City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the Monday, June 15th, 2026 City Council meeting. Our invocation will be provided by Laura Dean Wiley, congregant of Vision Church KC. Please stand for the invocation and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please join me in bowing your heads. Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you first off. for independence as we look forward to celebrating our Freedom 250, the Declaration, and also just the privilege to be in a city called and named for independence. Lord, we are reminded through your word to trust in you with all of our hearts and lean not to our own understanding, that we are to acknowledge you in all our ways, and in our city meeting tonight. So please, Lord, direct our paths. Satisfy the needs that need to be met during this meeting. Strengthen those in leadership as tough decisions need to be discussed and made. And give us each the fruits of the Spirit as we interact with one another. I pray for wisdom and deed. Bring glory to you, God, with a good gospel outcome for the work done, not just tonight, but for the future of independence. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic.

Madam City Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Dorman.

Here.

Council Member Perkins. Here. Council Member Stewart. Here. Council Member Atkinson. Here. Council Member Wiley. Here. Council Member Vaught. Here. Mayor King.

Here.

This brings us to proclamations. I have one proclamation for tonight. It's a little long, so please bear with me. Whereas the City of Independence proudly recognizes and celebrates the extraordinary life of Shirley Ann Baker, a beloved community member whose unwavering dedication, resilient spirit, and generous heart have enriched generations of family, friends, neighbors, and the greater Independence community. And whereas Shirley Ann Baker, a proud Creeker girl, we won't hold that against you, grew up in Sher Creek near the Missouri River, carrying with her a strong sense of perseverance, community pride, and application for the people and places that shaped her life. And whereas Shirley shared a loving and enduring marriage with her late husband, William James Bill Baker, And together they built a remarkable life centered on family, public service, and devotion to the community while enjoying memorable travels to destinations near and far. And whereas the devoted wife of former independent city councilman Bill Baker, who also served as chair of the Jackson County Democratic Committee, Shirley stood as a steadfast source of support and partnership throughout decades of civic engagement and leadership. And whereas Shirley's greatest joy has been her family, serving as the proud mother of seven children, grandmother of 18 grandchildren, and great grandmother of 26 great grandchildren. with another cherished blessing soon to arrive. And whereas Shirley's lifelong connection to independence includes treasured memories of standing on the historic Independence Square to witness the World War II victory parade, working at Velvet Freeze ice cream during her high school years, and enjoying lunches at Woolworth's. experiences that reflect her deep roots in this community, and where I surely devoted more than two decades to managing and operating the Courthouse Exchange Restaurant, where she took immense pride in serving home-cooked meals prepared with care, earning a reputation for exceptional hospitality, delicious prime rib, giant tenderloin sandwiches, and legendary homemade cinnamon rolls. And whereas through determination, resilience, and unmistakable spirit, Shirley helped sustain and uplift the historic Independence Square during some of its most difficult years, contributing to its vitality and future success while advocating for the preservation and care of the city's treasured historic

and the alarming gaps in the deal you've already approved. Additional tax revenue. Large businesses understand the economic value they bring through jobs and tax revenue.

And they say we have 1,600 homes that are going to be up on the courthouse square. People who are listening to this at home, do you know our families are having a... Thank you to you guys who get to be part of that with us. So that's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Tammy Parsons. Please state your name and your address, and you have five minutes to speak. Thank you.

Thank you. Tammy Parsons. I live in the Englewood Arts District. Thank you, Mayor and City Council, for allowing me to have a few minutes of your time this evening. I came here just to celebrate the celebration that the work that we have stepped up to in our community, it hasn't just been us behind it. We have been able, as a grassroots organization, effort be able to sit at the table with you. We've invited you to sit at the table and listen to what our thoughts were to move ahead, because nothing was happening in Western Independence forever. And in 2016, a grassroots group sat down in front of my business in the Englewood Arts District and we met weekly and we met weekly with your presence at the city council there but not because you wanted to be there because we asked you to be there we invited you to be there and then these best trips happen with a lot of people that had some of the same kind of energy and the same determination to make something out of Western Independence because everything was coming, quite frankly, to where we're standing today. Nothing was staying in Western Independence, but you know what? It's changed. It is now, and that's been with your help. So I want to celebrate you as city council and as mayor and going forward in the work that has been done. We don't need any more separation in our city. We need to come together as one. And that's going to be very difficult because we all don't see the things that eye to eye or whatever you want to say. I'm losing my thought process because I'm not a public speaker. But I am full of gratitude for your time that you've listened to us and the direction that we've received as a grassroots group moving forward in our city. You didn't do it for us, but you directed us what we needed to do. And we crossed those T's and we dotted those I's and we brought it forward. And we got accused of having all different kinds of agendas and everything. And there's a lot of people, a lot of resistance that we ran up against in front of us. But you know what? Our hearts didn't quit and we continued forward. And there are many good things happening. And I just want to say, you've never not been a part of it. And for that, I am truly grateful. Thank you. I hope to continue to be proud of everything that is going and being done in the city. there will be mistakes made, and we have to know how to overcome them. But thank you for keeping us safe and for sitting in that seat and for taking the criticism that you do, because I don't think anybody goes sitting wanting these positions to get that kind of criticism, and I know each of you get it from so many. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Jason Conaway. Please state your name and your address and you have five minutes to speak. Thank you.

