See who won seats on the BPU to set future utility rates in Wyandotte County
Wyandotte County residents are about to have some new faces overseeing their water and electricity services — and deciding how to handle utility bills and shutoffs.
Two new board members were elected to a four-year term on the Board of Public Utilities Tuesday night. One returning board member was re-elected for another four years.
The BPU is a nonprofit, century-old public body and an arm of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. Its board of directors has six seats, with elections staggered so that half of the board turns over at a time. Next year, the board’s other three positions — Third District, First District At-Large and Third District At-Large — will be up for grabs.
The BPU oversees water service for 53,000 people and electricity for 67,000, in about 128 square miles of Wyandotte and Johnson counties. It’s also responsible for collecting the PILOT fee, a line item on customers’ bills that is allocated to the Unified Government in lieu of the utility paying taxes to the county.
Tuesday’s election results will have a particularly notable impact on residents expecting utility shutoffs or seeking forgiveness for late payments.
Along with their colleagues, Gary Bradley-Lopez, David Haley and Chase Cook will be instrumental in deciding how high to set rates for utility services, when to set moratoriums on late payment penalties and how quickly to shut off residents’ power and water if they’re delinquent on their bills.
Here’s what to know about the three BPU board members elected Tuesday.
Bradley-Lopez takes District 1 seat
Gary Bradley-Lopez will be the District 1 BPU board member from January 2027 through January 2031.
Bradley-Lopez, a theater teacher at Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, received the second-highest number of votes in the primary election for his seat. Bradley-Lopez has said that he supports a more transparent leadership model for the BPU, including the expansion of payment assistance programs. He’s also expressed interest in pursuing alternative or renewable energy sources for customers in the BPU’s service area.
Bradley-Lopez said he’s excited to be part of a Board that more closely reflects its voter base, with three Black members and three members from northeast Wyandotte County, and that he plans to focus on building relationships with his new colleagues.
“I’m excited that some younger folks, families like mine — middle-class — are able to have a voice at the table,” Bradley-Lopez said. “I just want to take the time to learn the system, see how it works and then find a way to see how I can truly benefit my community.”
Wyandotte County voters chose Bradley-Lope over Lisa Walker-Yeager, whose candidacy raised questions in recent weeks as residents and county leaders debated the legality of her simultaneous campaigns for the BPU and the Unified Government commission, where she ran for the District 1 seat.
Walker-Yeager lost both races Tuesday night. She is also currently facing criminal charges for allegedly shooting her contractor in 2024.
Cook edges out Palmer in District 2
The District 2 seat on the BPU went to Chase Cook, who won by just 53 votes.
“It was a close race,” Cook told The Star Tuesday night. “I think Neal was a great opponent. And I’m excited to see the future of the BPU.”
Cook said his priority is to ensure that utility rates do not increase in the BPU coverage area in the face of new infrastructure and development projects coming to Wyandotte and Johnson counties.
“That’s the biggest goal, is to ensure that our rates don’t increase if we have new developers in the city that may take more power than we expect,” Cook said.
Though this is Cook’s first public office, he’s no stranger to working with the United Government. Cook worked as assistant legal counsel for the Unified Government from 2020 to 2021 and currently serves on the board of directors for the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Johnson and Wyandotte County.
Cook, an attorney, graduated from the UMKC School of Law in 2018 and is currently senior corporate counsel for MRI Global, an applied science and technology research firm.
David Haley here to stay
Though no longer board president, David Haley will keep his seat on the BPU.
Haley, a Kansas state senator representing Wyandotte County since 2001, was first elected to the BPU in 2021. Haley became board president but was fired from the role in 2025 due to an ethics violation, after allegedly putting his long-term partner on his health insurance when they were not married.
Haley told The Star Tuesday night that he’s excited to “move forward together” with his new BPU colleagues and to continue serving Wyandotte County taxpayers.
“The challenge to make our jewel of a public utility more transparent and accessible and affordable to the general public has been addressed today by the people of the city,” Haley said, “who opted to not go back to failed policies of yesteryear, but to continue with the measures for the progress I’ve tried and will continue to try to instill.”
Haley grew up in Wyandotte County and has served in Kansas state government for more than 30 years, having been a state representative from 1995 to 2001. He narrowly defeated David Alvey, a former Kansas City, Kansas mayor and former BPU president.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 9:43 PM.
