Earlier this summer, the Post asked our readers what issues you wanted to hear candidates running for Shawnee Mayor and City Council to address leading up to the Nov. 7 election.
Based on that feedback, we developed a five-item questionnaire centering the issues most important to Shawnee residents.
Each day this week, we’ll publish the candidates’ responses to one question. (Note: We only asked for responses from candidates in contested races.)
Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
Housing affordability remains a hot topic among readers. Many older residents on fixed incomes feel like they can’t sell their homes and afford to stay in Johnson County, while many young, first-time home buyers can’t compete in a market with such tight, exensive inventory. Some of our readers say they want to see more affordable options come on the market, including so-called “missing middle” housing, like duplexes, townhomes and small starter homes. What things, if any, do you think Shawnee should do to encourage more “missing middle” housing development?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on this issue:
Mayor
Mickey Sandifer
Shawnee has some of the most affordable housing in the area, but I agree we need more missing middle housing to accommodate young families and seniors who want to downsize.
I believe we should use the comprehensive plan that was approved in 2021 that laid out guidelines for townhomes, duplexes and starter home locations and work with the developers interested in coming to Shawnee.
Developers will be more attracted to Shawnee if they know that by following these guidelines their developments will be approved.
Mike Kemmling
Unfortunately, the city can do very little to affect the price of housing. The answer, is not more multifamily, however.
Lease and rental rates at most multifamily developments rival that of a home mortgage. The problem is exacerbated by houses being taken off of the market and being converted into commercial uses such as AirBnB.
The city needs to continue to keep property taxes as low as possible to try to limit the increasing cost of living in Shawnee.
City Council Ward 1
Sierra Whitted
We need to make sure we are serving our community with what residents need. Housing variety and availability is an issue that must be addressed. Luckily, we have the “Achieve Shawnee” comprehensive plan that outlines areas for a variety of housing types including higher density or more attainable housing to meet that need.
Developers have shown that they are willing to work with our requirements to keep a hometown feel. But Shawnee has to show developers that we are willing to work with them, too. If we can bring in more attainable housing it not only fulfills a crucial need for our residents, it would also allow us to support more businesses and add additional income to the city’s budget.
Tammy Thomas (incumbent)
As far as how the city council can impact housing, we must continue to look at the mill levy, additional property tax reduction for the elder population, etc.
Shawnee is a bedroom community and people chose Shawnee because of this. The question of costs certainly is a developer question. When considering potential projects, we must require respect for preexisting architecture and density to align with a solution that is appropriate to Shawnee. We cannot continue giving incentives to developers/builders AND make a project more affordable.
It’s contradictory to offer incentives and expect affordability. Developers/builders are being given an open checkbook in developing by their own rules, blissfully unaware and neglectful of the long-term ripple effect. Incentives ARE tax dollars.
City Council Ward 2
Jeanie Murphy
First, the council must admit that this is a problem. Many residents and newcomers don’t want large high-end homes.
The real estate market is sending strong messages. Rapidly rising prices tell us there aren’t enough available homes in Shawnee to meet demand. Already, prospective residents aren’t able to find homes they can afford on the salary of a teacher, firefighter or new police officer.
Younger people trying to buy their first homes and older individuals wanting to downsize want options that are in very short supply in Shawnee. They are looking for smaller houses and town homes with shared maintenance.
Once the council acknowledges the problem, the city can address it in multiple ways. For example, Ward 2 contains a large part of the neighborhood revitalization area and a federal opportunity zone. These areas need better infrastructure to make them more appealing without causing gentrification. The city should use the available tax incentives to encourage those improvements.
The council can also incentivize developers to include “missing middle” homes in all new developments. We should also designate areas for mixed-use and mixed-density rather than just single-family homes.
The city’s comprehensive plan has a clear roadmap. The plan drew input from over 2,000 residents, city staff and experts from many fields. It can guide us toward more affordable housing all over the city. We should use it as it was meant to be used, not ignore it like the current council has done.
Eric Jenkins (incumbent)
I have been supportive of “missing middle” housing. I would look favorably on housing projects and proposals that offer affordable starter homes for our residents. Many say apartments are the answer, but if you look at the apartment proposals we are receiving from developers, they are renting for $1,500 to $2,500 per month. That’s not affordable. Re-purposing homes in residential subdivisions into 6-7 room mini-apartments is not an acceptable solution. I have opposed this because I strongly believe we need to preserve the rights of homeowners to protect their neighborhoods and receive the benefits of purchasing a home in an R-1 (residential zoned) neighborhood.
I will continue to protect the property rights of our residents. It is interesting that so many are looking to their city to create affordable housing. The price of housing is affected by many factors: the cost of construction, interest rates, property taxes, quality of construction, large influx of immigrants and many other smaller reasons.
All of the influences on raising the cost of housing are outside of the city’s control, but we are being pushed to fix the problem. How about some help from those that create the problem at the federal and state level? That would be helpful…
City Council Ward 4
Megan Warner
Attainable housing is more at the county level – the county is increasing the cost of living more than anyone – by increasing assessed values so drastically and by also increasing our mill levy.
The issue of high taxes was brought to my attention more than any other issue when I knocked on doors this summer, especially by seniors on fixed incomes. Unfortunately, the city can’t change the county taxes, but we can make city-level taxes more attainable – we can keep our same high level of services without increasing the mill levy.
As for residential development, we can do our part by making sure there aren’t too many regulations, so developers want to build in Shawnee.
Laurel Burchfield
Shawnee is in an enviable position in that we have a growing population, undeveloped land and a comprehensive plan (Achieve Shawnee) that identifies appropriate areas to develop missing middle housing. But we have to start saying “yes” to development that creates these housing opportunities rather than continuing to say “no” to any development that doesn’t include large, expensive and predominantly single-family homes.
According to the Shawnee Mission Post, we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in developers requesting site plan and rezoning applications in the past few years. I believe this is in large part because our current city council regularly turns down projects with diverse housing options, even though these proposals align with the Achieve Shawnee plan. This concerns me not just because we’re essentially putting out a large sign at our city’s borders that says, “There’s no place for you here,” but also because we’re turning our back on what we learned from thousands of our residents during the development of Achieve Shawnee.
The resident-input process for our comprehensive plan told us exactly what people want and need to see in our city — and that includes housing options that people can afford. While this can include apartments, it also includes those missing middle housing options like townhomes, smaller houses and medium-density complexes.
Shawnee is currently pricing out our middle class — our workers, our teachers, our firefighters and city employees, who want to live in the community where they work.
Tomorrow, we will publish candidates’ responses to the next question:
Recent reporting by the Post and other media outlets has documented how dozens of city staffers have left Shawnee in recent months for jobs elsewhere, putting more pressure on the staff who have remained. How should the city maintain a highly qualified professional staff amid this revolving door of talent heading to other cities? Do you see this as a problem?