My name is Jason Conaway. I'm at 9509 East 13th Street South. I wanted to just thank the council for being here tonight and letting us have the opportunity to speak. Um, I wanted to say that when we first moved into the neighborhood, We moved into the west side of Independence in the Englewood Arts District. One of the first people we met was our elected official, and we've really enjoyed that and gotten to know a lot of the council and the council members. It seems that some people may have been forgotten in recent efforts. And I think that that is unfortunate. And I think that maybe a large swath of this area was forgotten. And I think that it would be nice to have seen everybody included. And that's basically all I have to say. Thank you.

Our next speaker is GK Callahan. Please state your name and your address, and you have five minutes to speak. Thank you.

Hi, good evening, in-council. Good evening, mayor and council. My address is 9509 East 13th Street South. I'm here tonight for many reasons. One, to talk about the arts policy, which is on the agenda. And I'm super excited to bring that subject up later in the meeting. But I really want to thank the council at large for your investment in the West Side, over $17 million of investment in our community. And I'll tell you, when I moved to that community a few years ago, it was not the way it is now. It is visibly different with jobs and... businesses created, community that is rose around it, and the housing prices alone have really improved for the neighborhood. My own neighbors themselves started gardening again and fixing up their houses and painting them. And that investment was clearly happened because of the city council paying attention. And so I want to thank the whole council at large for that. I also think that I want to address some of the issue that we're talking about in the room around having public hearings, because I've been to many of them. So those did exist. I was at those public hearings. And through my work with the University of Missouri, I've helped lead some of those public hearings around the GeoBond, around the center that everyone's talking about. And so I just want to make sure that we talk about the transparency that I've seen may be different than the transparency someone else has seen, and I don't understand why that is. Speaking of transparency, I just think it's really important to point out that this recall effort is going to cost a lot of taxpayer dollar money, and I think that's inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. We have already crossed this threshold of where we are now. What has been decided and been voted on in the past has been voted on and decided and we are moving forward. And I don't think those taxpayer dollars need to be spent this way. That recall for an individual is going to cost upwards to $167,000 of taxpayer money. And if you're talking about public benefit for the community, that money could be spent in much better places to improve the city of Independence. And so really what I'm here tonight to do is talk about improving our city and how we're growing and how I'm so proud of living here. and how I had the options to live lots of places. And I chose to live here because I see the heart and the wonderful opportunity that's happening in independence. And it's being overshadowed by misinformation. And I really hope we can see past that information, that you guys can see past that misinformation, and that we can move forward on the growth that we are all working towards. So thank you for all of your efforts. It's very appreciated. And yeah, thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Wes Epperson. Please state your name and your address, and you have five minutes. Thank you.

