The Unified Government Commission will meet at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. tonight, Nov. 3.
The 5 p.m. special session will be a hybrid meeting in the fifth-floor conference room of City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.
To be discussed are updates on planning and zoning, facilities tiering study and recreation study.
At the 7 p.m. meeting Nov. 3, several items are on the agenda.
The hybrid meeting will be in the Commission Chambers, lobby, City Hall, 701 N. 7th, Kansas City, Kansas. Residents may attend in person or view the meeting on Zoom, YouTube or UGTV.
There will be a community input and recommendations time for residents to express concerns and present solutions to UG-related topics. They will have three minutes to speak. Time may not be available for all speakers, since there is a maximum of 45 minutes for this part of the agenda.
An ordinance amending the storm and surface water utility fee is on the agenda.
The proposed monthly base charge for 2024 is $4.15, with a 70-cent monthly impervious area rate per 500 square feet. The base charge for 2025 is $4.67, with a monthly impervious area rate per 500 feet of 81 cents. The monthly base charge for 2026 is $5.38, with a monthly impervious area rate per 500 square feet of 85 cents.
The 2024 rates would go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
Also on the agenda are term limits for the UG Commission.
According to the proposed ordinance, mayors could serve only two full terms. The same applies to at-large commissioners and district commissioners.
Another ordinance adds a new section to the animal cruelty laws. The new section is abou reckless pet owners.
Also on the agenda is an update on the winter warming shelter.
Amendments to the open burning provision also are on the agenda.
The Zoom link for the 7 p.m. meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82665168654?pwd=czBkUmZRb3JEOG9kanRvWlpSYWo2dz09. The passcode is 54961. The webinar ID is 826 6546 8654. Call toll-free 888-475-4499 to connect to the meeting.
The public will be able to listen to the special meeting at 5 p.m. on YouTube or UGTV or through Zoom. The public also may view the special session from the fifth floor conference room of City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.
The Zoom link for the 5 p.m. meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82665168654?pwd=czBkUmZRb3JEOG9kanRvWlpSYWo2dz09. The passcode is 549671. The webinar ID is 826 6516 8654. Call toll-free to 888-475-4499 to listen to the meeting.
Rain will be possible on Friday.A south wind may gust to the mid-30s today. (National Weather Service graphic)
Today will be breezy, with gusts as high as 37 mph, and a high near 77, according to the National Weather Service.
Dry fuels and gusty winds will lead to elevated fire weather concerns today and Friday, the weather service said.
Relative humidity near 50 percent will mitigate some of the fire weather concerns.
Rain will return Friday morning, with periods of moderate to heavy rain through Friday, the weather service said. Wind gusts of 50 mph and small hail are possible, with isolated minor flooding possible.
Today, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 77, the weather service said. A south wind of 15 to 22 mph will gust as high as 37 mph.
Tonight, there is an 80 percent chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be 65 with a south wind of 16 mph, gusting as high as 32 mph. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is possible.
Friday, there is a 100 percent chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm, the weather service said. Temperatures will fall to 60 by 5 p.m. A south wind of 13 to 16 mph will gust as high as 31 mph. Between three-quarters and one inch of rain are possible.
Friday night, there is a 70 percent chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 1 a.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., then a chance of showers after 4 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 39. A north northwest wind of 8 to 10 mph will become west after midnight. Winds may gust as high as 18 mph. Between a quarter and half-inch of rain is possible.
Saturday, it will be partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 59, the weather service said. A southwest wind of 11 to 15 mph will gust as high as 26 mph.
Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 46, according to the weather service.
Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 67, the weather service said.
Sunday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low around 45, according to the weather service.
Monday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 67, the weather service said.
Monday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 57, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers, with a high near 70, the weather service said.
Tuesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 56, according to the weather service.
Wednesday, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 69, the weather service said.
Days before the November election, candidates talk about ballot security in TV debate
Candidates Scott Schwab and Jeanna Repass discussed gerrymandering and 2021 voting legislation during a debate Tuesday at KTWU studios at Washburn University in Topeka. (Photo by Rachel Mipro, Kansas Reflector)
by Rachel Mipro, Kansas Reflector
Topeka — Bucking national trends, the Democratic candidate running for Kansas secretary of state said election deniers need to be listened to while the Republican incumbent candidate quashed theories of voter fraud in the Kansas electoral system.
