Mark Holland wasted little time going after his opponent in the race for mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan.

Seated at the same table as David Alvey, a director of the Board of Public Utilities who is challenging the first-term mayor, Holland called out Alvey’s record of voting for electric and water rates for Wyandotte County residents.

“That's a 42 percent increase in our electric rates in just 8 years of his leadership; similarly on the water side a 35 percent increase on water,” Holland said before a crowd gathered one October evening at the Kansas City, Kan., Community College.

“We cannot afford to adopt this tax and spend model from the Board of Public Utilities for the Unified Government.”

Alvey countered that the BPU had no choice; when he was first elected to the board of the utility that serves Wyandotte County, there was only 19 days of cash on hand.

“That means, really, the utility was close to defaulting,” Alvey said, adding that the rate increases were meant to ensure the utility could provide reliable energy and safe water.

Alvey then returns a shot at Holland, criticizing him for being the first KCK mayor to ask for a security detail provided by the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.

“If we're going to be concerned about excess expenditures, we really need to point out that we are spending $250,000 to $300,000 on security detail for the mayor,” Alvey said. “I will not do that.”

Holland replied that the security detail was a recommendation of KCK Police Chief Terry Zeigler.

The exchange represented an increasingly tense mayor’s race for the UG, which pits first-term incumbent Holland, who says KCK is headed in the right direction, against Alvey, a BPU director who said things could be better under different leadership.

Holland picked up 40 percent of the vote during the Aug. 1 primary election, while Alvey finished second with nearly 32 percent.

Alvey is shooting to become the first KCK mayoral candidate to unseat an incumbent since Jack Reardon lost to Joe Steineger in 1987.

Who are they?

Holland succeeded Joe Reardon as KCK Mayor in 2013 after Reardon announced that he would not seek a third term. Prior to that election, Holland served one full term in the UG Commission 1st district at-large seat. He was re-elected in 2011 and served half that term before becoming mayor in 2013.

Holland is a pastor at United Methodist Church in KCK. He hails from a fourth-generation Wyandotte County family

Alvey is a fifth-generation Wyandotte County resident. He was dean of students at Rockhurst High School for nearly 20 years. In 2013, he became assistant principal for faculty formation at Rockhurst High School, a position he still holds today.

Alvey was elected to the BPU at-large position in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013. He has also served on the UG planning and zoning commission.

Who is supporting them?

Both candidates filed campaign finance reports with the Wyandotte County Election Office on Monday. Holland has raised $88,370.

His key contributors include banker Jonathan Kemper, Burns & McDonnell chief executive Ray Kowalik, former KCK mayor Carol Marinovich, JE Dunn, Hallmark Cards, Sporting Kansas City and Cerner.

Alvey has raised $66,783. His key contributors include BPU consultant Tom Lynch, former Kansas State Sen. Mark Gilstrap, former Wyandotte County district attorney Nick Tomasic, Kansas attorney Patrick McAnany, the International Association of Fire Fighters and the Western Missouri and Kansas Laborers District Council.

Development, incentives and taxes

Holland says $2.8 billion in private investment has occurred during his four years as the UG mayor. He points to the ongoing expansion of the University of Kansas Medical Center Campus in southeast KCK, a new Amazon distribution center just off Interstate 70 and the Turner Diagonal, and continued development near Village West.

Alvey says much of that credit belongs to the work done by the Wyandotte County Economic Development Council and its chief executive, Greg Kindle.

Alvey adds that he believes the UG doesn’t negotiate enough with private developers on development incentives and that neighborhoods aren’t sharing in the benefit corporations receive.

“Mayor Holland brags we've had $2.8 billion in private investment in the last four years. Guess what? We're not feeling it in our neighborhoods,” Alvey said. “If the Brownback administration gave corporate tax breaks to big businesses in the state we're doing the same here. How much did they pay for Dairy Farmers of America? How much of their own money was in that project?”

Alvey’s comments touch on a longstanding issue in Wyandotte County, where development has flourished, much of it aided by economic development incentives, while the pace of reinvestment has been more tepid east of Interstate 635.

