Earlier this summer, the Post asked our readers what issues you wanted to hear candidates running for Prairie Village City Council to address leading up to the Nov. 4 election.
Based on that feedback, we developed a five-item questionnaire centering the issues most important to Prairie Village residents.
Each day this week, we’re publishing the candidates’ responses to one question.
Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
New city hall: 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, as some residents have argued the project should be put up for a public vote. Do you support the plan to build a new city hall and expand the police department? Why or why not?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on this issue:
Ward 1
Daniel Garrett
Did not provide the Post with a response.
Cole Robinson (incumbent)
I support moving forward with the municipal campus project because it’s the most responsible, cost-effective way to meet Prairie Village’s long-term public safety and infrastructure needs.
Our Police Department has outgrown its current space and facilities. The plan which council passed 9-2 in June relieves overcrowding, modernizes facilities, and creates room for future growth. By expanding the police headquarters into the current city hall building and constructing a new city hall next door, we avoid the far more expensive option of patchwork renovations over the next several decades.
This project has been years in the making with dozens of public meetings, resident surveys, and design iterations. It doesn’t raise taxes or create new ones. It uses existing revenues to deliver a modern, efficient facility that will serve our community for generations.
One resident has held the project hostage by filing litigation over whether it should go to a public vote. The Council was elected to make after extensive public engagement. Our job is to make responsible long-term investments that protect taxpayer dollars, support our police officers, and ensure our community remains one of the safest and best-run cities in the metro.
Ward 2
Edward Boersma
I support residents voting on borrowing over $27 million plus interest in debt. The budget for the municipal complex construction project was approved in 2023. There has been plenty of time to vote.
I support renovating the existing municipal building. After reviewing the engineering report, it is clear that the building is structurally sound. In July 2023, City Council was presented with a renovation plan that would save taxpayers up to $10 million in construction costs and as much as $8 million over the next 30 years. This renovation not only meets all of the city’s programming needs, but it also allows Prairie Village to retain the Mission Road Bible Church property as a valuable asset for the city.
Some candidates claim they are simply “following the advice of the experts.” But let’s be clear, the experts presented an option to renovate that City Council rejected. And at no point did the experts recommend buying the church with the intent of tearing it down.
Finally, if it is ever determined that the current City Hall must be torn down, the Mission Road Bible Church could serve as a temporary City Hall while rebuilding on the existing site. This approach ensures that, once construction is complete, the church remains a valuable asset for the city.
Ron Nelson (incumbent)
Starting in 2020, City Council has considered numerous options to address overcrowding and insufficient environment at the Prairie Village City Hall and Police Department. The current City Hall was built to residential standards, with pre-911 security and protection for employees and others visiting City Hall, no sprinkler or fire protections systems, and was sadly inadequate when it was first built more than fifty years ago, and office spaces are inadequate for the police departement staff needs as well as for the city staff and modern IT needs, services provided for city committees, residents, and others. Multiple police officers are office in small cramped, quarters and closet spaces, and the evidence room is woefully in adequate in every way. City Council evaluated over 18 different possibilities for renovated or new police headquarters and City Hall. Relying on experts and professional evaluations, council settled on the current plan – which is significantly less expensive than alternatives to rehabilitate and upgrade the current City Hall/police department building. I strongly support – and voted in favor of the current plan for the municipal complex.
Ward 3
Amy Aldrich
I support expanding and modernizing our police department. Public safety is a core responsibility of city government, and our current police facility has clear limitations that need to be addressed. Investing in a better-equipped department is a smart and necessary move.
However, I do not support building a new city hall without a public vote. The proposed $30 million plan includes a new facility for just 17–22 employees, and I don’t believe that level of staffing justifies such a large expense. In fact, hardly any residents visit city hall in person. Most city services are handled online or by phone, making a large new building completely unnecessary.
Residents deserve a say in how their tax dollars are spent.
If elected, I will prioritize public safety, respects taxpayer dollars, and ensure residents have a voice (and vote!) in major decisions.
Shelby Bartelt
I know the City Hall and Police project has raised a lot of questions. Thirty million dollars is a big number, and people want to know if it’s needed, if it’s too expensive, and if other options were considered.
