Sarah Kremer, 37, is a candidate for the Unified Government Commission, 5th District.
A vice president of accounting for Belger Cartage Service, Kremer is a certified public accountant and a certified management accountant.
Kremer said she had never thought about running for office before last year. With small children in her family, she said she became interested in the question of why Piper doesn’t have a library, since the closest one was on 82nd Street. While Bonner Springs and Basehor have libraries, Piper doesn’t have one, she noticed.
Some of the people in the Piper community feel that they are not represented very well, Kremer said. She said she believes with her background in accounting and finance, she could make a difference.
“At the commission level, I just thought I could be the person who could do that,” she said.
The most important issue currently in Piper to her is getting another school building, because the Piper district has outgrown its current school and is using trailers, she said. A bond issue came up for a vote, but has been voted down, and Kremer said she has been interested in moving it forward.
She said she believes that as a UG commissioner, she could work together with other boards to try to get things done in the community. She said she believes in a team effort toward getting things done.
“I think education is a huge thing, county-wide, to make sure the kids have the opportunities for the best education we can give them so we can give them the education they need to get better jobs, work or stay in the community and come back,” she said.
She said she would like to work toward lowering property taxes, and to do that, the community needs to keep economic development going to increase the tax base.
“I want people in our community to have better and more jobs,” Kremer said. “I feel we need to bring more companies in. If they have unions, that’s great. We just don’t have a lot of opportunity.”
She said she has noticed the advances in economic development that have taken place over the past few decades here, and wants to help push it forward.
Kremer also would like to see more trails and more parks in the Piper area. Wyandotte County Lake Park at 91st and Leavenworth Road is east of the Piper area, and there isn’t much else in the way of parks in Piper, she noted.
Kremer, who grew up in Iowa, has a bachelor’s degree from Emporia State University with an accounting emphasis.
She previously was an outsourcing consultant in the tax department for BKD LLP. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Missouri Society of CPAs and the Institute of Management Accountants.
She serves as treasurer of the Byrd’s Parent Booster Club, and is a member of the Piper Elementary Site Council. She is also an elementary ministry teacher at Vineyard Church of Piper.
The 5th District seat is currently held by incumbent Mike Kane. Also running for UG Commission, 5th District, is John T. Fotovich.
The primary election is Aug. 1, and the general election is Nov. 7.
Kremer said she has been attending meetings of groups throughout the 5th District, and is planning to hold a fundraiser and meet-and-greet from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 13, at The Dotte Spot, 8123 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas. She will be available to answer questions about her campaign, listen to concerns and sign up volunteers.
