Mayor Garner Shares 2022 Annual Update with Commission
Published on December 01, 2022
By our charter, the Mayor/CEO is required to provide the Commission and public with an annual update on the economic, physical and social condition and needs of the Unified Government. Tonight, during the December 1, 2022 Full Commission Meeting, Mayor Tyrone Garner provided a brief verbal statement (see video below) as he shared with the Commission a written annual update, reflecting on the 25th anniversary of the Unified Government and the road ahead.
"We are at a critical crossroads where we stand today in Wyandotte County," said Mayor Garner. "A crossroad that offers us the opportunity to move away from business-as-usual and to take the clear choice of working collaboratively to reimagine and improve Wyandotte County together. We have inherited great challenges. Yes, we will be tested. Yes, we will have to make hard choices and sacrifices will have to be made. And, yes, it will require a collective of community, elected officials and staff working with purpose to discover, evaluate, identify, focus, regroup, rebuild and recover in a manner that will provide economic sustainability and equitable realignments that will facilitate positive progress."
We have attached a copy of the written report here for your reference and provided an excerpt from the document below.
Watch the Mayor's Annual Update
Excerpt from the Written Update
Dear Unified Government Board of Commissioners,
2022 has been a year of transition and change which can be both uncomfortable and exciting. We are beginning to see the emergence of a “new normal” after more than two years of a global pandemic amidst economic uncertainty and social division and unrest across the country. As the first black Mayor/CEO of our Unified Government, I am humbled by the opportunity to serve our community at a time when we can truly reimagine our future as we rebuild and set course for the next 25 years.
At my inauguration, I promised to bring a new approach to how we address some of the greatest challenges facing our community while embracing the incredible talent and hometown pride that has always made Wyandotte County a special place. I committed to working with you and our community to find sustainable solutions to alleviate the cost of living in our county through lower taxes, more efficient government services, and economic development that benefits all neighborhoods, particularly those east of I-635. With once-in-a-generation federal funding to rebuild and restore our community, there are incredible opportunities ahead but we must take a transparent, data-driven approach that ensures the benefits of these investments are prioritized based on greatest need.
This year has been a year of learning and assessment as we instated an interim County Administrator, the first time we hired from outside the organization, to lead this transition as we initiate a search for a permanent administrator. We have looked closely at various functions of the Unified Government while asking our community to participate more in helping us identify and address the issues that are essential to creating a high quality of life that all Dottes deserve. We have learned a lot together this year and I am optimistic about our future.
Embracing Our Truth
It was 25 years ago when residents voted to unify the City of Kansas City, KS and County of Wyandotte into one organization. Over the years, we have seen significant changes in many parts of our county which have made our community a destination for sporting events, shopping, tacos, and other attractions. We have seen a transformation through the development of Village West and look forward to exciting new projects such as the Rock Island Bridge and the KC levees and trails. However, this growth has not been equitable across the county and there is a need to proactively and intentionally address creating better access to jobs, housing, and opportunity in every neighborhood.
Since 1997, the world as we knew it has changed. Google was registered as a domain for the first time 25 years ago, for example, and rapid technological innovation has shaped so much of our public discourse, access to services, and global markets. These changes have created new opportunities but also unintended consequences and inequity. With this in mind, we know that the Unified Government must also evolve as our community priorities and needs have changed since unification.
During the pandemic, the Unified Government shifted to new ways of working to provide continuity of services with great dedication to our community. Last spring, we experienced our first ever ransomware attack which highlighted the challenges facing any modern organization in protecting its data and systems. However, we have proven to be resilient, recovering quickly from the cybersecurity attack and installing processes and tools to minimize risk in the future. Learning from this experience is important to our evolution as an organization but we must hold ourselves accountable and share progress on our continuous improvement with the community.
In 2022, Wyandotte County is not alone in its recovery from what researchers have called the “triple pandemic” — the health, economic, and social justice impacts of COVID-19 have been felt across our community. The pandemic has highlighted the racial and economic disparities we knew existed with often catastrophic consequences for our residents. Our public health response was data-driven and focused on equity, working hard to bring the resources and services needed to all corners of our county. As your Unified Government, we must continue focus on not only addressing the historic impacts of systemic racism and inequity but look forward to how we ensure we are creating more opportunity through equitable growth for future generations.
