Will newcomers make Johnson County Commission more conservative? Here’s who’s running
The Nov. 8 election could change the direction of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, as an incumbent running for chair and several newcomers seek to make the nonpartisan board more conservative.
Conservative Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara and Roeland Park Mayor Mike Kelly are facing off to replace longtime board Chairman Ed Eilert, who is retiring.
Among four candidates in the August primary, Kelly captured the most votes with 37%. O’Hara earned 25%.
The chair represents the county as a whole. In addition, newcomers are vying for three of the six commission seats, representing Districts 1, 4 and 5 for four-year terms.
While the election is technically nonpartisan, some candidates have made their Republican alignments clear. O’Hara and Audra McMahon, who is trying to replace Commissioner Becky Fast in District 1, identified as Republicans on a survey from The Star. In District 5, Stephanie Suzanne Berland, who is running against long-time incumbent Commissioner Michael Ashcraft for the 5th District seat, identifies as conservative. Ashcraft is also a more conservative member of the board, voting with O’Hara on many decisions.
The election comes amid a months-long investigation by Sheriff Calvin Hayden challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election in Johnson County, despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud there, but some candidates have still expressed skepticism inthe election’s results.
Other important issues for Johnson County voters include rising property taxes, economic development and public safety.
The board oversees county departments and approves an annual budget of $1.45 billion.
Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8. Early voting is also open, and locations can be found at the Johnson County Election Office website.
Two candidates, Ashcraft and 4th District challenger Maria Holiday, did not respond to a survey from The Star sent to all candidates.
CHAIR RACE
Mike Kelly
The Roeland Park mayor, who also co-founded and chairs Climate Action KC, said his experience will allow him to run a local government, move projects forward and build relationships across party and state lines.
Though he says the race is nonpartisan, the county Democratic Party is campaigning for him.
As mayor, he said he was able to lower property taxes without cutting city services or staff by bringing in new businesses without offering tax incentives. Kelly said he’d continue to work on lowering property taxes for the county at large as chairman of the board.
In The Star’s survey, Kelly said he’d focus on policies that enhance economic growth and support early childhood education, fully-funded public schools and protecting abortion access.
As Johnson County looks to grow economically, he said the board should invest in projects that will help relieve residential property taxes by broadening the tax base and leading to growth.
Kelly said the county should play a role in helping bring major national and international business projects, like the Panasonic battery plant, to De Soto, and he said he’d use his business knowledge as a construction, real estate and development litigator with Husch Blackwell to do so.
He does not support Hayden’s investigation into election fraud, calling it a “misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
County leaders, he said, need to “rise above toxic, partisan rhetoric” and focus on issues like public schools, public safety and services for vulnerable communities.
Charlotte O’Hara
O’Hara, who has represented the 3rd District since 2021, was previously a state representative and a district chair for the Republican Party. While the board is traditionally nonpartisan, O’Hara’s campaign signs feature an elephant.
During her commission tenure, O’Hara sued the Blue Valley School District when she was refused entry to a meeting for breaking a mask mandate. She denied the results of the 2020 election and advocated for more funding to the sheriff’s office.
O’Hara has said she would like to cut the budget for the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment back to 2019 levels because, she says, the pandemic is over. Instead, she said she would direct more money to the sheriff’s office.
“Why continue bloated staffing post pandemic?” she asked in a survey The Star sent to all candidates.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Johnson County has a low transmission rate with about 69 cases of COVID-19 for every 100,000 people. Two percent of hospital beds were being used by patients with COVID-19 as of Thursday, Oct. 27. Local health officials have encouraged everyone to get the bivalent booster to help protect against future variants or case surges.
The board voted last month to increase the base pay of sheriff’s deputies and include a step-pay ladder for raises after Hayden told commissioners the office was understaffed, he said, due to non-competitive wages.
O’Hara also voted against the county’s $15 million investment for incentives to bring a Panasonic electric vehicle battery plant to De Soto. She called the deal “inexcusable” since the funding, which allocates $7.5 million to local road improvements and another $7.5 million to build a new fire station with hazmat capabilities for the factory, comes in addition to millions of dollars in state funding and tax incentives for the project.
Advocates say the development will bring 4,000 jobs to the area, making it one of the largest employers in the Kansas City metro area. However, the state’s agreement with Panasonic doesn’t require the company to create any jobs or set minimum wage or salary standards.
