Mayor delivers 2024 State of the Government to Rotary Club

Members of the Rotary, Unified Government Board of Commissioners, Dignitaries and Elected Officials, Unified Government Administration and staff, and most importantly all the amazing people that love and call Wyandotte County home… Welcome. I am your Mayor and CEO of the Unified Government, Tyrone Garner, and it is my pleasure, as mandated by ordinance, to deliver your 2024 State of the Government.

If you've followed my journey, you know that I wholeheartedly enjoy being your Mayor. As I regularly visit all corners of Wyandotte County, I see strength and resilience in our people, right here in the heart of America, unparalleled to any place anywhere you will find in our great Nation.

We are a diverse community, rich in culture, and history, with awesome people doing great things, to make our community unique and truly special. We are a melting pot of people that makes Wyandotte County a great and safe place to live, to work, and raise a family. No matter if you live in Kansas City, Kansas, Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, or Lake Quivira…. As an original Dotte or adopted Dotte, we are all part of defining what it means to be DotteProud.

As we know, this Unified Government would not exist without the amazing people of Wyandotte County. They vote leaders into office to create what should be beneficial policies of value for the community at large; and to bridge non-elected professionals into positions for the purpose of providing excellence in the delivery of goods services and resources.

People have shared with me that they desire to see a government better unified with the community, not a government unified within itself. Let me reiterate this point…. the great people of Wyandotte county established government to meet the needs of the community, the government doesn't exist for the community to meet its needs.

I firmly believe that the greatness of our County and the pride of our cities has never resided in our government, but rather in all the awesome people who love and call our amazing community home. Countless residents have shared with me that our government should never be about the Commission, the Mayor, or our staff, it should always be about responsibly prioritizing the interests, and needs of the people above all else.

As Mayor, I have unapologetically rejected those that say we cannot do better, have better, or provide a better government to our constituents. To the shortsighted that want to leave well enough alone, to keep things status quo, or to say the ill-fated words, "this is how we've always done it", I say to them that this ideology is a narrative for failure which does not represent best practice or opportunities for growth and improvement in the delivery of services to our constituents. Leaders listening to residents with a commitment to deliver beneficial outcomes, should be the baseline for us to start meeting and exceeding the reasonable expectations residents have for their municipal government.

Instead of defending what we think we are doing, many residents rather us work on delivering on their reasonable expectations of what needs to actually be done. Looking not just at who we are as a government, but rather who we should be in our mission to make life better for all those that love and call Wyandotte County home.

Last year I delivered the unpleasant message that your Unified Government was not at its best. And, I can assure you, we did not take this reality check lightly. Our elected officials, our stakeholders and most importantly our residents wholeheartedly embraced a call to action that challenged, not just our unified government, but our community, to reject business as usual and to support a community driven agenda for comprehensive changes that would stabilize our fiscal position and positively strengthen our standing as a key player, not just in the metro, but throughout the great state of Kansas.

Leadership both in and outside of the unified government rolled up their sleeves, tapping into adminastrative talent, community commitment, and a political will that went to work to relentlessly start facilitating change we all can believe in. Change that reflects positive progress of a Unified Government that has moved beyond, not being at its best,but to showing promising profound progress that signifies signs of a unified government that is back on track and increasingly getting better.

Although our financials still remain fragile, we are definitely in a better position than we were last year.

The Unified Government financial and budgeting offices have done a stellar job changing systems in a manner that removed the fiscal cliff we were facing in 2026 thru 2028. These systems changes also include limiting our use of debt and reserves to balance our budget Giving our Commission and staff breathing room to implement policies and practices that can potentially put the Unified Government financials on a solid foundation well into the future.

The question for today: what is the state of our government?

As such, Commissioners, residents, and stakeholders, I am pleased to announce that for the time being, because of the work of so many people that were committed to doing what is necessary, the State of our Government has been stabilized………let me say that again, the State of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas has been stabilized…….

YES, we are definitely in a better position to seize opportunities that will garner success.

