs assessments on parks, and citizens have said that parks are a priority, so the city constantly improves them. “I think budget is adequate and has been run very well.”

4 – Does the city have plans for emergency preparedness?

Meyers: He said the city has a plan, and the fire and police departments routinely go through different practices of following plan. It is something the city is very aware of. Shawnee’s crime rate is next to the lowest in the county, he said, and the overall rate decreased by 4 percent last year, which he said was remarkable when a city next door (Kansas City, Kan.) has one of highest crime rates. The Shawnee police and fire departments are first class, some of the best in the region, he said, so the city is prepared for disasters.

Pflumm: He said the Council and mayor were put through Homeland Security training. “My thing for years has been the fire department is number one, and the police department is a very close number two, and everything else is a want.”

Sandifer: He said everyone in the city has been trained, and the police and fire departments are a “well-greased machine.”

Imgrund: He said he did not know the particulars of the city’s plan, but he was glad to know the city has a plan and would support the police and fire departments.

Sawyer: He said he supports police and fire. They have a plan, and the Council knows duties they are supposed to perform. “I am very confident that they will get the job done; our job as a Council is to make sure they have the funding to get the job done.” He said the Council raised taxes to pay down debt and at the same time continue to provide funding for police and fire services.

Weigel: He said also doesn’t know particulars about the city’s plan, but he has heard nothing but good things about the fire and police departments.

5 – When considering budget reductions – what specific programs would you cut? Will taxes be raised or lowered in the future?

Weigel: He said he hasn’t had an opportunity yet to review the budget and thinks it would be premature to comment. Without being on Council, he said he hasn’t seen the information they’ve seen. “I just think that we have to do a better job of looking where we’re spending.” He said instead of the Council deciding to raise the taxes, the people should have a say in that in an election.

Sawyer: He said every year, the Council has to look at every department in the whole city, and they always have lots of needs and wants. “I’ve heard a lot of how people wouldn’t raise the taxes, but I’ve read that they wouldn’t know how to lower them.” He said every year is different on revenue. This year, in the whole state, not just Shawnee, sales taxes are going down. He said it is going to be a tight budget this year again.

Imgrund: He said he was not proposing to cut programs, but the city did recently find it could save money in its mowing services. “I don’t believe that’s the only place in the budget where they could find savings.”

Sandifer: he said he had no intention to raise taxes again. He said some candidates act like city didn’t look for places to cut, but each department cut a lot out of its budget. He said he took the budget to two constituents who complained about the tax increase and went over it with them, and they couldn’t find a place to cut money either. He said the city did best it could, but the increases were necessary.

Pflumm: He said he didn’t believe the city really cut any budgets in 2007. He said the city has to know for sure if it can or can’t save money on a project before moving ahead. He said he didn’t believe taxes should ever go up, when appraisals go up every year, giving the city more money every year. He said the city has to become an economic engine.

Meyers: He compared Shawnee with other cities, saying it has 289 employees while Lenexa, which a population 15,000 people smaller than Shawnee, has 458 employees. Shawnee has the lowest expenditures per square mile and per capita, the fewest employees per capita. Shawnee is very frugal its our staff, he said. He agreed that the city always needs to look at its programs and make sure it’s providing its services efficiently. But he said he would never be able to say never on increased taxes, though he didn’t like them any more than anyone else. “I’m just like you; I’m a teacher married to another teacher, and on our salaries, we don’t want to see more taxes.”

6 – How can you demonstrate you have the time it takes to be in the office you are seeking?

Meyers: He said he stands by his record. His attendance record is second to none, and he attends Council, chamber, SEDC, Shawnee Downtown Partnership and Council of Mayors meetings. “I don’t miss — I’m one of those people that doesn’t like to miss. I believe I do an excellent job, and I happen to have a job that allows me to do this.”

Pflumm: He said he works a lot, but he’ll do what it takes to get the job done. “I’ll do what it takes to make Shawnee a better place.”

Sandifer: He said he currently spends 30 to 45 hours a week doing something for the city, because he is able to come and go with his business. He said he worked hard for many years, but now his family business allows him the time necessary.

Imgrund: He said he has been at DST for 19 years and was recently able to cut back on his hours. He said he doesn’t travel any more and has plenty of time. He said he has been in Shawnee most of his life and loves Shawnee, which is why he’s running for Council.

Sawyer: He said he has a track record of being available, approachable and willing to meet with anybody that wants to talk or wants to come up with an idea. He said he has proven he can make it work with his work schedule. “If you’re going to govern, you have to be available to the people and accountable, and I believe over the last six years, I’ve done that.”

Weigel: he said he was able to meet past responsibilities when he was on his church council. He said he takes responsibility for himself and doesn’t push it off on others.

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