Meet the candidates who want to lead Independence in face of data center, change
Multiple seats on the Independence City Council will turn over as the city prepares to welcome a slate of new leaders following the April 7 election.
Four candidates, including one incumbent City Council member, are competing for two at-large seats on the seven-person council.
Early voting, also called “no excuse” absentee voting, begins Tuesday, March 24 and will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on weekends. Independence residents can vote early at the election board’s Independence office, 110 N Liberty St, or at Woods Chapel Community of Christ in Lee’s Summit, 500 NE Woods Chapel Rd.
Additional information is available at jcebmo.org.
Voters will choose two of the following four candidates.
Cody Atkinson
Incumbent? No
Campaign website: www.codyatkinson.com
Cody Atkinson is the president of the Jackson County Animal Welfare Committee and the Missouri state director for the Humane Society of the United States. City Council would be his first political office, though Atkinson has previously worked in campaign strategy throughout the metro. He also currently sits on the Independence Board of Adjustment.
Atkinson grew up in Odessa and attended Rockhurst University, Arkansas State University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He was previously the policy and political director for Farm Action, a farmer-led agricultural policy watchdog group.
Atkinson was heavily involved in a grassroots effort to overturn Independence’s ban on pitbulls in 2023. The ban was previously enacted in 2009 after a resident was mauled by a pitbull.
A former U.S. Army Reserve medic, Atkinson was honorably discharged after eight years. He is endorsed by the Independence chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Atkinson has said that he believes a healthy city government is supported by strong neighborhood councils, which play an active role, along with the city, in fighting blight in residential areas. Atkinson has also joined several of his competitors in making small business growth and development a core tenet of his campaign.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our community and our city makes it a pain to start and own a business here,” Atkinson wrote on social media.
Atkinson has pledged to increase the city’s budgets for demolition and building code enforcement, and to ensure that all parks in Independence are ADA-compliant.
“True inclusivity is what I would aim for,” Atkinson told The Star.
When it comes to the incoming $150 billion AI data center, he has taken a supportive stance but pledged to hold the city accountable to its promises around ecological conservation. Atkinson has proposed using some incoming revenue associated with the data center to support animal services in Independence, including trap-neuter-release programs and municipally funded routine vaccinations for pets.
“I understand the anger against data centers, I don’t like them either and I don’t like the amount of the abatement,” Atkinson wrote on social media. “But we cannot bring back buses, fix the roads, update our parks, repair our historic sites, fully staff our first responders, or invest in the future of this city without new revenue and that’s not coming without this project.”
Atkinson’s other campaign priorities include reinstating and expanding bus services, attracting additional low-income housing options through federal and state grants, and increasing resource distribution by the city to homeless residents and those struggling with addiction. He’s open to working with outside financial partners to find additional funding for these goals.
“It’s going to take a lot of partnerships from outside of the city to help make sure that we are moving forward in a more financially sustainable manner, while also taking care of the variety of issues here,” Atkinson told The Star.
Jackie Dorman
Incumbent? No
Campaign website: www.jackiedormanforindependence.com
Jackie Dorman, a lifelong Independence resident and a mother and grandmother, has worked in real estate for 21 years. She previously worked in project management and as the co-owner and operator of a construction firm.
City Council would be Dorman’s first formal political office. Dorman was inspired to run by the experiences of her husband, an Independence police officer who passed away in 2022.
She has been endorsed by the Independence Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Independence firefighters’ union and the Independence chapter of the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS).
She has also been unofficially but repeatedly endorsed by Stop The AI Data Center in Independence, a grassroots watchdog group opposing the upcoming construction of a $150 billion AI data center.
Among her competitors for City Council, Dorman has been one of the most vocal critics of the planned AI data center coming to Independence, and the $6 billion tax break the current council approved.
“We have a financial crunch,” Dorman told The Star. “We’re not able to provide services for people. I’m running to bring back transparency.”
Dorman said that city leaders should have sought more feedback from residents who live within view of the planned data center site.
She has generally criticized current city officials for instilling residents with a lack of faith in city government. She has said that she will prioritize increasing direct engagement between city leaders and residents, as well as “welcoming and supporting” small businesses within Independence’s commercial districts.
“We should be a city that is increasing in population, and we’re not,” Dorman told The Star. “We’re decreasing. So we need to make some changes so people want to come to Independence.”
Dorman has also spoken about hiring locally for municipal projects whenever possible, increasing city investment in local business owners, contractors and tradespeople.
In line with her endorsements from both the fire and police departments, Dorman has said that she will work to bolster both bodies’ budgets if elected.
