The Issues
"The issues that face us are often complex. The role of good government is to balance the tensions between competing interests, and to do so with out bias, so that the public good is served. My intention, if elected, is to apply a critical eye to everything that the city council votes on, to challenge assumptions and atrophied thinking if encountered, and to support creative solutions that will benefit Lenexa." - Bethany Griffith
Common Sense Finances
It starts with setting a budget
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When surveyed most citizens want excellent public services: they want well-equipped fire and police departments, they want maintained parks and civic buildings, they want community centers and festivals. What they don’t want is mismanagement and waste.
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The budget is entirely within the city council’s control, however the valuations that set the level of tax burden is entirely outside of the Council’s control. The one place the City Council can offer relief is the mil rate. I believe that once a lean and efficient budget has been set a mil roll back should aggressively follow.
Family-centric housing policy
Build the homes Lenexans want
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If Lenexa is to remain a city for families – where are the homes for young people just starting out or empty-nesters scaling down?
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The tension in this issue is where and how should the City Council intervene. I do not believe it is the Council’s job to subsidize housing. However it is the City Council’s job to set zoning policy and I think that policy should do all it can to ensure developers build affordable suburban housing of the kind that brought many of us to Lenexa.
Some will perhaps say that this is an attack on apartments. Far from it: Lenexa has a great range of other formats of housing and options for different flavors of living (such as around City Center) that weren't there a generation ago. But the biggest gap left is in traditional suburban homes for the working class: let's focus the remaining buildout on meeting this need so that everyone who wants to can enjoy the Lenexa dream.
City Center and Old Town
Creativity not copycat
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Most of city center is either developed or actively in the process of being developed. For the last few parcels if the market doesn’t provide a buyer I would like to see them remain green space. I think a small surprise garden with art and outdoor seating would be a lovely addition to the density of Lenexa city center.
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I have always liked the idea of City Center, giving people the option to live in Lenexa but not feel too suburban about it. But Lenexa only needs one city center. I like green space and room to breathe and Lenexa should continue to provide and protect those spaces too.
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In keeping with this Lenexa should continue to invest in all parts of the city, so that it continues to mature well. I love the charm of Old Town and civic investment in that area will only improve it. The senior center is a vital community asset that is in need of upgrades, providing outdoor recreational space in that area is also overdue. There is also a need for improved sidewalks to improve accessibility.
