Dear readers,
Lori Sharp published her disinformation newsletter again. As before, as Ms. Sharp is unwilling to be transparent with all of her constituents, this page is sharing it here with commentary.
If it walks like a Duck 🦆
The email subject is notable, as in her previous newsletter Ms. Sharp incorrectly called the city government “lame ducks.” This was a subject of discussion and correction at the last council meeting by other members of council. Ms. Sharp apparently wishes to continue to stoke division and anger amongst the elected body.
The Vote on the City Hall, Bonds, and Debt Capacity
At last night’s City Council meeting, the rush to push the massive city hall project forward before the November election continued.
Three votes related the project were taken:
1. Approving the municipal complex building project
2. Authorizing the issuance of bonds
3. Amending Council Policy 056 – Financial Management
Councilman Nick Reddell and I voted no on all three.
These council members voted yes on all three:
Cole Robinson, Dave Robinson (Cole’s dad), Ron Nelson Tyler Agniel, Terrence Gallagher, Ian Graves, Chi Nguyen, Terry O’Toole, and Greg Shelton.
(Councilmen Ron Nelson and Cole Robinson are up for re-election in November.)
Councilwoman Inga Selders was absent.
Once again, Ms. Sharp implies that the municipal complex project is being rushed. The project has been going on for 4 years, and been examined and discussed from every angle. As noted previously, Ms. Sharp has participated in over 30 council meetings since her election. The narrative about the project being rushed, and tying it to the upcoming election, is a Trump-like tactic to scare residents with a poorly constructed narrative.
Vote #1: Municipal Complex Improvements
The architects designing the project showed three videos of the design. The new city hall
building concept includes offices, conference rooms, an outside patio for dining, an art gallery, large City Council chambers, etc. It will be 18,000 square feet for 22 employees.
The project envisions the current council chambers being renovated for municipal court. There
are only five full-time equivalent court employees with three work stations, four cubicles, and
three offices. The court room re-imagining is quite something, particularly considering how little use it gets — once a month and mostly done via Zoom. This should be the cleanest room in town!
It is disappointing how much emphasis and money are proposed for the unnecessary court
renovation (could be co-located in the new City Council chamber) and how little improvement
the police are getting. You may view the videos on the city’s website and see the lopsided
emphasis on city hall / municipal court (83% of funding) rather than public safety.
Again, this project has been in the works for years. PD, city staff, and council has spent years evaluating the needs of the city as a whole. Ms. Sharp is attempting to frame this discussion so that it appears PD is getting less than they need at the expense of public safety. Does her background as an occupational therapist make her more qualified than our police staff to determine what their needs are? Also, Ms. Sharp is trying to tell you that spaces of our municipal complex rarely get used. Anyone who invests their time and participates in city activities will tell you that our facilities are used extensively for multiple purposes.
Vote #2: Bonds (30 Years of New City Debt)
The city intends to secure $27 million in bonds (debt) for this government building project. At
4.25% interest for 30 years, the interest payments of $23 million will drive the total project cost
up to $50 million. That’s a lot of sales and property taxes to be collected and paid by the people
of our little village (on top of regular city operations).
If the residents of PV voted to approve this large expense and debt, and for this purpose, I
would abide by their decision, but, of course, you aren’t being given that opportunity. Council
members Agniel, Gallagher, Graves, Nelson, Nguyen, O’Toole, Cole Robinson, Dave Robinson,
and Shelton insist on making the decision for you.
This is the city’s single biggest expenditure, and it’s largely for 22 government employees since
most citizens never go to city hall. Why are the people being silenced?
Ms. Sharp wishes to use inflammatory language about the cost of the project when she says “That’s a lot of sales and property taxes…” . The city has published the numbers and noted that property tax accounts for 41% of the costs. The median household in PV will spend $47 property tax dollars a year for this project, without raising their current tax burden.
Ms. Sharp also continues to champion the disinformation that this project is happening without the people making the decision, and that you are being silenced. Ms. Sharp does not understand how representative democracy works, and wants to make sure she confuses it for you.
Vote #3: Debt Capacity
By amending Council Policy 056, the council basically voted to raise the city’s debt ceiling. The
previous policy put up guardrails to stop out-of-control spending by restricting how much we
could borrow. This council changed that last night, quadrupling the debt limit to more than $36 million.
I asked about future debt. In 2019, before the Public Works building was built, that City Council looked at potential upcoming funding needs. One of the items discussed back then was the need for $15 million for the pool complex and bath house. Six years later, those issues remain. The city administrator thinks the bath house might be $10 million … so more big-ticket spending items are on the horizon.
The city continues to operate with great financial ratings and prudence. As is the norm for conservatives who don’t work for solutions and only participate in government to tear it down, Ms. Sharp wants to use the idea of debt as a boogeyman to scare you, without any rigor applied to her opinions.
Ms. Sharp also is throwing whatever she can at the wall as election season approaches. She may well forget that the pool and bath house work would have been part of the community center project that, ironically, she made sure the public did not get to vote on.
Thank You
I am heartened by residents’ interest and engagement in this important discussion about the
high cost of city hall. You wrote hundreds of emails, a community group distributed hundreds of yard signs, and busy citizens made time to come to meetings and speak their piece. You have done everything our democracy affords. It just seems wrong to me that you haven’t also been allowed to exercise your right to go to the polls and vote on such a large project that impacts how your family’s tax dollars will be spent for decades to come.
Thank you for all your efforts and good wishes. I will continue to prepare for every meeting and fight for your rights. We’re all still learning just how much Local Politics Matter!
Your neighbor,Lori
Hundreds of signs / emails represents a very small percentage of the residents of our 9,000 household village. And it bears repeating – all residents are allowed to have their voices heard and vote for what they want as part of the democracy we all live in.
Prairie Village Citizen 