WATCH: Mission City Council candidates share their visions and priorities

Candidates vying for two contested Mission City Council seats shared their views on the city’s rising property taxes, as well as street maintenance priorities and economic development along the downtown strip at a forum Tuesday night hosted by the Johnson County Post.

The forum on Tuesday was one of 12 scheduled nights of local candidate forums that the Post is hosting across Johnson County ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

The candidates who participated are running for contested city council seats in wards 2 and 3.

Who is running?

City Council (Ward 2)

• Joe Donaway
• Sam Komosa

City Council (Ward 3)

• Debbie Kring (incumbent)
• Kayla Schiller *Did not participate*

Candidates in unopposed races were not invited to participate, including current city councilmembers Josepha Haden Chomphosy in Ward 1 and Ben Chociej in Ward 4, as well as Mayor Sollie Flora.

How to watch the Post’s forum

The Post livestreamed Tuesday’s event on our Facebook page. A recording of the forum can be viewed there, though it is now Facebook’s policy to erase live videos 30 days after they are produced.

You can also watch the full Mission forum on the Post’s new YouTube channel, where it should be preserved into the future.

The full forum video is also embedded below:

Questions

The candidates gave opening statements and answered a series of questions based on reader feedback and suggestions received by the Post before the event.

Timestamps are included at the end of each question to help you navigate through the forum video if you’d like to jump around to issues that matter most to you.

*Note: You will hear interference on the livestream’s video feed between roughly the 10:00 mark and about 13:45. The problem is corrected after that.

1. Opening statements [3:38]
2. Challenge/priorities: What is the next big challenge for Mission? And how will you address it over the next four years on the council? [7:24]
3. Improving city buildings: A question from the audience, “City hall and the city police department are outdated and in need of improvement. Do you have any recommendations for improving those facilities? Do you see this as a priority?” [11:50]

   

4. Property taxes: Mission is one of the few cities in Johnson County that will actually raise its property tax rate next year. The average Mission homeowner in 2026 can expect to pay about $890 to the city, that’s nearly $200 more than this year. City leaders justified this increase, in part, by saying that taxes need to be raised to help boost the city’s reserve funds that pay for services like street repairs and solid waste. Do you think this tax increase is warranted? Why or why not? [17:10]
5. Revenue: In budget discussions this year, the city emphasized the need to diversify sources of revenue. The city’s biggest source of revenue each year is sales taxes. Next year’s budget projects growth in sales tax revenue of just 1-2%, alluding to uncertainty around consumer sentiment and federal policies, including the impact of tariffs, that may dampen growth. What opportunities, if any, do you see to diversify the city’s revenue and potentially take some of the tax burden off property owners? [21:49]
6. Parks: Question from the audience, “Do you think it’s important for the city to invest in public amenities like parks? [25:57]

   

7. Downtown economic development: Another question from the audience, “We’re seeing some empty storefronts along Johnson Drive in downtown Mission. What are your ideas for economic development and bringing more businesses to Mission?” [30:30]
8. Street maintenance: The city says street maintenance consistently ranks as the highest priority on resident surveys but with limited resources, tough choices do have to be made about what streets to prioritize. The city must balance doing regular repairs on residential streets with bigger, more expensive work on busier connector roadways. What would be your approach and what street repair priorities would you advocate for on the council? [34:18]
9. Pedestrian safety: This question comes from the audience. “How do you plan to address pedestrian safety? As more apartments come on line, there are some older areas of the city that do not have sidewalks.” I’d just add bike safety. How do you make Mission more walkable and bikeable? [37:34]

   

10. Citizen engagement: A two-part question from the audience. “How would you go about increasing citizen engagement? And also, what have you done personally to give back to the city of Mission?” [41:12]
11. Mission Gateway: The Mission Gateway site remains idle and increasingly decrepit. Two years ago, the developer, Aryeh Realty, defaulted on millions of dollars in property taxes. The site is now tied up in foreclosure litigation. Though residents routinely ask why can’t the city just condemn the site and take it over, officials say that would be cost-prohibitive because the city would still have to pay the appraised value of the property in order to acquire it. And that is estimated to still be worth more than the value of the city’s annual budget. As the legal foreclosure process plays out, the city’s hands appear to be tied for the foreseeable future. Is there anything the city can do about Mission Gateway? What do you say to residents who remain frustrated and uneasy about the state of one of the city’s most visible properties? [46:53]
12. Current city council: A final question from the audience, “What do you see as a strength of the current city council? And what is something you’d like to see changed?” [50:52]