City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, Shawnee. I'm Doug Donahue, Communications Director for the City, and welcome to this wrap-up of the City Council meeting from Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Councilmember Laurel Birchfield was absent this evening, and Councilmember Kurt Knappen participated remotely, so votes will be based on the seven members of the Council in attendance tonight. The Mayor proclaimed the month of May as Poppy Month in honor of the American Legion in Shawnee and June 5th as Gun Violence Awareness Day in the city. The Mayor reappointed a slate of volunteers and two new appointments to the Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Code Board of Appeals, the Bicycle Advisory Board, and the Downtown Partnership. The Council approved all appointments 7-0. Ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup this summer, the council approved mutual aid agreements for the Shawnee Police Department to lend assistance to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Prairie Village, Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri police departments, as well as applying and receiving reimbursement after the tournament is over. During council committee, the council saw the first department budget presentations for the 2027 budget process. First, the council saw a full city personnel report. The proposed budget would add three new full-time positions to the city public works, community development, and police departments, and move a three-quarters position in the parks and rec department to full-time, increasing the city's full-time staff to 361. The City's Administration Department request for 2027 is a decrease from 2026 from $10.3 million down to just shy of $8.9 million. The Information Technology Department features a slight increase from $3.7 to $3.8 million. The Finance Department also shows a slight increase from $1.4 to $1.5 million in the 2027 proposed budget. And the Parks and Recreation Department, another slight increase from just more than $8 million to $8.3 million next year. The Council will be back in session on Monday, June 8th, starting at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers here at Shawnee City Hall. Of course, you can find full agendas and archive minutes on the web at cityofshawnee.org.