Holland the incentives that drove development at Village West have paid dividends to the rest of the county. A year ago, the sales tax revenue bonds that propelled the development of Village West were paid off ahead of schedule, resulting in an additional $12 million in sales taxes to the UG coffers.

Holland and the UG Commission used a portion of that windfall to lower property tax rates in KCK, which are among the highest in the region, down by four mills over the last two years.

Holland said property tax relief needs to come incrementally, and not repeat the mistake that he said the Brownback administration committed with its 2012 tax policy.

“The issue with Governor Brownback, obviously, the irresponsible tax cut to the state side really threw the entire state for a loop and was a direct quid pro quo from large corporations wanting personal tax breaks, which they purcheased through the legislature and the governor,” Holland said at the KCKCC forum.

Holland said promoting growth from commercial development can grow the economy, which can lead to continued reductions to property tax rates.

“We have to continue to grow the value, that's the number one way we're going to reduce taxes, is growing value over time,” Holland said. “The low-hanging fruit is the commercial sector. The commercial sector grows the economy faster.”

Alvey counters that the reductions in property taxes over the last two years has been overstated. He said he would have devoted more of the Village West STAR bond windfall to property tax relief.

“I talk to folks that work at Rockhurst, young families and new teachers, and try to encourage them to move to Wyandotte County, and they say, ‘We looked and the property taxes are just too high,’” Alvey said

Downtown KCK

Compared to its neighbor in Kansas City, Mo., downtown KCK’s progress has been slow.

Holland says there have been signs of life, with small and Latino-run businesses popping up along various corridors downtown.

“Central Avenue is a testament to to the power of immigrants coming with an entreprenurial spirit,” Holland said.

Alvey said the city hasn’t done enough to keep downtown up, and as a result, the area is a turnoff to developers.

“The perception of developers is it's not well maintained and it's not safe,” Alvey said.

Holland has invested plenty of political capital in trying to develop what he calls a Healthy Campus in downtown KCK. Election day will come and go with Holland having little in the way of tangible progress on the Healthy Campus to show for it. But Holland said real progress is being made, and expects a groundbreaking in the spring.

The Healthy Campus is an idea born out of rankings that listed Wyandotte County as the least healthy county in Kansas. The master-planned development at 11th Street and State Avenue would include a new grocery store, a YMCA-run community center, a farmer’s market and recreational fields.

Holland said the project is close to reaching a letter of intent with a grocery store operator and is also nearing the finish line for fundraising for the YMCA building.

“Would I like to have broken ground this last spring? Yes,” Holland said. “But I could have build a Save-A-Lot on that site three years ago. That's not what the community said it wanted. We have a Save-A-Lot. The community wanted something different.”

Holland hopes the Healthy Campus will attract new downtown housing.

Public safety and infrastructure

One of Alvey’s criticisms of Holland’s leadership style is that he has alienated public employees in the county.

Holland has made reforming spending of public safety, which accounts for 60 percent of the UG’s spending, a priority.

Holland and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local No. 64, the union for the KCK Fire Department’s employees, have been at odds over how the fire department spends its budget.

Holland called for a study that in 2015 suggested that a concentration of fire stations in eastern Wyandotte County is not keeping up with growing populations out west, where fire stations are sparse.

Holland also questioned the practice of shift trading within the fire department, which an audit report in 2016 found had several loopholes that fire fighters used to increase pay and avoid using paid time off.

The UG and the fire fighters union had been unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement after protracted negotiations until earlier this year, but hard feelings between fire fighters and Holland’s office live on. The local union has endorsed Alvey, and in October staged a demonstration in front of City Hall to point out concerns about an ongoing study of the fire department’s operations.

“We’ve got to control costs, Holland said. “It has made some people unhappy, which i'm perfectly comfortable with.”

Alvey has said that the UG has not kept up with its infrastructure. He points to a recent report by the UG’s chief financial officer that said there’s $500 million in deferred maintenance to UG-owned facilities.

“If we don't find a real solution of this problem of taking care of our infrasructure and generate sufficient revenue to do this, this county will only decline,” Alvey said. “I think that's going to be our number one priority.”

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Incumbent faces stiff challenge in KCK mayor’s race and here’s what you need to know."