With that being said, I am cautiously optimistic, as there are still many challenges which pose grave threats to this fragile position. Outside of the jewel of Village West, as Mayor I see what all of us see, pockets of blight, a rising cost of living, failing infrastructure, an influx of homelessness, burdensome taxes, questionable BPU bill fees, to include an added PILOT that doesn't make our utility bill feel like a real utility bill, poverty that consistently hovers around 17 percent, the lowest health outcomes in the State, billions of dollars' worth of debt,

a diminishing reserve fund, a struggling cash flow, cities outside of KCK that often struggle to find a sense of standing in their Unified Government, and an eastern portion of our community that has been shamefully disinvested, redlined, and disenfranchised into total desperation and utter despair.

As Mayor, I have inheritied many of these challenges with you.

These are the issues that concern me most. These are the issues that require a renewed sense of urgency to address. And these are the issues that weigh most heavily on me.

With those headwinds of challenge and uncertainty still in front of us, we can't ill afford to become complicit, complacent, or uncommitted. We must remain vigilant and steadfast to never allow ourselves to slip back to embracing the familiar failed policies and practices that brought about many of the challenges we face today. This continues to be an all-hands-on deck period.

We must stay true to the commitment of fiscal responsibility, and we must be intentional about delivering an improved, streamlined, efficient, innovative, responsive, business and customer service friendly municipal government, committed to keeping our systems on track, in a manner that will continue to positively move our community forward, forward in complete alignment with what it means to be community driven.

If we do so, then it is my belief that we will not only be well positioned to restore complete confidence in the overall standing of our municipality, but we will also create sustainable success for generations to come.

I am proud to say that swift action by Myself, our Commission, and our Administrator have shown progress in addressing many of the challenges I've mentioned.

Some of the fixes involve, but are not limited to, your Commission looking at expanding economic development incentives designed to expand our tax base with a proposal to utilize 25% of all future development funds to go towards reducing our debt. To address those that are impoverished in KCK, we have acquired land and will be looking to move the Willa Gill Center to a new location, in a new building, that will incorporate partnerships with several non-for-profits to improve wrap around services to those needing assistance most. I am proud of the hard work on the Unhoused and Neighbors in Need Taskforce chaired by Tom Lally and Commissioner Hill who are collaborating with non-for-profits to find solutions that can better address homelessness throughout Kansas City, Kansas.

The Commission unanimously approved over one million dollars' worth of funding to the Health Department to mitigate a spike in negative health outcomes, and under the leadership of our new health department director, a revised 2024-2028 Community Health Improvement Plan is being launched.

The Commission heard the pleas of numerous residents and approved a revenue neutral budget for 2025, this move will not translate into a property tax decrease but it will put a pressure point on a property tax increase. This was done with no layoffs, no detrimental impact to essential services or public safety, while still providing a cost-of-living increase to our valued employees.

To address blight, there will be a realignment of departments to more efficiently handle the issues of litter and overgrown vegetation. Working with Waste Management, a new initiative designed to improve trash and waste pickups throughout KCK will be brought before the Commission for final approval.

I, along with your Commissioners and County Administrator, continue our lobbying efforts at the national and state level, to address our failing infrastructure, to include the Central and Kansas Ave Bridges. In the hopes of leveraging the financial resources to address these needs.

We hosted joint meetings between the BPU Board and the Unified Government Commission to find ways to mitigate the impact of the PILOT and other fees on utility bills. At-Large Commissioner Melissa Bynum will be leading a taskforce with BPU Board member to find real solutions to the billing concerns impacting BPU customers.

The Commission approved decreasing the BPU PILOT from 11.9 percent to under 10.9 percent in the 2025 budget, with myself and the Administrator exploring possibilities of how best to get the PILOT down to a 6 percent average. The Commission unanimously directed staff to move 1.4 million dollars into our financial reserve fund to shore up our fiscal position.

Knowing that we must expand our tax base, at the request of myself and the Commission, the Administrator has hired a new economic development director to revamp economic development strategies, with a vision to create a business-friendly atmosphere for entrepreneurs and developers that have a sincere desire to do business with the Unified Government.

A new CFO has been hired to increase organizational audits and to conduct a deep dive into Unified Government financials to incorporate best practices and implement new systems designed to save our taxpayers money. Commissioners Burrough and Stites are actively leading a task force to bring forth legislation that will streamline development systems, remove bureaucratic barriers, and make it easier to do business in Wyandotte County. This coincides with the Unified Government procurement department activating a business-friendly incubator, with their team almost at the completion phase of recommending new polices that will enhance opportunities for women, minorities, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.