I wasn’t on council when the decision was made, but it passed 9–2 after years of analysis and public discussion. From what I’ve seen, the city looked at several approaches, including renovation, which would have cost more while solving fewer problems. The approved plan expands the Police Department into the current City Hall, builds a new City Hall on property the city already purchased, and updates the court space all at once.
It’s meant to be a long-term solution using existing revenues, so it does not raise property taxes, and it addresses real needs for safety, accessibility, and efficiency.
I know there’s a lot of information out there, and I’d be glad to talk through any parts of the project that concern you. We all care about making smart, responsible decisions for Prairie Village’s future.
Ward 4
Kelly Sullivan Angles
I do not support the current city hall plan, which demolishes a perfectly sound $5 million building and allocates only $4.5 million to the Police Department renovation, while spending upwards of $27 million on a city administrative building for approximately 22 full-time employees. The total price tag with interest on the debt amounts to $50 million over 30 years.
There is no evidence that workable alternatives were properly vetted and shared with our residents. Prairie Villagers deserve full transparency, before-during-and-after planning, and the right to vote on the most significant expenditure in PV history, which will certainly result in increased property taxes to pay for this long-term debt while keeping up with other city needs and obligations.
Nathan Vallette
It’s no secret that our police department has outgrown its space. The current facility was built for a much smaller city and simply doesn’t meet modern safety and technology needs. After years of study, the City Council approved a plan to expand the police department into the existing city hall footprint and construct a new city hall nearby — funded through existing revenues, not new taxes.
I understand why some residents are uneasy with the cost or believe it should go to a public vote. I respect those perspectives. But I also recognize that city government exists to make informed, often technical decisions like this one after years of data, studies, and public discussion. The process was transparent: multiple site reviews, open meetings, and professional cost analysis.
While I’ll always push for fiscal responsibility and regular updates to keep the project on budget, I support moving forward. Our public safety and staff need facilities that allow them to serve residents effectively. The key now is accountability and communication — explaining the “why” as clearly as the “what.” When done right, this project strengthens essential services without increasing taxes, and that’s the kind of investment I believe in.
Ward 5
John Beeder
I do not support the $30 million City Hall plan without a public vote. It would be the largest capital expenditure in our city’s history, and projects of this size should not proceed without taxpayer approval. Kansas law generally requires a referendum for major expenditures, but the council chose to exempt itself. Residents deserve the final say. A public vote would also encourage a healthy, citywide discussion of alternatives, which can help reduce division in our community. The current plan is very expensive, with construction costs significantly higher than other public buildings in our area. Also, the project will commit Prairie Village to 30 years of debt. Lower-cost remodeling or expansion of existing facilities could achieve the same goals.
Betsy Lawrence
I believe in democracy. I believe in representative government. I am not on city council, but just like every other registered voter in Prairie Village, I’ve had the opportunity over the last four years to elect two representatives to the Prairie Village City Council. One of them voted for and one voted against approving a long-term solution to address the problems with our aged and inadequate police and municipal government facility.
Nine of our city’s twelve elected representatives (from liberals to conservatives and lifelong Democrats to lifelong Republicans) voted in favor of this plan, after rejecting at least seventeen other proposals studied over the past four years. No plan is perfect; all have pros and cons.
Whether or not this is the plan I would have chosen, I cannot and do not support the efforts by political lobbying groups like PV United to overturn the vote of our duly elected representatives. I am deeply concerned that while mailers and signs calling for a public vote began circulating as early as January, no steps had been taken to actually get this issue on our ballot this fall. Instead, PV United asks us to abandon our form of government altogether.
Overturning the council’s vote now would not only discard years of deliberation, it undermines the very principle of representative democracy that keeps Prairie Village strong. I do not support these efforts. I support defending and protecting our representative democracy and the institutions that have made Prairie Village the city we all value.
Ward 6
Dan Prussing
Did not provide the Post with a response.
Jim Sellers
I do support the plan. The current structure (police department, municipal court, and city hall) can’t be brought up to code, retrofitted, renovated, expanded and maintained in a cost-effective way. This is in some part due to past city council’s not stepping up to a comprehensive solution, increasing the cost we face today. Re. the vote, the we elect our city council to do what’s best for the city, not just for today, but also for the long term. This is a decision that will impact several future generations of Prairie Village residents. I trust the majority consensus of our elected council who we voted in to study exactly this kind of complex issue and to balance short versus long term needs.
