At Post forum, Prairie Village council candidates (those who showed up) weigh in on city’s hot-button issues

Six of the 12 candidates vying for Prairie Village City Council seats participated in a forum hosted by the Johnson County Post on Tuesday night, sharing their views on a number of high-profile issues that have defined the city’s heated discourse in recent years.

Before a standing-room-only crowd at Corinth Library in Prairie Village, the candidates running for seats in each of the city’s wards discussed where they stood on a plan to build a new city hall, as well as a ballot measure asking voters to “abandon” city government, property taxes, the budget and more.

This was the seventh of 12 scheduled nights of local candidate forums that the Post is hosting across Johnson County ahead of the Nov. 4 election and was one of several candidate forums this fall that the Post is hosting with the help of the Johnson County Library.

The evening was divided into two separate forums, with candidates in Wards 1, 2 and 3, featured first for about an hour, followed by candidates in Wards 4, 5 and 6 for another hour.

Who is running?

Notably, this event featured only half the field of candidates who will appear on Prairie Village ballots.

That’s because a group of six candidates collectively declined to participate.

The candidates who were absent Tuesday, all aligned with the resident advocacy group PV United, ultimately said they could not participate after the Post declined to accept their condition that all 12 candidates be featured on stage at the same time. You can read more about the Post’s negotiations with those candidates here.

Here are the candidates in each ward:

Ward 1

• Daniel Garrett *Did not participate*
• Cole Robinson (incumbent)

Ward 2

• Edward Boersma *Did not participate*
• Ron Nelson (incumbent)

Ward 3

• Amy Aldrich *Did not participate*
• Shelby Bartelt

Ward 4

• Kelly Sullivan Angles *Did not participate*
• Nathan Vallette

Ward 5

• John Beeder *Did not participate*
• Betsy Lawrence

Ward 6

• Dan Prussing *Did not participate*
• Jim Sellers

How to watch the Post’s forums

The Post livestreamed Tuesday’s forums on our Facebook page. (You can find the Ward 1-3 forum here, and the Ward 4-6 forum here.)

A recording of the forums 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 Prairie Village forums on the Post’s new YouTube channel, where they should be preserved into the future.

Questions varied slightly from forum to forum based on audience input, so you can review the full videos for each forum separately below.

Following each video, the Post has included transcribed questions with timestamps so you can more easily jump to parts of the forum that may be of more interest to you.

Videos and questions

Full ward 1-3 forum video: 

1. Opening statements [5:30]
2. Your vision for Prairie Village: This came from a reader email, and I thought it an interesting way to begin this forum. “I’d like to hear the candidates talk about how they think a thriving Prairie Village could look 10 years from now. In other words, what is your vision of healthy growth and change?” [10:00]

   

3. City hall project: After years of discussion, the city council earlier this year settled on a roughly $30 million plan to build a new city hall along Mission Road while expanding the current police headquarters into the current city hall space. The project is currently tied up in litigation. Some residents — again, aligned with your opponents who are not here tonight — have argued the project should be put up for a public vote. They point out the project’s price tag, as well as the need to issue more municipal bond debt to cover its cost. Do you support the plan to build a new city hall and expand the police department? Why or why not? [14:27]
4. Extended city hall discussion: The original city hall question prompted a number of follow-up questions to the candidates and an extended discussion about the city hall project that lasts until about 28:50, if you want to watch the entire exchange.

   

5. Community center: We got a number of questions from the audience about a community center, after the Paul Henson YMCA closed late last year. One questioner points out the old Y site has now been bought by a private developer. What would you support as the best use of that property that balances added revenue for the city, the neighbors nearby and other factors? Another questioner asks, “What is the chance of adding a new community center?” I know the city has talked about that and that might now be off the table. [29:33]
6. Property taxes: Earlier this month, the Prairie Village City Council adopted the 2026 budget that includes a slight reduction in the city’s mill levy, or property tax, rate. Still, with rising home valuations, the average Prairie Village homeowner can expect to pay roughly $50 more per year to the city in property taxes, a total of about $905. Admittedly, the city’s impact on homeowners’ annual tax bill is relatively limited but we hear a lot from readers that they’d appreciate any tax relief they can get. Do you think Prairie Village’s current property tax rate is appropriate? Why or why not? [34:08]
7. Divisiveness: From the housing discussion two years ago, to the now-scuttled talks over a new proposed community center, to the exhaustively discussed plans to build a new city hall, it seems issues in Prairie Village in recent years have frequently broken down into bitter recriminations and finger-pointing. This is reflected in the many yard signs seen around the city and heard in the impassioned and at times angry testimony of resident commenters at city council meetings. To what do you attribute this divisive atmosphere? If elected, what would be your approach to moving on from it? [38:44]