Democratic candidate Jeanna Repass, an Overland Park resident, is running against incumbent Secretary of State Scott Schwab. Repass said her goal is to restore public confidence in the state’s electoral process and increase voting accessibility for Kansans.
During a debate sponsored by Washburn University and broadcast by KTWU on Tuesday in Topeka, Repass said Kansans who doubted the electoral system need to have their concerns heard.
“There are people who don’t believe in our process, whether they saw a YouTube video or whether they read something online,” Repass said. “It is our responsibility to re-instill that in them. And dismissing them, being flippant about them, that is not going to get us where we need to go.”
Schwab said people who still believe in widespread Kansas election fraud need to be ignored.
“There’s a handful of people who still think the world’s flat too,” Schwab said. “You have to move on to the people who want the truth and not the people who, you solve their one lie, look to the next lie because they care more about believing a lie than learning the truth.”
Election security
The Secretary of State is the state’s top elections officer and has a lot of influence over voting access. Schwab has repeatedly declared Kansas elections safe and secure, bucking national and local trends of Republicans casting doubt over ballot accuracy.
Schwab has stayed strong on this stance, including in 2020, when several high-ranking Kansas Republicans supported former President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud.
“At the end of the day, it’s easy to vote in Kansas and it’s hard to cheat,” Schwab said.
Repass said she believed Kansas elections were secure but that many Kansans didn’t share her belief.
“If you look at those processes, there were several protocols where we missed a step,” Repass said. “I don’t believe it changed the outcome of a single election, and that’s why the elections were certified and that’s why we stand by those. The fact of the matter is, until we get more of our electorate who believe our elections are free and safe and fair, we’ve got a problem.”
When asked which protocols she thinks were skipped, Repass said the chain of custody protocol wasn’t followed in some places, with ballots being moved improperly.
“I am saying, let’s take the oxygen out of those arguments. Let’s follow the protocols we have in place, and let’s listen to people,” Repass said.
Both candidates said they were against voter intimidation and believed drop boxes were a safe form of ballot delivery.
Voting rights
Repass said she supports making Election Day a holiday to make it easier for Kansans to cast their ballots. Schwab said his office had worked diligently to make voting easier for Kansans through early voting, but he didn’t think a holiday was necessary.
Both candidates are against same-day voter registration. Schwab said the current system is already effective and that same-day registration would create unnecessary complications. Repass said the system needed to be fixed before new elements were added, saying voter disenfranchisement and distrust should be addressed first.
Candidates were asked about House Bill 2183, voting legislation passed in 2021. The bill made it illegal for one person to deliver more than 10 advance voting ballots on behalf of other voters.
The bill makes handling a voter’s ballot a misdemeanor crime for people who aren’t election officials, unless it’s on behalf of a family member, and prohibits people from delivering advance voting ballots on behalf of other people without a signed written statement. The legislation has been criticized by voting rights groups for being unnecessarily restrictive.
Repass said she would use the secretary of state position to ask lawmakers to reconsider the ballot limitations, saying she had heard from voters hindered by the requirements.
Schwab sidestepped the question, saying the legislation was up to policymakers.
“It’s the process,” Schwab said.
Redistricting
Repass said she would support an independent nonpartisan redistricting committee if voters felt the need for it.
The Kansas Legislature redrew congressional and state legislative maps in early 2022, as part of the redistricting process that occurs every 10 years. The new congressional map moved the diverse northern part of Wyandotte County out of the 3rd District into the 2nd District, and took Democrat-leaning Lawrence out of the 3rd District, placing it into the heavily conservative 1st District.
Democrats and voting-rights groups objected to the new maps, saying the maps were drawn in an attempt to disenfranchise voters of color and lessen Democratic influence.
The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the legality of new congressional and legislative district maps after Wyandotte County District Court Judge Bill Klapper found the congressional map to be unconstitutional. Klapper acted in response to three lawsuits challenging the congressional map on grounds of partisan and racial gerrymandering.
Schwab said the new maps were drawn with population size in mind.
“You were either going to split Wyandotte or were going to split Johnson County. It was unconstitutional for those two because the populations were just too great,” Schwab said.
