Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to show Bob Pape owns at least four residential properties and not three as was stated in an earlier version of the story.
An already contentious mayoral race in Merriam has intensified and turned personal in the final week of campaigning.
The latest source of tension: candidate Billy Croan’s assertions that current Mayor Bob Pape does not reside full time in Merriam — instead saying he spends most of his time at his girlfriend’s house in Overland Park.
Pape denied this in an interview with the Post and also with vehement public comments made from the dais at Monday night’s city council meeting.
“ My opponent has accused me of not living in Merriam,” Pape said at the meeting. “When one of my neighbors called him out on this lie and said, ‘I am his neighbor in Vernon Place,’ my opponent attacked him.”
Croan told the Post that he’s seen Pape’s car at a home in Overland Park and that constituents have also sent him photos and videos of it there.
“If you’re not living in the city, that’s a problem,” Croan said.
Pape owns multiple properties in Merriam, Overland Park
Property records show Pape owns at least four residential properties in Johnson County — two in Merriam and two in Overland Park. He says his full-time residence is one of the Merriam homes, where he lives with his sister.
Pape told the Post he’s lived in his current home since the 1990s. According to the city’s website, he has lived in Merriam since 1966.
Croan doesn’t dispute that Pape owns homes in Merriam but says he spends most of his time at one of the properties he owns in Overland Park, where Pape’s girlfriend lives.
For his part, Pape told the Post he frequently visits his girlfriend at her home but does not live there. (Pape confirmed to the Post what property records show, that the property is at an address near 75th and Antioch, in Overland Park just across the Merriam city line.)
“A repeated daily visit for years is more than just a visit to me,” Croan said, about how Pape spends his time.
Croan recently sent a letter to Merriam residents that, among other things, implied Pape does not live in the city. It reads:
“Merriam government should buy goods & services from Merriam businesses first, and meet staffing needs for the most part with true Merriam residents. The people who make the rules for and administer them, should also live in Merriam. (And so should the mayor…)”
“You have reached a new low”
Two Merriam residents told the Post that Croan has been going door to door to dispute the mayor’s residency. He also allegedly asked Pape’s neighbors about his whereabouts.
Croan recently knocked on the door of another home — the one belonging to Pape’s girlfriend — which Croan confirmed to the Post.
Pape said in his public comments at Monday’s city council meeting he was there having dinner and watching football when Croan came to the door. He said Croan filmed his girlfriend and asked how long Pape had been there.
“When she replied, ‘Two hours,’ he asked if it was, ‘Two hours or two years?” Pape said, adding that his girlfriend was “shaking” after the interaction.
“There’s one thing to come after me to try and win at all costs, but when you attack my family, my girlfriend and my friends, you have reached a new low,” Pape said.
No law requires certain time spent at residence
While there is no city ordinance that requires Merriam residency for the mayor, Kansas law dictates that elected city officials, including mayors and city councilmembers, must live in the city they work for.
There is also no specific requirement in state statute laying out any amount of time an official must spend at their residence.
Croan called it a “moral” issue, rather than a legal one.
“You have a duty to live full time in Merriam,” Croan said. “And I think a lot of neighbors would agree with that, too.”
In his statement, Pape called Croan’s behavior “despicable” and “disgusting.”
“ He has been at every city event for the past six months and has interrupted residents having a good time so that he could campaign and attack my administration,” Pape said at the meeting.
Croan has already clashed with city over transparency
Croan, who is running on a platform centered on government transparency, has filed dozens of records requests to the city in recent years.
City officials discussed the volume of those requests at a July meeting, during which they said the workload had affected staff operations.
“This is more than just formal records requests. This goes back years,” said Merriam City Administrator Chris Engel at the July 28 meeting. “It impacts many staff members’ and our ability to efficiently do our jobs.”
Engel characterized Croan’s records requests as bordering on “harassment” toward city staff.
Croan was not named in the meeting, but he identified himself as the person making the requests during public comments.
“The way this whole witch hunt has been put on is a shame on this city,” Croan said that evening. “I can give you more thoughts on this later, but I’m still stewing on this. This is nuts. Shame on you all.”
Visit the Post’s election primer to learn more about Pape and Croan’s positions.
Juliana Garcia contributed to this story.