I have strengthened necessary relationships with Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, and Lake Quivira by creating long overdue spaces for the Mayor's and leaders of these great Wyandotte county cities to have increased opportunities to communicate, collaborate, and bring about a direct pipeline for shared success. We have waived sewer connection and permit fees east of 78^th Street to encourage infill development. A new committee sanctioned by the Unified Government will soon begin a deep dive of work to find recommendations to redevelop the areas east I635 to include the NE, Downtown, the Hills, Argentine, Armourdale, Rosedale, and the bottoms. Recommendations to include a long overdue vision for the revitalization and the stabilization of the Quindaro Ruins, as well as an exciting vision for a multi-million dollar, multi-faceted Kansas River front economic development project.

A commitment to entice workforce sun setters into living in our community by way of increasing housing for all income levels to include the needed goods, services and resources; necessry to create vibrant and livable neighborhoods. This will soon be realized with newly approved housing projects and other quality amenities due to come online in short order.

These are just a few of the many initiatives being developed to address some of our most pressing challenges.

And I'm proud to say that we are making great progress in finding real solutions to effectively address the real problems that impact the lives of real people every single day. But these are just the first steps, much more needs to be done to stabilize, and see to it that these successes are ultimately realized. This work cannot be done alone, none of us have a monopoly on finding solutions, and it will take more than just the Unified Government to bring about the changes our residents both demand and deserve. This work will involve engaging in old partnerships and building new collaborations.

With the profound belief that for every problem there is a solution, working together as a unified community, sharing in both sacrifice and success, I know there are no limits to us getting the job done. I urge all stakeholders to stand with me towards that end, and to always put people above politics, power, privilege, and any misguided self-fulfilling interests of government that does not reflect the will of the people.

Endless opportunities abound for unity, not just in the echo chambers of government, but for a truly unified community resilient in its efforts to bring about a better WYCO for all those that love and call our amazing community home.

It is refreshing to see that 2024 has truly been a year fueled by our commitment to bring about change, driven by a shared vision we all have for a brighter future. A vision that caused your Unified Government to focus on people, pride, and progress.

Whenever Wyandotte County is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is the greatness of our PEOPLE.

We are in the top five counties in Kansas with a population of around 165 thousand residents. Many new residents are seeing our community as a point of interest because we are competitive in what we have to offer. One of those offering is the top tourism destinations in the great state of Kansas, which is Village West, with new businesses, jobs, housing, and retail slated to come online, the sports and entertainment anchors continues to fuel local appeal and national attention.

In the past five years, we've seen growth in median household incomes; we have more than 12 thousand job openings with numerous top tier employers; to include some of the highest wages being realized anywhere you will find in the Kansas City metro. With over 80 Neighborhood groups in Wyandotte County, the Unified Government Commission shored up funding shortfalls to ensure that these groups are supported in their efforts to assist the Unified Government in working in partnership with residents to deliver vital resources where those resources are needed most.

People have a desire to feel safe in their community, and it has always been my belief that a safe community makes for a great community. Under the leadership of Kansas City, Kansas Police Department Chief Karl Oakman, we are experiencing historic lows in violent crime, Kansas City, Kansas Fire Chief, Dennis Ruben has brought fresh leadership to the Fire Department, where they have some of the highest staffing levels in the Unified Government with men and women at the ready to preserve and save lives by responding to over 35 thousand emergencies, which amounts to approximately 100 calls for service a day. The Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department also instituted an automatic aid agreement with Bonner Springs and Edwardsville designed to save taxpayers money.

Under the leadership of WYCO District Attorney, Mark Dupree, the District Attorney has secured the Federal Byrne State Crisis Intervention Grant that provides immediate assistance to victims and witnesses of gun violence, under the leadership of WYCO Sheriff, Daniel Soptic, our deputies continue to support civil service, administrative support, jail logistics, juvenile intervention, and public safety initiatives throughout all of Wyandotte County.

Expanded public health clinical services, including the opening of a satellite clinic in Bonner Springs. Our health department continues to serve over five thousand clients a month with the WIC program! We've responded to the deadly fentanyl epidemic with education, behavior modification, access to mental health resources, and free access to Narcan. To include the training of our transit operators on how to administer Narcan in case of emergency.

In 2024, the Unified Government provided valuable community and home-based services to people living with developmental disabilities.

