Your primer for the Roeland Park mayoral primary

Roeland Park voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the primary for mayor. Here’s a rundown of the candidates and where they stand on the issues:

Incumbent Joel Marquardt announced earlier this year that he would not be seeking a second term at mayor. Four candidates stepped in to the race to replace him: former city council member Roger Cooper, CPA and former city council member Scott Gregory, attorney Mike Kelly, and former city council member Linda Mau.

• Cooper is endorsed by Kansans for Life. He does not have a campaign website.
• Gregory is endorsed by the MainStream Coalition. He does not have a campaign website.
• Kelly is endorsed by the MainStream Coalition and Equality Kansas. You can find his campaign website here.
• Mau is endorsed by Kansans for Life. She does not have a campaign website.

Earlier this month, we asked the candidates to submit responses to questions sent to us by our readers about the biggest issues facing the city. (Mau did not participate in the questionnaire). You can find the candidates’ responses linked below:

1. 1.) The city raised its property tax rate by 26 percent in 2014 in anticipation of Walmart leaving the city. With Walmart now committed to staying in the city in the near term, what should the city do with its property tax rate?
2. 2.) Some residents have been concerned in recent years that the council from time to time gets caught up in personal squabbles. As mayor, what steps would you take to ensure that Roeland Park’s city council and workshop meetings are civil and productive?
3. 3.) A group of Roeland Park citizens have taken it upon themselves to raise funds for the continued development of R Park. Do you support further development and preservation of existing parks in Roeland Park? If so, what features would you like to see added to community parks? How should those developments be funded?
4. 4.) Roeland Park faces a challenge in finding a new, long-term home for its public works operation. Where do you think the city should locate its public works facility? Why?
5. 5.) What about Roeland Park are you most proud of? What does Roeland Park need to work to improve?