Six candidates vying for three seats representing parts of northeastern Johnson County and the Blue Valley area laid out their priorities in a live forum hosted by the Johnson County Post on Tuesday night.
The Post is hosting seven nights of forums for Kansas Statehouse and local races ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
The three districts covered in this forum were:
- House District 19, covering parts of Leawood, Overland Park and Prairie Village, generally between 83rd Street/Somerset Drive and 103rd/95th streets, and between Metcalf Avenue and the state line.
- House District 24, covering parts of Merriam, Mission and Overland Park, generally between Switzer and Lamar Avenue and from the Wyandotte county line to 79th/67th streets.
- House District 28, covering parts of Leawood, Overland Park and Oxford Township, generally between 123rd/135th streets and 143rd/151st streets, and between Metcalf Avenue and the state line.
Who is running?
House District 19
- Republican Mark Hermes, of Overland Park
- Democratic incumbent Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, of Overland Park
House District 24
- Democratic incumbent Jarrod Ousley, of Merriam
- Republican Scott Speicker, of Merriam
House District 28
- Republican Alex Bergman, of Overland Park
- Democrat Bryan Mouber, of Overland Park
How to watch the Post’s forum
The Post livestreamed Tuesday’s forum on our Facebook and Youtube pages, and a recording of it is embedded below.
Following the embedded video are the questions each candidate answered during the forum.
Timestamps are included in bold at the end of each question to help you navigate through the forum video if you’d like to jump around.
Questions and timestamps
1. Opening statements [4:44]
2. Property taxes and state tax policy: Property taxes are readers’ No. 1 issue, and the Legislature plays a key role. This past session, a valuation-cap amendment cleared the Senate but failed in the House, and a local-spending cap was vetoed, so Kansans again got no meaningful tax relief from Topeka. What specific policies would you vote for in Topeka to lower residential property tax bills for Johnson Countians? [12:42]
3. Public schools and special education: Readers want to hear what statehouse candidates say about fully funding public schools and special education, in particular. At least 17 readers raised this concern in response to the Post’s ask for questions. Four Johnson County school districts are moving toward potentially suing the state over special education funding, arguing Kansas has for years paid less than what state law calls for, leaving districts to cover the gap. Would you vote to fully fund special education? How would you pay for it? [22:22]
4. School vouchers: Here’s a question from the audience. Do you support school vouchers or similar programs that may allow families to use public dollars for private schools? [31:32]
5. Data centers: More than a dozen readers asked to hear candidates’ stances on large data centers proposed across Johnson County. Readers are concerned about who will pay for the water and electricity these facilities use. Currently, Kansas offers large data center operators sales tax exemptions in exchange for commitments on water conservation and energy grid preservation. Some readers, though, are calling for a statewide moratorium on data centers. Do you support tax breaks for data centers? Do you support a data center moratorium? Why or why not? [36:21]
6. Artificial intelligence and AI regulation. This is a question from the audience. There’s a lot of talk about the need for government regulation of artificial intelligence. What do you think is the greatest concern? What can the Kansas Legislature, if anything, do about it? [48:01]
7. Gut and go: Multiple readers brought up the common legislative maneuver of “gut and go” … where a bill passes one chamber, the text of which gets completely changed in the other chamber to an entirely different bill and is then passed back to the first chamber for an up-or-down vote. Readers say it’s practices like this that taint the bill-making process and lead to Kansans losing trust in Topeka. Do you support any moves to limit this type of procedure? [53:18]
8. Working across the aisle: This comes from the audiences, as well as many readers, about a dozen in fact, based on the emails we received … they’ve said they’re tired of partisan finger-pointing and want to hear what candidates would actually get done. How do you plan to work across the aisle to collaborate with your colleagues who don’t vote your way? And name one compromise you’d be willing to make. [59:50]
9. ALPRs: Automated license plate reader cameras … from brands like Flock, Genentech and Axon … are being deployed by law enforcement agencies throughout Johnson County and the state. Police say these devices help investigate cross-jurisdictional crimes and can track lawbreakers who are trying to flee. But residents are pushing back as more reports come to light of agencies and individual officers abusing them or accessing cameras’ data for questionable purposes. There is currently no state law governing local agencies’ use of licence plate readers. Would you advocate for any rules or regulations for these devices? [1:06:19]
10. State minimum wage. This one comes from the audience. Do you support increasing the state’s minimum wage of $7.25 so that residents could meet their financial needs, as this person phrases it? [1:12:08]
