Prairie Village will donate nearly $23,000 to its Ukrainian sister city for “medicine and other humanitarian goods.”
On Monday, the Prairie Village City Council in an 8-4 vote approved the donation totaling $22,900 to its longtime sister city Dolyna, Ukraine — which is in the western part of the country in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, or district.
Councilmembers Terry O’Toole, Lori Sharp, Tyler Agniel and Nick Reddell voted against sending the financial assistance to Dolyna.
Last month, Dolyna leaders in a letter requested Prairie Village’s help buying drones to “monitor large areas, detect hazards, conduct rescue operations, and deliver medicines, humanitarian and other goods as part of the war effort.”
Two weeks ago, the city council during a committee meeting agreed to bring the request up for consideration before the full council. At that time — though the vote to forward the item was 6-5 — the city council did not publicly discuss any concerns about sending funds that may be used to purchase drones to its sister city.
Dolyna has agreed to spend the money on other goods
- After relaying the April 7 council committee of the whole discussion to Dolyna, leaders of the Ukrainian sister city agreed to use the donation to “buy medicine and other humanitarian goods,” according to city documents.
- The council committee’s discussion earlier this month did not specify Dolyna’s need to use the money for medicine or humanitarian goods.
- In a nearly seven-minute video sent to the city after Prairie Village’s committee meeting, Dolyna Mayor Ivan Dyriv explained to Prairie Village leaders that the Ukrainian city needs drones for search and rescue operations of civilians, dropping off food and medicine to places that are difficult to access and other uses.
- Dyriv said Dolyna has no plans to turn any drones bought with Prairie Village money into weapons of war but would also respect if Prairie Village leaders want their donation to explicitly go to other items like medicine.
- “More than anything in this world, we want peace,” Dyriv said after the video, which showed scenes of Dolyna life before and after the Russian invasion in 2022. “We dream of living a normal life in our country, of raising our children under peaceful skies, of building a future filled with hope instead of fear.”
Council votes against limiting funds further
The city council on Monday discussed concerns that the $22,900 donation could still be used to buy drones despite Councilmember Cole Robinson’s motion specifically tying the money to “medicine and other humanitarian goods.”
Councilmember Inga Selders on Monday proposed an amendment to the motion to specify that the Prairie Village’s money could not go toward the purchase of drones. That motion failed, with only Selders voting in support of it.
Councilmembers Chi Nguyen, Ian Graves and Robinson shared concerns about placing additional conditions onto the donation, particularly without ways to enforce any other limitations.
Graves said Prairie Village should trust Dolyna leaders at their word, given that the mayor has assured them the donation can go to other goods like medicine.
O’Toole and Sharp both voted against sending the donation to Dolyna largely because of concerns that the donation falls outside of city business.
Sharp, who said she felt conflicted about the donation request versus the compassion for those living in wartime, offered to instead host a fundraiser for Dolyna. Prior to that, Councilmember Nick Reddell said he would support a fundraising effort rather than a direct donation of city funds.
Councilmembers Dave Robinson and Greg Shelton said the vote should be unanimous to support the donation. (Greg Shelton is the husband of Post Publisher Jay Senter’s sister.)
Shelton said as someone who “had the misfortune of being at ground zero on 9/11,” he knows that living in a domestic warzone is “horrific, it is confusing, it is chaos and it is really, really hard to find your way.”
His experience was one day, and Dolyna has been living in a warzone daily for more than three years, Shelton said.
“This isn’t a debate, this isn’t really a discussion in my mind,” Shelton said. “This is us stepping up to the plate, demonstrating the fidelity of our community to our sister city in their time of need. I agree with Dave, this should be a 12-0 vote.”
Next steps:
- The city plans to send Dolyna $22,900 for “medicine and other humanitarian goods.”
- City staff previously told the Post that the money is likely to come directly from the city’s general fund.
Go deeper: Watch the city council’s entire discussion online here, starting at 4:16:03. The video from Dolyna leaders starts at 4:16:55.
