‘Vote these people out’: As this Johnson County city grows, its officials are ‘at war’
A battle has been brewing between Shawnee’s City Council and its Planning Commission, leading some to worry that political gridlock will stall the city’s growth for years to come.
Three planning commissioners abruptly resigned, and many said they are fed up with the City Council.
Another implored residents to vote some council members out.
In turn, council members accused planning commissioners of acting on political agendas instead of what’s best for the city.
“Shawnee is at a bit of a crossroads,” former Councilwoman Stephanie Meyer told The Star in a recent interview. “There are folks who are passionate about moving the city forward, who want to see that development and growth. And then there’s the other side that wants things to stay the same. Those sides are really at war. I think in the next few years, we’ll see that even more.”
After decades of little growth, the suburb of more than 65,000 residents has welcomed millions of dollars in new investment in recent years. Its downtown has been redeveloped with the reconstructed Nieman Road, plus new breweries and restaurants. And developers are offering to fill the city’s need for more housing by building multimillion-dollar, high-end apartment complexes.
But officials are split on whether the city should support such projects.
Many agree that the city needs to grow its commercial tax base to thrive, but they offer different ideas on how to achieve that goal. One faction believes that allowing and investing in multifamily housing will bring new business, while others argue the city should be more conservative with its tax dollars and focus on revitalizing its historic properties.
Debates over the future of development in Shawnee have often led to tie votes on the City Council, causing some projects to fail. And planning commissioners worry that trend will continue.
The battle highlights an even larger fracture in Shawnee, where partisan politics have seeped more deeply into daily city business.
Resignations, accusations
At a meeting late last year, Shawnee Planning Commissioner Alan Willoughby said that some on the City Council should lose their seats.
“I think we need to educate the public and vote these people out,” he said.
The City Council had recently rejected a proposed $50 million apartment complex at the site of the old Wonderscope Children’s Museum near downtown, which drew strong opposition from residents. While the Planning Commission unanimously approved rezoning for the project, the council voted it down 5-4, with Mayor Michelle Distler breaking the tie.
At the same meeting, Planning Commissioner Randy Braley resigned, and two others later followed.
“Recent decisions by the Council and, in my opinion, the over-influence of a vocal minority to continue to say ‘No’ to projects is putting Shawnee’s full potential at risk,” Braley wrote in his resignation letter to the mayor. “I fear this will have an exponentially negative (effect) on our ability to retain and attract talented staff as well as retain and attract new residents and businesses.”
It was not the first time that a project failed on a City Council vote after gaining overwhelming approval from the Planning Commission. And many on the 11-member commission argued that some City Council members’ refusal to approve projects will impede Shawnee’s development.
Councilman Eric Jenkins — who voted against the Wonderscope apartments and argued against the city offering tax incentives for such a project — shot back at the Planning Commission. He believes it’s time to rein in the volunteer board.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinions. But that is not a political platform. That is not a time to say you should vote your council people out,” Jenkins said in a previous interview. “You can send me an email and say that, that’s fine. But you don’t make political statements in a meeting. That was totally uncalled for.”
Tensions boiled over once again last week, when Distler proposed her appointments to fill the empty Planning Commission seats. The mayor has the power to appoint Planning Commission members, but they must be approved by the City Council. Jenkins and three other council members refused.
Jenkins argued Distler’s picks would bring “political agendas” to the board. That characterization “flabbergasted” the appointees, who told The Star that they have no such agenda and would consider each proposal on a case-by-case basis.
Councilman Kurt Knappen questioned Distler’s judgment.
That came after the mayor last year filed a Kansas Open Meetings Act complaint after Jenkins, Knappen and council members Mike Kemmling and Tammy Thomas, were included on an email chain together. But she filed the complaint under a false identity, and she was charged with felony perjury, which she is now resolving under a diversion agreement.
“Frankly, based on some of the actions that I’ve kind of witnessed, I don’t have the same level of confidence in the mayor’s judgment,” Knappen said at last week’s City Council meeting.
Despite the concerns, Distler broke a 4-4 tie to approve the new appointments. And some are now calling for changes to the process.
Some officials said the debate illuminates the largest challenges the City Council must overcome.
An identity crisis
In northeast Johnson County, bisected by Interstate 435, Shawnee is going through a bit of an identity crisis, Jenkins argued.
