Two candidates vying for the mayoral seat to lead the City of Prairie Village laid out their priorities in a live forum hosted by the Johnson County Post on Thursday evening.

The Post is hosting seven nights of forums for other local races as well as the Kansas Statehouse ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.

Who is running?

• Cole Robinson, a current councilmember representing Ward 1
• Inga Selders, a current councilmember representing Ward 2

How to watch the Post’s forum

The Post livestreamed Thursday’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 [4:02]

2. Mayor’s power: The city code gives the mayor “superintending control of all officers and affairs of the city,” veto power over ordinances with some exceptions, can cast tie-breaking votes and sign off on appointments. In practice, a professional city administrator runs daily operations, but the mayor does play an active part in city government. Given these powers, name the one thing you’d push hardest for in your first year as mayor. [7:37]

3. Property taxes and the budget: The city has kept its municipal property tax rate roughly flat, though home values — and their attendant annual tax bills — keep climbing for many residents. Yes or no: would you vote to collect more than the revenue-neutral rate next year? If yes, what do taxpayers get for it? If no, name the service you’d cut back on to make the math work. [10:52]

4. Rising home values, spending and budget cuts: The city’s 2027 budget holds the mill rate flat, even as general fund spending increases 3.4%. We’ll also note the county’s public safety sales tax, which give some revenues to cities, is going away next year, so you are losing that revenue source. What do you say to readers who feel the city’s expanding budget is being financed increasingly off their property taxes? … What would you cut. If you say the city property rate needs to be slashed to be in line with revenue neutral, then name the line in the 2027 budget you would have been cut. Give me a specific line or program. [14:00]

5. City borrowing and the plan for new city hall: The city is borrowing $27 million for the municipal complex and, with interest, will repay roughly $48 million over 30 years for that project. This was key sticking point in the debate over the new city hall. Inga Selders, you made an effort to repeal a charter ordinance that allowed that borrowing to occur without a public vote. Cole Robinson, you’ve defended the city’s powers to approve such projects and debt financing without voter approval. Was the borrowing for the city hall project worth it? [20:44]

6. Moving Corinth Library to municipal campus: The council has agreed to study moving Corinth Library onto the municipal campus, which would put a second big building project on that same block on Mission Road within a few years. As mayor, you’d help negotiate details like the land price, parking and the timing of construction. What terms would make it a good deal for Prairie Village? What, if anything, would make you walk away? [27:18]

7. Teardown-rebuilds: We have a question from the audience about teardown/rebuilds. For years, small postwar houses in Prairie Village have steadily been replaced with much larger, more modern ones. For better or worse, you could say the city has become the defacto face of the teardown-rebuild trend in Johnson County. The city has tightened some construction noise rules, and there are some design standards in place for rebuilds. Are the current rules enough? How would you expect to address teardowns as mayor? [29:49]

8. Townhomes: Someone from the audeince asks what plans do you propose for townhomes, that those of retirement age or lower-income couples? I will say this landscape has shifted pretty significantly since the new housing law SB 418, which we can talk about more. Inga Selders, you said it’s not going to be that type of multifamily housing that’s going to make it affordable to live in Prairie Village. What’s your response to that? … Cole Robinson, what plans do you propose for townhomes and potential multifamily opportunities, though those opportunities might be limited in Prairie Village? [34:41]

9. Homes as rentals or owned by investors: This question from the audiences says small, “affordable” houses are being purchased as rentals or by investors; how would you control that, either investors or properties being used as short-term rentals? [36:57]

10. ADUs: A question from the audience as well. This is a little outdated because of SB 418. Accessory dwelling units (also called “granny flats”) were at the center of the city’s 2023 housing debate, and both of you at that time, I believe, voted to declare the city wouldn’t pursue ADUs. The state has now legalized them “by right,” and Prairie Village has to write the rules around ADUs. What specific regulations, if any, would you like to see on ADUs? Do you support or oppose rezoning for accessory dwelling units? As mayor, how would you want to regulate ADUs if they start popping up more under this new state law? [39:19]

11. The YMCA property: We have a couple of questions from the audience about the YMCA property. What lessons do you take from the sale of the property? What is the status of the property? [42:50]

12. City committees: A couple of questions from the audience related to committees and their composition. What is the budget for the diversity committee, and also why doesn’t the city participate in more Johnson County diversity events rather than duplicating their own? … Also, one person asks why are people living in rental units part of city committees when maybe homeowners are not? [44:59]

13. Paying city councilmembers and mayor: A couple of questions from the audience. If elected, would you support paying city councilmembers and the mayor? Right now it’s a nominal $1 salary, I believe, that you get laminated checks for you that you can’t use. [50:02]

14. Working with city staff and committees, and making cuts to staff: This is another question from the audience. If elected, what changes, if any, are you contemplating with respect to city staff and, if so, why? [52:27]

15. Growing police department: This question from the audience about police. This person points out the population of Prairie Village has not changed since 1996; why did the police department need to grow? That cow has already left the barn; the city hall is getting built and the police station is getting expanded. Why does police need this expanded facility? [1:00:17]

16. Campaign finance: Three questions from the audience related to campaign finance contributions. Where are you getting your campaign contributions from? [1:02:58]

17. Setting the tone at city hall: This question matches one I prepared. What will it take for residents of differing opinions to be able to express their views without being disrespectful or unkind? [1:05:17]

18. One wish for Prairie Village, plus recent divisions: This question from the audience: If you could wave a magic wand and have one wish for Prairie Village, what would you wish?  [1:08:48]

19. Reflecting on your time on the city council: Both of you are city councilmembers, you’ve had time on the city council. This is a chance for you to reflect on how you’ve been on the council and how that might impact your work as mayor. What have you learned on city council that will impact your job as mayor? [1:12:23]

Keep watching: The Post’s candidate forum for Kansas House districts 18 & 39