‘A political muzzle’: Wyandotte residents worry commission feud will hurt representation
After a cold, distressed dog tried to jump into Helen Hokanson’s car two weeks ago, she felt compelled to speak out at the next Wyandotte County commission meeting about the lack of animal control in her Cernech neighborhood.
Now, one day before Thursday’s meeting, Hokanson has tossed that speech and is searching for the right words to say to Mayor Tyrone Garner about his decision to keep her commissioner, Andrew Davis of District 8, off every Unified Government committee.
“[Davis] was open to having listening sessions on animal control. If he’s not on a committee, I don’t know if that happens,” Hokanson said. “He’s kinda powerless, which makes me feel powerless.”
Other residents this week have similarly expressed concern over the newly released committee assignments. As it stands, all eight districts are represented on at least one standing committee except for the 8th district.
Some feel the move to exclude Davis was a result of mounting tension in recent public meetings, where the commissioner has supported a proposal to put a limit on the mayor’s power to control the agenda. They wonder if the political infighting will come at the cost of having their communities’ issues heard.
Davis served on the Economic Development/Finance and Community Neighborhood Development committees in 2022. He said in a public statement on Monday that being removed from the committees was a “complete disservice” to constituents.
“I will not cease until this is fixed,” he said.
In response, Mayor Garner explained during a Tuesday night interview that the controversial move to withhold standing committee assignments from the Unified Government’s district 8 representative, denying him the ability to vote on certain proposals brought by residents, was supposed to be a “pathway to starting a conversation.”
He said that the pair had not had a meeting together since early last year, and that once Davis agreed to meet and resolve their differences, he would be assigned a committee.
“I thought what can I do to create an environment, where he’d have to come talk to me to improve the working relationship,” Garner said. “I’ve extended the olive branch.”
Davis referred to Garner’s use of a personal matter to dictate committee assignments as an “abuse of power” and said other commissioners had also not met with the mayor one-on-one.
“Trust has been broken,” he said of his relationship with Mayor Garner. He does not plan on calling Garner, but will propose a resolution to the issue during Thursday’s meeting.
Earlier this month, tensions within the government body flared in full public view. Commissioners took an unprecedented step in favor of limiting Garner’s ability as mayor to determine what is voted on at public meetings — an action that Garner vehemently opposed and was apparently caught off-guard by.
On Jan. 12, Garner vetoed the measure concerning his own authority. Commissioners did not attempt a vote to override the veto, instead directing Unified Government staff to draft a piece of compromise legislation.
‘Not fair’
About 20,000 people live in Wyandotte County’s 8th district.
For William Rodgers, who has lived in the area for 24 years, Garner’s decision felt like a “kick in the face” to the entire district.
“It’s just shocking to me,” he said. “You don’t use [Davis] assignments as a way to pressure him. That’s not fair to me as a taxpayer.”
He worries that without Davis on a committee, his concerns over high taxes will not be heard. He had never seen a mayor take a stance against a representative by removing him from committees and felt the move was “shameful.”
“There’s two sides to every story,” he said. “To me this appears to be retaliation.”
Like his neighbors, Rodgers hopes the pair can reconcile.
Joseph Straw, another District 8 resident who had been appointed by Davis to the planning and zoning commission, trusts the two officials will be able to work out the matter for the good of the community.
As a friend of Garner and Davis, he acknowledged that the current impasse should be easy to rectify.
“But as of now I don’t have representation,” he said referring to the committee assignments.
He explained that the committees were designed to address the many projects and proposals being raised across Wyandotte.
“A political muzzle is not how the people of the 8th district should be treated.”
Helen Hokanson, who moved into the area one year ago, said she would be missing a fundraiser Thursday in order to make sure her disapproval over the lack of representation was heard.
“This is a working class neighborhood,” she said. “Not everyone has the time for this.”
Though she still plans on finding a way to raise concerns about animal control, her main hope is that speaking at the meeting will help spark a reconciliation between the officials.
“I would like to see people act like adults,” she said, chuckling.