Like many other cities in the county, some said, Shawnee is stuck between the booming suburbs surrounding it and long-held small-town ideals. Johnson County has been shrouded in NIMBY, or “Not In My Backyard,” disputes as officials seek to add more housing, and developers often propose it in the form of large apartment complexes, to the distaste of many residents.
Half of the Shawnee City Council is typically more critical of multifamily development, especially when tax incentives are involved.
Others have said they are frustrated when officials are frequently opposed to such projects, because they believe more housing is necessary to support businesses and the city’s future growth.
“I think there’s a battle of ideologies going on here. I’m siding with people who want to help keep their city the way it’s been. Modernized, yes. Bringing in new development, yes. But trying to maintain the identity of Shawnee,” Jenkins said in a previous interview. “The other group seems to want to enter a different era, and I’m not with them on that. We can keep our community ethos.”
But Councilwoman Lindsey Constance said she supports development that she believes constituents want: a thriving downtown and a larger tax base, for example.
“There’s certainly a division. There are a couple of members of the council who will say they’ll never vote for a project that has incentives. But what I hear constituents wanting is for us to continue investing in the city,” she told The Star.
Sources interviewed said there’s a lot that’s positive about the new growth in Shawnee and redevelopment of the downtown — including the rehabbing of historic buildings, like the Aztec Theater — and they worry that political infighting will take away from that.
Political agendas
Some Planning Commission members have grown worried that Shawnee will fail to progress under the current City Council.
“There’s always two, and generally a third (City Council member), who tends to vote ‘no’ when there’s a crowd involved,” Commissioner Les Smith, who later resigned, said. “This is not sustainable. No matter what the reasons are for turning these down, it’s not sustainable. This community is not sustainable without growth.”
“Some of these projects are projects that other cities are begging for.”
Commissioner John Montgomery suggested that the Planning Commission and the City Council need to meet to work out their differences, but added, “I understand it’s a divided council, so that would be difficult to achieve.”
In turn, some City Council members have voiced concerns that the Planning Commission should follow a stricter policy outlining appropriate behavior in a public meeting.
Jenkins said last week that he worries the new commissioners, appointed by the mayor, will only “rubber-stamp” projects.
“I want some discerning people on the Planning Commission,” he told the council. “I’m also upset about planning commissioners who will sit up here on this dais and trash city council people. I have a real problem with that. That’s out of their lane. And I’m not looking for new people to join that chorus.”
Jenkins and Knappen worried the new Planning Commission appointees would be “too partisan” to serve as unbiased members. And Jenkins said he was frustrated that more conservative applicants had not been approved for the board in the past, although he did not offer specifics.
‘I was flabbergasted’
The appointees told The Star they would only focus on the job of reviewing whether projects fit the city’s land use requirements.
“I was flabbergasted,” said Genise Luecke, who was appointed to replace Smith. “I’m not sure how they would even know my politics. I Googled myself to see if I posted anything that would make someone think I’m too partisan. And I have no idea.”
Luecke, who has worked at Black & Veatch since 1987 and has a degree in civil engineering, said she applied for the role last summer and just heard back about it. She said she doesn’t view serving on the board as a partisan position.
Another appointee, Joe Van Walleghem, who is a lifelong Shawnee resident and retiree of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, will replace former commissioner Brian Roth, who also resigned. And he, too, is unsure why he was described as having a political agenda.
Jenkins brought up the concern that one of the appointees supported the proposed community center, which was voted down in 2019 by 72% of voters.
“I live in the western part of Shawnee where the community center was to be built. And I supported it, but I didn’t campaign for it in any way,” Van Walleghem said. “I think that was just simply my civic responsibility to vote in an election.
“I think it’s important for anybody who is on the Planning Commission to not have any agendas. I think it’s wrong for anybody to come with preconceived notions or agendas or anything of that nature.”
Other council members, including Constance, said they were impressed by the candidates’ qualifications and were unaware of any political ties.
Distler said that “this shouldn’t be a political position” and that she doesn’t “know anything about these people politically.”
Still some on the City Council said they had reasons to disapprove of the mayor’s appointments, as well as the selection process in general.
It could be an example of the city’s new dynamic, as the mayor works to serve despite losing favor with a more conservative faction of the city, while resolving her perjury charge in court — and as officials struggle to move forward with competing opinions on how Shawnee should look in the years to come.
“I think the only way we move past this divide is get back to listening to one another and being really committed to facts and accurate information when we’re making our decisions,” Constance said. “Then we can get back to the place where we have a dialogue together in a kind and positive way.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
