Category: Election 2017

by Mary Rupert

David G. Alvey has filed for mayor, according to records in the Wyandotte County Election Commissioner’s office.

Alvey currently is a member of the Board of Public Utilities in at-large District 2. He is a former BPU president of the board, and was first elected to the BPU in 2009. He is employed at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo., where he is the assistant principal. He filed for office on Feb. 6.

The Unified Government mayor-CEO office is expected to attract a lot of attention this year. The filing deadline is June 1 at noon. The primary election is in August and the general election is in November this year.

Incumbent Mayor Mark Holland told the “Ruckus” television show last year that he plans to run for re-election. According to a member of the mayor’s staff, Mayor Holland filed for re-election on Monday, Feb. 6. On Wednesday, the election commissioner confirmed that Holland was the first one to file for mayor this year.

Also filing for the fall city elections, according to records in the election office, were UG Commissioner Mike Kane, who filed for re-election to the 5th District commission seat on Jan. 29, and Mary L. Gonzales, who filed for re-election to the BPU at-large, District 1, position on Feb. 7.

The city and local elections were moved by the state Legislature from the spring to the fall.

A Unified Government committee on Tuesday night advanced a charter ordinance to bring the timing of Board of Public Utilities elections into line with state law changes.

Last year, state lawmakers changed the spring city elections to the fall. They will be held in August and November of 2017.

The charter ordinance extends the terms of the current BPU members to cover the extra time between their original terms and the new timing of the election. According to a UG attorney, the primary election will be in August, with the general election in November.

The charter ordinance will require a two-thirds vote approval by the UG Commission, and there is a 60-day protest period in the ordinance, according to the UG attorney.

The change was unanimously approved at the Administration and Human Services Committee meeting and moves forward to a UG Commission meeting.

The UG Commission last year passed an ordinance changing the election laws concerning the UG Commission elections.