Dorman has praised the Independence Fire Department for focusing on community engagement and education and has pledged to recommit to funding increased levels of staffing and up-to-date equipment.
As far as the police budget, Dorman said that she will focus on “ensuring that our officers have the resources they need to keep our community safe.”
Jared Fears
Incumbent? Yes
Campaign website: Jared4indepmo.org
Jared Fears has been on the Independence City Council since 2022, when he won an at-large seat. He currently represents Independence on the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), the American Public Power Association, the Public Utility Advisory Board, the Board of Adjustment and the Industrial Development Authority.
Fears is currently involved in the first comprehensive review of the Independence city charter in four decades and has served on the council’s public tax oversight committee for three years. Before winning his council seat, Fears was a scoutmaster for several years and worked in several city departments from 1985 to 1993, including the Department of Finance. He’s also the former director of mission funding at Community of Christ Church.
Fears is endorsed by the Greater Kansas City Building & Construction Trades Council. He is the owner of Freedom Financial Advisers LLC, a financial advising firm in Independence, and his wife, Denise Fears, is currently the treasurer for the Independence School Board.
Fears’ campaign priorities include public safety, infrastructure improvements and affordable housing. If re-elected, Fears has pledged to advocate for increased police presence in residential neighborhoods of Independence, as well as additional crime prevention programming.
Fears was one of the most vocal supporters of a $55 million general obligation bond approved by Independence voters last year, earmarked for rebuilding and overlaying streets around Independence. The bond had a dual focus on rebuilding bridges and on repaving sidewalks and streets near schools.
Fears has described himself as an advocate for fiscal transparency, referring to his work on the county’s audit and finance committee. He has also promised to support housing assistance programs in Independence and “partner with developers to address the diverse needs of Independence’s population.”
“We need to work on improving the financial stability of our city government,” Fears told The Star. “Part of that will be through economic development, but part of it will be identifying priorities for the hopeful significant income from the Nebius data center as well.”
Fears was one of five current City Council members to vote for a $6 billion tax break package for an incoming 400-acre AI data center. He’s been vocal about ensuring that the data center project, which will involve reopening the defunct Little Blue Valley Power Plant at more than nine times its previous capacity, will not result in higher energy rates for Independence Power & Light customers.
Lucy Young
Incumbent? No
Campaign website: N/A
Lucy Young has served several non-consecutive terms on the Independence City Council in the past. She was first elected in 1998, then lost a re-election bid in 2002 but returned in 2006 with the largest percentage of votes.
Young was re-elected again in 2010 as an at-large council member but resigned in 2012, citing health issues. Since then, she’s kept up an active but informal role in local political circles, moderating a popular Facebook group dedicated to electoral issues in Independence. She describes herself as one of the most frequent speakers in the public comment portion of Independence City Council meetings, and as an advocate for far eastern Independence.
“To be honest with you, I saw a lack of leadership these last four years,” Young told The Star. “I feel like the city of independence has really not had someone that has been an advocate for the citizens
Young recently served on a citizen-led committee formed to recommend priorities for a series of general obligation bonds proposed to voters last year. Two of the proposed GO bonds failed, but the committee successfully pitched the third, a $55 million bond for road, bridge and sidewalk repairs, to Independence voters.
Young is endorsed by the Independence chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police. She is an advocate for community policing programs, which involve residents in supporting law enforcement campaigns. If elected, she plans to urge closer collaboration between Independence police officers, firefighters and residents.
Like several of her fellow candidates, Young sees one of the council’s primary roles as advocating for future residential and business growth around Independence. If elected, her campaign platform involves seeking opportunities to draw in new commercial tenants and new residents to the city.
Young identified blight as a major issue plaguing Independence neighborhoods, as well as the city’s growing population of unhoused residents. She believes homelessness in Independence is best addressed through funding law enforcement officers to uphold city codes around encampments and abandoned buildings, as well as through stronger mental health programs.
“We need to make sure that people that are in some type of mental crisis are provided a pathway forward,” Young told The Star.
She’s also been particularly vocal on issues surrounding Independence Power & Light. She has supported projects that would increase IPL’s output capacity, which she feels would help attract additional large-scale businesses to Independence.
Young is also calling for closer oversight of the city’s finances, pledging to crack down on what she sees as excessive contracts with private entities.
“Council’s focus needs to be on exactly what we need, not what we want,” Young’s campaign flyer reads. “No pet projects.”
Young has spoken in support of the Nebius data center, which she sees as a step toward a more stable financial future for the city.
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 5:43 PM.