Yeah. Name's Wes Epperson, 3600 Poplar Avenue, Southwest Independence. And I'm here to speak tonight. Again, I want to... I want to go back to what the previous speaker said about the recall and about the $167,000 estimated cost for the recall election, then another $167,000 or more for a primary, and then we do that again for an election. And that doesn't count whatever legal expenses are added on to that. as the city would have to defend itself against all kind of accusations that they're already putting up with about corruption. You hear all these words thrown around, but there's been no proof. There's been no charges. I actually lived in the first district in 1977. That was a house we bought there right off of Winter Road. I actually had a councilman then who was corrupt, and he was kicked out of office and did some time in jail. So I know the difference between a corrupt councilman and the word thrown around by demagogues who like to play on people's emotion. I live in the 4th District. The 4th District, when I was a kid, was a show place that we went to drive on Blue Ridge Boulevard during Christmas. Blue Ridge Boulevard does not resemble a boulevard today. And a lot of this is not the city's fault. It's the economy that we lived in. It's all the blue collar jobs that disappeared. It's the NAFTAs. It's the trade agreements that were made. It's the wealth inequality. It's what we face today as a nation with people living in, like, the west side, the first district, the fourth district that I live in, people need help. And I know the money is not there. The city is struggling with their finances. Our tax base, which was based on retail, A lot of that's disappeared. When we lived in Englewood, we visited Englewood all the time. We went to Ben Franklin. We went to Fairmount, went to Western Auto, went to all these different, went to Blue Ridge Mall, and then went to the Independence Center. These were all engines that for our tax base was retail. And at retail, a lot of it went away. And now, this opportunity with having a data center, and by the way, so many of these folks, I believe, that are critical of the data center, use a data center daily. They store their pictures there. They order on Amazon. They order their food, their groceries. The data center is something that they use. They just don't want it in their backyard. They don't want it in their backyard, but they don't want to do away. They will not throw away their phones or computers and all the things that they use.

You have one minute, sir.

As they use data storage, data libraries that store this data that they use daily. And so, I don't see, as a person that lives in the 4th District, where we need a lot of help. We need help rebuilding that part of town. We need help with 40 Highway. We need help with 35th Street, 39th, and all the streets that run through our town. And how can we turn our back on this opportunity? With the possibility that the city could gain $35 to $55 million a year, and that doesn't even count the money that would go to the school districts where these people's kids are educated.

Sir, your time is up.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This brings us to our consent agenda. Mr. Mayor. Proceed.

I move for approval of the reports and recommendations of the city manager.

So I have a motion. Second. I got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Would anybody like to pull any items off?

Mr. Mayor. Proceed. I'd like to pull 26736, please. All right.

26-736. All right. Anything else? All right. Call the vote for everything except for 26-736, please.

Council Member Dorman? Yes.

Yes.

Council Member Perkins. Yes. Council Member Stewart. Yes. Council Member Atkinson. Yes. Council Member Wiley. Yes. Council Member Vought. Yes. Mayor King.

Yes. Passes seven yeses, zero noes. Council Member Perkins. Thank you, Mayor. I'll make a motion for approval. Got a motion for approval of 26-736. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? Mr. Mayor.

proceed just want to say thank you to the independence art council for putting all the time and energy and work to to do this um it's been also kind of fun to really work with you guys on a separate issue working with the tree commission collaboration with the truman connected but to the matter at hand thank you i think this really gets the city moving forward and the big dream that we've been talking about and working about bringing art into our community and showcasing us so thank you for that thank you mayor

Any further discussion?

Mr. Mayor? Yes. You made mention of the tree commission. I've gotten a lot of folks curious about where the trees went and when they're coming up again. I know that we've spoken about this in the past, went through a list, but just wanted to reiterate that we are replanting those trees. They will all be native trees, and it will be a beautiful opportunity for our city to connect to really important and historic neighborhoods. So just wanted to make sure that folks know that the trees will return. Thank you.

Any further discussion? Madam City Clerk, please call the vote.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Councilmember Perkins? Yes. Councilmember Stewart? Yes. Councilmember Atkinson? Yes. Councilmember Wiley? Yes. Councilmember Vaught? Yes. Mayor King?

Yes. 26-736 passes 7-0. This brings us to our regular agenda. Madam City Clerk, will you please read 26-063?

26-063, second reading, an ordinance adopting the annual operating and capital budgets of the City of Independence, Missouri for the fiscal year July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, estimating the revenues for the fiscal year, appropriating sums for the purposes stated in said budget, establishing operating transfers, designating fund balance allocations, establishing the authorized table of organization, and designating those who may make a requisition for encumbrances against appropriations. Second reading.

Any discussion?

Mr. Mayor.

Proceed.

I just was wondering if someone from staff can explain the workers' compensation fund having a negative balance.

Yeah, so, Council Member Bott, this is... ongoing issue right that we're facing just the rising cost of workman's comp claims in fact you might recall a study session a couple of weeks ago in which we presented on just our risk our overall risk and risk management approaches again we continue to see rising instances of workman comp play can't workman's comp claims, severity of those, costs associated with those, and so we are continuing to run in the negative, which is part of our structural imbalance that we've talked about. You might also recall as a follow-up to our retreat and some of our fiscal policies that we're going to bring back to you, it's an opportunity for us to start thinking long-term about... how we budget for those come up and express their first amendment right.