In general, O’Hara said tax incentives for businesses need to be curtailed. She claimed that industrial revenue bonds and tax increment finance districts divert $84 million from public institutions like schools, instead giving the money to developers and big businesses and increasing property taxes. She also advocates for lowering property taxes.
The weekly board meetings are livestreamed and recorded, but O’Hara wants to do the same for all study sessions and retreats to be more transparent.
O’Hara has also not directly answered whether she believes Joe Biden fairly won the 2020 presidential election.
At a forum held by the Shawnee Mission Post, she said, “Obviously, Joe Biden is in the White House. This is what has happened at this point. Do we have problems within our election process? Most likely, yes.”
More recently, when asked in The Star survey if she condemned the Jan. 6 insurrection and thought Biden fairly won the presidency, O’Hara said:
“Peaceful protests are part of our nation’s strength. Any violent protests are condemned by all law-abiding citizens. Joe Biden is our president, do I support his policies which have increased inflation, the cruelest tax of all, to a 40-year high? A resounding NO!!!!!”
1st District (includes Merriam, Roeland Park, northern Overland Park and parts of Leawood)
Becky Fast
Fast, who was elected in 2019, proposed a housing task force and study within her first month in office. She said housing continues to be one of her top priorities, and she has proposed ways for the county to create more affordable housing options, including a proposal to weatherize older homes to help low-income and older residents reduce their utility bills and a new housing coordinator position that will work with builders on new developments.
Along with Commissioners Janeé Hanzlick and Shirley Allenbrand, Fast created a housing subcommittee with the county to look into other ways to diversify housing options following the results of a 2021 study.
As a licensed mental health provider, Fast has also focused on improving mental health services in the county and serves as the liaison to the Johnson County Mental Health Center.
She worked to add mental health services within the county jail and increase those services in the juvenile detention center. Fast also said she pushed for funding to create more services, including mental health training and funding for co-responders for mental health crises.
The county youth suicide rate decreased even amid the early months of the pandemic, Fast believes, because of the attention placed on improving mental health services. Fast said she wants to continue advocating for 24/7 access to mental health services.
In terms of development, Fast said the county should assess proposals based on housing, jobs, public space and impacts on roads and public utilities, and she said these decisions should be guided by public input.
She also said the commission should increase funding to its County Assistance Road System program, which constructs and maintains major transportation corridors, and flood control efforts through the county’s stormwater management program.
Audra McMahon
While the county lowered its mill levy this year, McMahon said property values also increased, leading to a rise in property taxes that she called unnecessary. She said the board often approves spending outside of budgeted amounts, which she said is unfair to taxpayers.
The county’s top priority, she said, should be the health and safety of residents, which for her means funding public safety, including the sheriff’s office and city police and fire departments, which she said face staffing problems that could prevent them from responding to emergencies.
Investments like the Panasonic battery plant, she said, could lead to more dangers like fires that she said local fire departments don’t have the staffing to handle. In terms of health and safety surrounding issues like COVID-19, McMahon said that residents can manage their own health and decide what is best for themselves.
McMahon said she wants to create a tax abatement program for people on a fixed income as well as emergency responders and educators. The program would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and have restrictions, caps and tenures.
She also said she doesn’t think commissioners do a good enough job of listening to the public, and would want to create more transparency and conversations with residents.
When asked about the Jan. 6 insurrection and Biden’s presidency, McMahon called the question “unnecessary” and “emotionally provoking.”
“Today’s president of the United States of America is Joe Biden,” she said in the survey. “It is the fact today, and I will respect our commander in chief as it stands today, and all of my days regardless of who, or what party affiliation is held by that prestigious position.”
If voters’ concerns of election fraud and integrity were a “quagmire,” McMahon said Hayden likely wouldn’t have addressed them with an investigation. She said it is within his jurisdiction to fund the investigation.
“I think someone has questioned the results, and I think that they have brought that to the sheriff,” she said. “And I think the sheriff is doing his due diligence, and if it continues to persist than there must be a reason why.”
4th District (represents most of Overland Park)
Janeé Hanzlick
Hanzlick, who was elected in 2019 and is the former CEO of Safehome, a nonprofit domestic violence shelter, has prioritized housing and mental health issues during her first term.
During her three years in office, Hanzlick has voted to lower the county’s mill levy. She said she supports balancing reductions in the mill as property values rise while also taking in enough tax dollars to properly fund county services and community resources.