We initiated the broadest outreach ever for our tax rebate program - putting nearly $900 thousand back in the pockets of eligible seniors, veterans, and persons living with disabilities. Our departments facilitated home repair programs to resolve property maintenance issues and emergency repairs for homeowners. Last month, our Area Agency on Aging opened our tenth senior congregate meal site in Turner - fostering not just a healthy meal, but connecting people with their neighbors.

We have sought fine and fee reform through the Suspended License Intervention Program through Municipal Court, which waived nearly $85 thousand in fees and allowed 141 people to reinstate their licenses. We have successfully offered a marijuana diversion program to deter people from a third strike felony conviction. Just around the corner, the Police Athletic League of Kansas City, Kansas offers the only FREE drivers' education program in the county, taught by Kansas City, Kansas police officers, helping our youth to be safe drivers on the road.

We have instituted the open mic opportunities for residents to both voice concerns and bring forth recommendations for improvements associated to the issues most important to them. Numerous task force offers residents volunteer opportunities to bring forth policy recommendations to the Commission. We have also started the DotteProud recognition initiative to honor and recognize community members who have made a significant difference, showcasing their commitment to community.

Even with these great wins, we have also lost some community icons in 2024 - trailblazers such as Loren Taylor, Chester Owens, and Broderick Crawford. Past elected Officials such as Mayor Joseph Steiniger, Commissioner Elmer Sharp, and State Representative Marvin Robinson. With many more Wyandotte County icons that have gone on. Let's forever remember the legacy they left for our community.

Just as important is our staff. In addition to launching a recruitment campaign and now accepting online applications through Workday, we have added several key people to the Unified Government team this year:

-Chief Financial Officer Dr. Shelley Kneuvean

-Director of Economic Development Chelsee Chism

-Director of Community Development Kay Sharp

-County Treasurer Andrea Vinyard

-Unified Government Clerk, Monica Sparks

-and KCKFD Chief Dennis Rubin

The commitment to positive change is occurring because we have PRIDE.

We are extremely DotteProud about the investments that have been made to enhance the quality of life for our residents.

Economic development continues with robust, new developments across the county. To date, we have seen $852 million in investments - 4^th best year in the county's history - $1.2 billion since 2022. With this increased development the city is capturing more sales tax revenues as opposed to property sales tax. This is an indicator of more good things to come.

In 2024, we have seen exciting projects such as new multi-family housing developments in Rosedale and Downtown; two incredible proposals for the redevelopment of Unified Government land at 4^th/Minnesota and Indian Springs Mall Site. The construction and opening of developments such as Homefields, Hollywood Casino, Margaritaville Resort, American Royal, Top Golf and the KCK Community College downtown campus.

We welcomed new industry such as Marvin Windows and celebrate the announcement of General Motors to manufacture the BOLT, electric vehicle in KCK. We look forward to new destinations such as the Mattel theme park and the Buc-ees destination filling station. In all, more than 200 new businesses applied for their business license in 2024.

With the help of our Chief Building Inspector, we've updated our permit close-out process to help business and homeowners get into their new construction projects sooner. With improvements to services such as this and our comprehensive review of development processes, the Unified Government is working better for our business developers.

And as I indicated before, we have taken a proactive holistic approach to driving valued, quality, equitable, sustainable development projects. DotteBiz (website) provides a one-stop shop for starting your business (and doing business) in Wyandotte County. This year, we hosted a vendor fair to bring together local businesses with purchasing opportunities and launched a business directory.

We are offering more dynamic transportation options with the launch and expansion of on-demand services like IRIS microtransit and paratransit. We now connect key locations across the county with affordable services - and will be expanding into the Northeast in early 2025. On a regional level, we are collaborating with the Bi-State reinvestment corridor initiative spearheaded by Congresswoman Davids and Congressman Clever, to provide better access to jobs and resources for our residents that are transportation challenged.

In 2024, we opened new public facilities to better serve you including a real-time crime center; environmental services maintenance building, and a new fire station. From the Cerner settlement, the Unified Government was able to invest $7 million through various economic development and community projects in Wyandotte County. Record breaking park investment with 9 ribbon cuttings, totaling $8.9 million in capital improvements.