   

8. Affordable senior housing: It’s a topic we hear a lot about in Prairie Village, the topic of housing was front and center two years ago and part of a heated discussion over the city’s housing recommendations and potential zoning tweaks. This question from the audience frames it in a bit different way. They ask, “Is there anything the city can do to offer more affordable housing for seniors?” I also know the city has had its conversation about housing. I want to ask more broadly, is there any realistic chance for housing policy changes after the discussion of two years ago? [43:38]
9. Teardown-rebuilds: A question from the audience and a perennial topic in Prairie Village now for several years: “What, if anything, can the city do about teardown-rebuilds?” [48:43]
10. Qualifications: Consider this question a prompt for a closing statement. What qualifies you for this job? Why should voters vote for you? [52:26]

Full ward 4-6 forum video: 

1. Opening statements [2:30]
2. Your vision for Prairie Village: This came from a reader email, and I thought it an interesting way to begin this forum. “I’d like to hear the candidates talk about how they think a thriving Prairie Village could look 10 years from now. In other words, what is your vision of healthy growth and change?” [6:31]
3. City hall project: After years of discussion, the city council earlier this year settled on a roughly $30 million plan to build a new city hall along Mission Road while expanding the current police headquarters into the current city hall space. The project is currently tied up in litigation. Some residents — again, aligned with your opponents who are not here tonight — have argued the project should be put up for a public vote. They point out the project’s price tag, as well as the need to issue more municipal bond debt to cover its cost. Do you support the plan to build a new city hall and expand the police department? Why or why not? [11:08]

   

4. City hall project follow ups: Each of the candidates were asked follow-up questions regarding the city hall project, and that discussion lasts until about 17:40.
5. Property taxes: This question from an audience member, “What can the city actually do about property taxes?” Cities are limited in what they can do to impact a homeowner’s tax bill in a major way, but there might be some things. [18:12]
6. Budget/spending: Next year’s general fund is set to top $33 million, a roughly 4% increase over this year’s spending total. Critics of city hall and some of your opponents have bemoaned this increased spending, characterizing it as excessive and burdening the average taxpayer in Prairie Village. They also have pointed out that spending has ballooned in recent years even as the city’s population has remained relatively flat. Where do you stand on the city’s current level of spending? [22:52]
   

   

   
   

7. Rentals: We did get a question from the audience about rental properties, suggesting there are too many rentals in Prairie Village, or maybe too many owned homes being rented out. How do you approach this issue? [27:26]
8. Zoning: It came up two years ago, was central to the city’s fight over housing and housing affordability. Do you have any appetite for revisiting that conversation, thinking about zoning changes in Prairie Village? [30:18]
9. “Abandoning” city government: Prairie Village voters this November will also see a ballot question asking if they want to “abandon” the city’s current form of government. If voters approve “abandoning” the current governmental structure, no new structure would immediately be put in place. But the next city council could be in the position of having to vote on a new form of government. In the past, groups aligned with your opponents have advocated for slashing the size of the city council from 12 to six members and called on making the mayor a less powerful figure when it comes to making decisions. Do you support “abandoning” Prairie Village’s current form of government? Are you telling voters to vote for or against this measure? [31:36]
10. PV United: I admit this might not be a fair question to ask this trio of people, but a questioner from the audience does write here, “Who is PV United? What do you know about them?” That gets to the broader question of working with your opponents and would you be able to listen to and compromise with members of that group if you hear from them if elected? [35:48]

    

11. Trash service: A question from the audience noting that they are frustrated with Republic, the city’s privately contracted trash and waste pickup service provider. They note late pickups, missed pickups, incomplete pickups. Is this an issue you care about and what would you do if elected? [40:28]
12. Power outages: Another questioner from the crowd notes their frustration with frequent power outages, particularly I would think during severe storms or high winds. Is there anything the city can do about that? [42:55]
13. Community center: We got several questions from audience members about the chance for a new community center or rec center in Prairie Village. They note that the Y closed late last year. The city made a go at looking into a new community center. That plan seems to be dead for now. Anything the city can do to attempt to bring a new community center to Prairie Village? [46:39]
14. Traffic lights: From a reader email, “Prairie Village manages a great deal of street traffic. Unfortunately, many of the city’s traffic signals are aging  and contribute to increasing congestion and pollution. What is your plan, if any, for modernizing this often overlooked component of our traffic infrastructure?” [50:30]
15. Qualifications: Consider this question a prompt for a closing statement. What qualifies you for this job? Why should voters vote for you? [52:47]