As one of the most diverse counties in the country, we have seen the disproportionate impact that the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and political divisions have on our community these past few years. In Spring 2022, our residents provided input on priorities across the county through our biannual community survey, administered via mail, phone and online by the ETC Institute (wycokck.org) with samples pulled from every neighborhood and Commission district across the county. This data was key to helping guide our 2023 budget process and allocation of federal recovery funds but further highlights where we must take a much closer look at how we provide basic services such as infrastructure, public safety, community services and amenities. Our goDotte mobility strategy adopted in August 2022 highlighted the disconnect between where people live, access to transportation and opportunity so we know that there is much more to be done to ensure our recovery is equitable and sustainable.
When I was sworn in your Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government last December, I made a commitment to look closely at how we make decisions as a county. As a diverse community, we must bring a greater focus on creating equitable outcomes for all by creating safe places for community input and engagement. I also promised we would take a close look at the Unified Government operations and our budget so we can better serve our residents and business owners no matter where you live, work or play in Wyandotte. Together, we have been working hard to deliver on this promise but there is still much more work to be done.
To keep us moving forward together, I have established eight committees and task forces of elected officials, community stakeholders and residents. They are focused on key areas and issues that we must address in order to build a stronger, economically successful Wyandotte County for the future. I have also introduced new ways for the community to share their input through monthly public hearings at our Commission meetings and a monthly Mayor Tyrone Tuesday, inviting our neighbors to bring their recommendations forward.
Our Vision: We are a vibrant, resilient community of compassionate and diverse neighbors, united for an equitable, healthy, prosperous future that is proudly Wyandotte.
Last month, we launched a strategic planning effort with our Commission to identify budget priorities so we can begin to address the much-needed changes to how we operate. Never before have we started this process so early and, while it will not be easy, we must tackle some significant decisions in the coming months. As highlighted throughout our recent budget process, we are not operating in a way that sets up for success in the future. We must address the deficit in our city general fund, look closely at property taxes and the BPU Pilot, and ensure that the benefits of our services and programs reach all neighborhoods, whether you live in the Historic Northeast, Rosedale, Piper, or Bonner Springs. By taking a collaborative approach, we will be able to usher the changes needed for our long-term resiliency and sustainability as a community.
Make no mistake – we have plenty of work to do – and it will take a community-wide effort to address key issues and set us on a path that will make Wyandotte county stronger, more vibrant and more economically successful in the coming 25 years.
Cultivating Our Future
Looking ahead to 2023, I am eager to continue working with our Commission, community, and partners to address the following goals:
· PROVIDE TAX Relief for Residents
We have heard from our community that we need to do more to address the tax burden and cost of living impacts felt countywide. Property values have continued to rise over the past few years, with a 19% increase just over the last year, and the pandemic exacerbated the availability of housing stock which further inflated demand. While we cannot cut our way out of the financial problems facing the Unified Government, we can continue to do more to identify operational efficiencies, focus on our core services, and engage the other taxing jurisdictions across Wyandotte County to identify ways to reduce the mill levy wherever possible. We can also work to ensure that more people are connected with the existing resources and programs we already have available to us across the county, including direct engagement with seniors on the homestead tax rebate and utility tax rebate programs.
· FACILITATE EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT
We must continue to grow our economic base to help us maintain and sustain critical infrastructure and services through equitable opportunities, new business attraction, and local business growth. Furthermore, we must identify new revenue opportunities that do not place the burden on households or individuals that have not benefitted directly from the increased property values.
Systemic change requires systemic planning. We have several important initiatives starting in early 2023 to help us strategize and coordinate our efforts through economic development, land use planning, historic preservation, community health improvement, and infrastructure projects. Our Public Health Department working closely with community partners, for example, will continue development and implementation of its next five-year Community Health Improvement Plan with four community-identified priority areas: jobs and education; healthcare access; safe and affordable housing; and violence prevention. We must work together to encourage participation in these efforts as this will help us keep the forward momentum we have established this year.
I look forward to working with you, our Commission, on establishing a shared vision for providing economic relief for our residents while creating new opportunity to attract and retain talent for the next generation as we work through our 2024 budget and beyond. Now that we have adopted a new vision statement, we must continue our ongoing strategic planning process as a means to clarify our goals as a community which will help us foster much-needed trust and transparency on our progress.
