Another challenger has entered the race for the Ward 3 Prairie Village city council seat that will on November’s ballot.
Lauren Wolf, who has served on the city’s parks and recreation committee for the past few years, filled out her paperwork with the Johnson County Election Office this week.
Wolf, who moved to Prairie Village in 2013, said she’s motivated to run for the seat based on three primary issues:
Increasing green space and pedestrian/cyclist access. “I don’t know many people who get upset about the idea of more parks,” she said. She also indicated that she wants to help ensure the city finds a funding source to complete the bike-pedestrian plan adopted last year. “People are really excited about it,” she said. “I want to make sure we’re paying attention to the details so we can see it move forward.”
Supporting the city’s exterior grant program. Wolf said she sees the program as an important way to keep aging neighborhoods vibrant and attractive to new residents. But, since the program is currently paid for through the city’s economic development fund, she thinks the city will need to push for a sustainable funding mechanism. “I think it’s important to keep the program going and look at expansion,” she said.
Exploring ways to revitalize business along 75th Street. Wolf said that the 75th Street corridor has seen a string of vacancies in recent years, and she wants to push the city to make changes that could bring new businesses to the area. “I want to understand what we can do as a city to bring small business back to our ward,” she said.
Wolf is the second candidate to file for the seat, which has been held by incumbent Andy Wang since 2004. Bonnie Limbird, a former PTA president at Belinder Elementary, announced she was running for the seat last month. Wang has not filed for re-election at this point, but indicated at the time of Limbird’s filing that he planned to run.
Wolf said she believes Ward 3 would benefit from a new councilmember who would proactively seek out the input of residents.
“I do feel like we’ve been a little underrepresented on council particularly on the issues related to home improvement and teardown-rebuilds,” Wolf said. “I want to hear from my neighbors. I want to provide the level of representation that I’d want to receive.”
Wolf was briefly filed as a candidate for the other Ward 3 seat on the council back in 2014, but dropped out and announced her support for eventual winner Eric Mikkelson, who is now the city’s mayor.
An attorney by training, Wolf works as a human resources profession for a local pharmaceutical company.