She helped create a housing subcommittee along with Fast and Allenbrand after a 2021 study showed the need for more affordable housing. Hanzlick was also asked by the Mid-America Regional Council to be the Kansas co-chair of the Regional Housing Partnership facilitating committee.
Hanzlick has also advocated for increases in mental health services and resources for the county’s growing elderly population.
“I’m very proud that over the last four years, I’ve been able to raise awareness of many of those needs,” she said.
She supports finding solutions to climate change and helped create a sustainability committee and pushed for the adoption of the Climate Action Plan, which advocates for net zero emissions in the metro area by 2050.
Hanzlick said additions like Panasonic and solar farms will help lower taxes for homeowners by increasing a commercial tax base, adding jobs in the area and helping the local economy.
Hanzlick has denounced the use of taxpayer dollars to fund Hayden’s investigation into voter fraud.
Maria Holiday
Holiday did not respond to The Star’s survey or a request for an interview.
According to her campaign website, Holiday’s focus is on lowering property taxes, supporting public safety and first responders and increasing transparency by discussing the budget openly with public input. The board allows public comment during its weekly meetings.
In answers to the Shawnee Mission Post, Holiday has said she doesn’t think government should be involved in public health decisions, and she opposed mask mandates and other safety measures taken in response to COVID-19, saying commissioners’ decisions showed they don’t trust residents to “make decisions for yourself, your children or your businesses.”
She also told the Post that the county shouldn’t have to “bribe businesses to locate here with million dollar tax incentives,” and believes the county doesn’t need to offer tax incentives in order to attract development.
And when asked about climate initiatives in Johnson County by the Post, Holiday said she is against solutions like a net-zero gas emissions goal put forth by Climate Action KC, an initiative she called a “non proven and unrealistic money grab.” She said climate action should be handled by private industries which “don’t infringe on personal freedoms and don’t cause negative repercussions elsewhere.”
In a Blue Valley Post forum, Holiday said she is disappointed the sheriff’s investigation has taken as long as it has, but believes it may have concluded earlier if Hayden received the information he needed. She also said it was “negligent” to dismiss residents’ fears of voter fraud.
5th District (includes eastern Olathe and part of Lenexa south of 87th Street Parkway)
Michael Ashcraft
Ashcraft did not respond to The Star’s survey.
He is seeking reelection for a fourth time. He previously told The Star he wants to make the county’s budget more efficient.
“Every dollar we collect, we spend,” Ashcraft said. “And I don’t think that’s sustainable. And I don’t think that’s fair for taxpayers, especially those that are on fixed incomes.”
He and O’Hara were the only commissioners to vote against the county’s incentives for the Panasonic battery plant in De Soto.
Instead, he said he wants to spend taxpayer money responsibly. The commission, he said, should also be a space that is civil and respectful, and he said he is always open to other perspectives.
At a Blue Valley Post forum, Ashcraft said Biden was the president “under the Constitution and under state laws,” but said concerns of fraud and integrity in any election should be taken seriously.
Stephanie Suzanne Berland
Berland, a certified public accountant and conservative, said one of her main concerns if elected is to reduce spending by the county.
She said the county spends beyond its growth rate, exceeding its revenue neutral rate after receiving $116 million in COVID-19 relief money. She said she would prioritize funding the sheriff’s office and emergency medical services, but said it is most important to ensure that all programs and services are within budget.
In terms of new development, Berland said she doesn’t think the county has a clear plan for doling out tax incentives and reliefs. She said county leaders need to consider taxpayer impact.
She also believes the county should allow at most two terms per commissioner.
Berland said in The Star’s survey that Biden won the presidential election, but expressed reservations about mail-in and drop-off ballot results. She has also said she supports Hayden’s investigation into election fraud and said she trusts his judgment.
“I will not lie,” Berland wrote in her response, “I went to bed thinking Trump won. It was overnight that states flipped, which is very odd.”
As the nation awaited election results, experts expected numbers to change as mail-in ballots postmarked for Election Day, which largely leaned in Democrats’ favor, were counted.
Berland said she would want an investigation into Nancy Pelosi’s actions amid the Jan. 6 insurrection as well as the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter killed that day.
The Department of Justice published the results of an investigation into Babbitt’s death in 2021.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story originally misstated Mike Kelly’s position on health care. It should not have said he supports the right to universal health care. He specifically supports rights to abortion access.