• The St. Margaret's Trail;
• Quindaro Basketball Court;
• Clifton Park Splash Pad;
• Kensington Basketball Court & Parking lot;
• Klamm Basketball Courts & Pickleball/Tennis Courts;
• Jersey Park Basketball Court;
• Bridal Trail Signage;
• Clopper Field Trail

We also maintained Parkwood Pool and have further investments to come.

The Mayors 2026 world cup readiness task force, Chaired by Visit KCK executive Director Allen Carr, is working to prepare for international visitors where Wyandotte County will be front and center

With all of that said… progress takes time.

We have a respectable and stable credit rating, and our financial audit is back on schedule. We have taken a pause in new general obligation debt to develop a debt strategy…. it's not free money, so we need to make decisions today that will not negatively impact future generations. Leveraging outside expertise to help us improve our processes, audits of our organizational systems, with recommendations focused on best practices will be key to staying on track.

Infrastructure improvement is a critical priority. We completed several major projects this year, including: Fairfax Trafficway, State Avenue Street preservation, Holiday Drive bridge replacements, and the Hutton & Leavenworth roundabout. Several miles worth of roadway resurfacing has also taken place throughout KCK, with more to come. We are taking innovative approaches to our challenges - introducing Pothole repair blitzes in the spring, and the replacement of 71,000 feet of curbs and gutters. This year, public works patched over 39 thousand potholes - a 5% increase over last year. This year we launched "In the Works" - a web application where you can check the status of construction projects in your neighborhood.

Our Strategic Communications team brings the magic of storytelling to Wyandotte County every week with videos connecting residents to programs and services, sharing the good deeds and hard work of the entire Unified Government staff, and building a workforce for the future through recruitment videos and better content. From UG in a Minute videos, recapping our upcoming events, to the fact that we have increased the number of newsletter subscribers by more than 15 times in the past 18 months - we are improving how we communicate and empower our residents with the information they need. All are encouraged to Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, LinkedIn) as we have also radically improved our digital content in 2024.

Your Unified Government Board of Commissioners will convene in early 2025 to continue to chart our course through strategic planning. We will also be launching a completely overhauled community survey. This will establish necessary feedback with YOU, our community, about your priorities and satisfaction with our services. This information will clarify what works and what doesn't - directly guiding our budget process.

On another note, I want to invite you now to join us next September to celebrate the Memorial Hall Centennial. Where we will be celebrating 100 years of culture, legacy, and the pride of this incredible building on September 11-13, 2025. This three-day festival will honor those who serve our country and community; the many shared memories created here in this historic building, and unite us for the next 100 years.

In 2024, we worked relentlessly to meet the growing demands for positive change while also pushing hard to drive progress forward. In 2025, we will continue our efforts to reinforce unity, opportunity, and hope for an improved Wyandotte County. I believe the leadership of our current elected officials demonstrates a sincere desire to promote and move our town in a positive direction. We have a solid opportunity to stay true to fiscal responsibility and are attracting new businesses to our town that are increasing the diversity of our economic base.

With all that being said, so as long as we reject business as usual, prioritize the continuation of being fiscally responsible, maximizing collaboration and make the commitment to being community driven.

When someone asks me will WYCO reach its full potential…

The answer is YES

Will we overcome our challenges?

The answer is yes.

Will we see the opportunity for greatness?

The answer is yes.

Will we remain a key player in the metro?

The answer is yes.

Will the strength and resilience of who we are weather the challenges? The answer is yes.

Yes to those that are hoping for a better day.

Yes, to those wanting opportunities

Yes, to those wanting safe neighborhoods

Yes, to those wanting a government committed to reforms

Yes, to an administration embracing a tightening of its financial belt

Yes, to those that want a government that puts people first

Yes, yes the sky is the limit!!!

Yes, we are getting better as a community and together we must say yes

We are moving forward with no intention of ever going backwards!

The best is in plain sight for us to seize and, yes, your Unified Government is stabilized, back on track, and ready to deliver for our community.

You heard it from me first, the best is yet to come for Wyandotte County!!

Please join me in watching this short video, narrated by our County Administrator David Johnson that looks back over the year and explores challenges, celebrates accomplishments and defines the spirit in which we serve our community.

I'd like to thank the KCK Rotary Club for their continued partnership and hosting this annual event.

Again, I'm Mayor Tyrone Garner, Community Driven, Every Person, Every Neighborhood, Every Single Day.

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year.

I Love You Wyandotte County,

God Bless you all.