It's why I was, um, you know, sworn programming at a deeply discounted cost. Uh, the program includes STEM art programs and other enrichment opportunities for kids and teenagers. Um, they support hundreds of kids from independence each year for their summer program and they have an afterschool program. So it was really inspiring to see that and meet some of the kids that were in the program. And then finally, I had the honor of attending a promotion ceremony for the Independence Police Department where we celebrated the promotions of three police officers and three civilian dispatchers. Congratulations to each of them on their well-earned achievement, and thank you to all of them for their continued commitment to serving the residents of Independence. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Vaught?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So most people know that tomorrow night is the first World Cup match in our region as Argentina takes on Algeria. And it's exciting to see all the years of planning become a reality. And I'm so proud that independence is part of welcoming the world to the Kansas City area. I want to thank staff, first responders, volunteers, and anyone who has been working on this behind the scenes for the last year at least. And I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable experience over the next six weeks. Also, I want to thank the Independent Square Association for helping bring some fun and excitement to our community during the World Cup. And I want to make sure that everyone heard that it's free and food trucks. So, and lastly, let's go Mavericks.

Yeah, thank you. Council Member Perkins.

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I'll echo the gratitude. Thank you for being here tonight, everyone. Thank you for coming to this city hall and expressing your thoughts and your views and your ideas. I do want to just let you know what took place last week. We did have a kitchen table conversation, housing discussion with the Hispanic community, and that was with Councilman Atkinson city manager, assistant city manager, members of the community development and the Hispanic community at Blinwell. Kitchen table conversation, as you can imagine, was a kitchen table conversation with food. So that's always much appreciated and we really enjoyed that. About 10 to 12 individuals from the Hispanic community met with us. able to interpret. We had an interpreter there to help us understand what was being said and vice versa, to be able to listen to the conversations and the needs and discussions that they had. It was very fruitful. This is something that had been in the plan, been working with Community Service League for some time, and we finally got it on the books. The next steps, we're going to take a tour of the city hall here and let them fully understand what the departments are, How can we break down some of those barriers? How can we work with them through the community development department and also with our Independence Police Department? So it was good. I'm looking forward to the next round. I've heard some really good feedback. So I'm excited for the next steps. With that, Mayor, that's all I have.

All right.

Thank you.

So a couple things, and obviously I'll start off by the tenants meeting. I want to say thank you to Council Member Wiley for inviting me to that meeting. I've met with them before, but we had a great conversation with those people and truly need to make sure that they get taken care of. And then I will just say this too, I was also at the animal welfare meeting, you know, and I'll thank Councilmember Wiley and Atkinson for their job that they did there. It was a very nice job and it was really good to hear some of the feedback from some of the people that were there. So I appreciate it. I went to the Strawberry Festival. I'll be honest, that was my first time going there. I had a great time, and I encourage anybody next year, if you get the opportunity to go, I would strongly encourage you to at least go out there for a few hours. It was hot, but Brody Buster killed it out there, right? So, one of the other things I attended, I was asked to attend Howdy's Homemade first birthday and did a proclamation out there. A little bit about this group is it's individuals that wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to work in a retail space, maybe some development disabilities and things of that nature. But this is what makes this group up. And I'm going to tell you, I had a great time there. I had some ice cream. It was called apple strudel. Oh my God. It was, it was great. It was really, really good. So if you get a chance and I know it's in Lee summit, but their business is headquartered in independence and hopefully they'll bring one here to independence. But, um, the ice cream was really, really good. So, um, I think Councilmember Vaught brought this up, that FIFA starts tomorrow. And so we're going to have a lot of visitors around the city. We did a video last week welcoming everybody. So obviously it's going to get, we hope it gets a little crowded around the square and around the city. But please welcome all the visitors from all across the country that might be here visiting for the games. And then I'll just say, is Cindy Rogers still here? We need to do a Ted Lasso lookalike contest on a soccer Saturday. That's all I'll say. All right. July 11th. Okay, great. So we got a date.

We got a date.

Ted Lasso look-alike contest on July 11th. So thank you. And that's all I have. City Manager Anderson.

Thank you, Mary. I'd be remiss if I also didn't echo the sentiments of City Council. Not only thank you to the finance department the budget office for all the tireless work they put into the budget, but reflective of the entire organization again for all the time energy never put into To this work and so effective Tonight there's an opportunity for folks to go home and celebrate getting through another successful budget season. So thank you so much to Mayor and Council for making that happen. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Go Mavericks. We need a win. Thanks, everybody. Meeting adjourned. Thanks for everybody coming.