Prairie Village voters to decide whether to ‘abandon’ city government. What then?

After a lengthy legal battle, Prairie Village voters will soon get to decide whether they want to abandon their current form of government.

The ballot question going before voters in November will read: “Shall the City of Prairie Village, Kansas abandon the mayor-council form of government?” Voters can either select yes, they’d like to abandon the current form of government, or no, they’d like to keep it as is.

The ballot question stems from a wider effort in 2023 while the city was grappling with heated discussions about rezoning — which involved considerations that would have allowed for more affordable housing to be built.

During that time, a group of residents, known as PV United, circulated three petitions to bring three questions to the local ballot: one to limit rezoning, one to abandon the city’s current mayor-council form of government and one to adopt a new form of government. The new form of government proposed would have cut the size of the city’s 12-member council in half, eliminating six elected positions.

The petitions ran into legal challenges and made their way up to the Kansas Supreme Court — which denied hearing the case and largely agreed with the Johnson County District Court, ruling that the two questions about rezoning and adopting a new city government with a smaller council couldn’t go before voters.

However, the Supreme Court found that the second question, about abandoning the current form of government, could go before voters. That’s why voters will see it on their November ballot.

But without the additional question about adopting a new city government and changing its size, what comes after this election is still unclear — even to city officials.

Currently, Prairie Village operates with a mayor-council form of government, the oldest and most common form of government in the state, according to the city. The northeast Johnson County city council is currently made up of 12 members, with two representatives from each of the city’s six wards. They are elected to four-year terms, with elections staggered every two years.

Prairie Village has operated under its current form of government since receiving its charter in 1951, according to the city, and currently 554 of the 625 cities in Kansas use a mayor-council form of government, including 15 other Johnson County cities.

Since the petition to adopt a new form of government failed to make it onto the ballot, it’ll be up to the city to find a new form of government to adopt if the ballot measure passes with a simple majority. The initial proposal to cut the size of the City Council in half is not part of the question going before voters and is not a guaranteed outcome if voters choose to abandon Prairie Village’s current government.

“If the ballot measure passes, the City would continue to operate in its current form unless a separate, subsequent action is taken to adopt a different form of government,” city spokesperson Ashley Freburg said in a statement. “Adoption of a new form of government would require additional actions as set forth under Kansas statutes. City staff would work under the direction of the governing body and its legal counsel.”

The city hasn’t explored other forms of government at this time.

No forum discussion

During a recent forum hosted by PV United at the Meadowbrook Clubhouse, two candidates pointed out that PV United didn’t give the candidates a chance to speak about the ballot measure — despite the group pushing for the initiative in the first place.

Ward 5 candidate and newcomer Betsy Lawrence said she was surprised that PV United didn’t ask participants a question about the ballot initiative when all of the candidates — with the exception of Nathan Vallette from Ward 4 — were in the same room for the first time this election season.

All of the PV United candidates declined to attend other public forums hosted by the Johnson County Post and the Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce.

“I like having 12 City Council members, right? I’m in Ward 5, sometimes I agree with Nick Reddell, sometimes I agree with Greg Shelton,” she said. “Taking away voices from all of us is absolutely the wrong direction.”

Ward 1 incumbent Cole Robinson echoed Lawrence’s sentiments.

“I really do feel like it was a lost opportunity to discuss the abandonment question on the ballot on November 4,” Ward 1 incumbent Cole Robinson said during the forum. “By putting a question of abandonment on the ballot, there is no guarantee of any outcome after residents would vote.”

Voters can visit jocoelection.org to get information about candidates, ballot questions and general election information. In-person, advance voting begins on Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and mail-in ballots are due Oct. 28.