· STABILIZE THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT
On February 7, 2023, following a rigorous national search and review, the community will have the opportunity to meet the finalists for county administrator, a key role in helping guide our organization through this ongoing transformation. In the meantime, the work underway to evaluate and realign our organizational structure to support efficient operations must continue with our support. Over 25 years, our community needs have evolved and so too must our organization. These changes can create uncertainty so it is important for us to equip our staff with the resources and tools they need to be effective in their work. The Unified Government must adopt a strategic plan to guide its operations, holding itself accountable to key performance indicators and checking progress along the way. This will help us demonstrate the value of the services we provide while also equipping us with the data we need to understand what is not working and needs to be revisited.
We will continue the work to identify ways to leverage new technology and innovative practices into how we work which can further savings and efficiencies within our organization. The recent launch of the enterprise system, Workday, for instance, will transform our management of human capital with better processes for hiring, career pathways, and secession planning. Additionally, by streamlining our accounting, Workday will help us institute the financial controls and best practices as stewards of public funds.
We must also look at how our budget aligns to our community priorities and ensure that we are funding what is most impactful. In the 2023 budget, we began the important work of putting more funding towards our street preservation and parks. However, to achieve the goal of improved street conditions by 2038, we will need to focus more resources on critical maintenance and repair of our infrastructure. Our economic development strategic planning effort will be an opportunity to look countywide at how we can shape a more resilient future for both our county and Unified Government through equitable growth.
Likewise, we must address our debt and other financial obligations so we can maintain our credit rating and be an attractive place for future investment. We need to stop paying for the past and focus on investing in our future. The 2023 budget process highlighted the importance of addressing the structural imbalance in our city general fund and the need to have clearer policies for when our county general fund has a surplus. Recommendations to explore two-year budgeting and other best practices should be considered quickly to help us find better ways to close the gap between our expenses and revenue.
Finally, we recognize that the looming “silver tsunami” of retirements and overall challenges in the labor market have made it difficult to attract and retain the needed talent to keep our operations running smoothly. We cannot forfeit the much-needed investment in our staff and must remain committed to making sure we have the right people in the right positions across all departments. This work will take time and requires the review of our administrative policies, salaries and compensation, as well as overall classification of jobs as compared to other employers. By tackling these various initiatives, I am confident we will have a much stronger, resilient organization for the future.
· INVEST IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
With aging infrastructure, including the closure of two bridges these past two years, we know that it is important for us to restore and rebuild our infrastructure for the next generation. Like many cities across the United States, our once robust infrastructure is reaching the end of its useful life. The Unified Government Commission worked diligently to develop target Infrastructure Outcomes and Strategies to help us manage and address the growing portfolio of deferred maintenance. Through evaluating our assets, it will be important to continue this momentum as infrastructure will be key to supporting our economic development.
· Promote County-Wide Unity
The development and subsequent adoption of the countywide mobility strategy, goDotte, is a great model of coordination across agencies and jurisdictions to achieve a shared vision for our county transportation systems. We must continue to work together to realize the changes we aspire to see in Wyandotte County and we cannot do this in silos.
I will continue to advocate for the inclusion of diverse stakeholders as we make big policy and funding decisions, including our peers at the Cities of Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, and Lake Quivira, as we seek solutions. We must also work with the Kansas City, Kansas Community College, School Districts and Libraries to find ways we can stretch the limited resources we have across Wyandotte County in service to our community.
In 2022, we worked with our community in new ways to address issues such as public health and safety, planning and development, and so much more. I encourage us all to continue to work together, to get out into our community, listen to concerns, and collaborate with each other to develop the innovative ideas we need to make Wyandotte County the most desirable place to live, work and play in the Midwest.
Empowering Hope
As elected officials, we are in an unique position to shape public policy that is both proactive and addresses the systemic inequity created in our past. I believe we have the much-needed momentum to create the long-lasting change we all seek for the betterment of lives across the county. I encourage us to approach 2023 with a lens of hope and optimism: together, we can make the next 25 years the best in our history.
As the Unified Government, we work with everyone and we must promote an inclusive, diverse workforce that reflects the community we serve while addressing issues of implicit bias and customer service. Throughout my first year as your Mayor and CEO, I have personally witnessed the great talent and commitment of our staff and community partners and believe we can absolutely achieve our shared vision for the future of the Dotte.
- Mayor/CEO Tyrone A. Garner
Read the Full Update Here(PDF, 7MB)