Even with strong support from the community, Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS Mayor Tyrone Garner says he’s decided after, just one term, not to seek reelection. “It is a tough decision,” Garner says he reached a decision after considerable prayer.
Clear about his future direction, Mayor Garner decided to announce his decision earlier rather than later to clear the way for potential candidates who might not choose to run with him in the race.
“In all fairness, I just wanted to make sure that people have time if they wanted to run, to prepare to hit the ground running,” says Garner. “June of 2025 [the filing deadline] will be here before you know it.”
Garner, who often found himself at odds with the 10 members of the Board of Commissioners, says no one is running him away. Instead, he feels he’s accomplished what God put him in the position to do – identify problems and be a visionary who instills in residents hope and a belief in the possibilities of what Wyandotte County can be.
THE PEOPLE’S MAYOR
Under the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, Garner, 55, serves as the CEO of the county and the Mayor of KCK. He’s the first African-American to serve as mayor of Kansas City, KS and as the CEO of the 25-year-old Unified Government.
He was elected in November 2021 and took office the following month. His term expires in December 2025.
His popularity within the community, particularly the city’s African American community, led The Community Voice to tag him “The People’s Mayor. It’s a moniker he’s fond of and others have embraced.
“He’s a people’s person,” says Carolyn Wyatt who worked in Garner’s first campaign. “He’s out in the community seven days a week talking to people in the community. He has a heart for the people, particularly the people of Northeast Kansas City.”
His supporters see the mayor as a positive voice for change from the good-old-boy network, with its reputation of corruption, that has grappled the city for decades. To many, Wyandotte County has an unfortunate reputation for operating within a culture of cronyism, nepotism, and a lot of questionable activities.
That perception was just part of the challenges Mayor Garner inherited when he entered office. Garner says he also inherited a city nearly $1 billion in debt, crumbling infrastructure, a perception of high taxes and BPU fees, disinvested and underserved areas, a disconnect between the four cities in Wyandotte County, and a perception of city leadership more inclined to cater to politically aligned circles, and less to the everyday hard-working people in Wyandotte County.
Garner’s campaign platform hit hard at these issues, with the candidate insisting his fight would be for:
- Streamlined government
- Fiscal responsibility
- Real property tax relief and BPU fee relief
- Investment in the disinvested
- Responsible development incentives
- Equitable delivery of resources and services
- Equitable public safety
- Infrastructure improvements
- Expanded economic development outside of Village West
- Transparency and open communication with residents
- Community unity
- Enhancement of WMBE opportunities
- Engaged leadership
- Being a leadership voice for everyday people that is committed to inspiring hope
There was resistance to his message of change, but it resonated with enough voters to help the mayor eke out a 200-vote victory over first-term incumbent Mayor David Alvey.
MAYOR’S PLATFORM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Through cooperation and collaboration, along with the strong support from constituents, Mayor Garner has been able to deliver on a large number of his platform items, and three years later, Wyandotte County is beginning to reap the results of those efforts. However, delivering change in highly political environments can be slow, sometimes messy and difficult to achieve.
Each of the past three years during the city’s budget process, KCK residents have packed the council chambers to demand cuts in their property taxes, and the mayor has always been their very vocal champion. The first two years, the commission voted against their wishes.
This year, the mayor and the citizens scored a win. While the commission didn’t vote for a tax rate decrease, In the true spirit of collaboration, they voted to set the tax rate at a level that ensured the City collected the same amount – not more – in tax revenue as the year before.
That’s just one reflection of the positive changes – small and large – Mayor Garner has been able to accomplish with the support of the commission and the UG management and employees.
Garner, who rose up through the ranks in the Kansas City Kanas Police Department, included equitable public safety in his campaign platform. With the help of Police Chief Karl Oakman, District Attorney Mark Dupree and Sheriff Daniel Soptic, Wyandotte County is experiencing historically low levels of violent crime.
Mayor Garner also ran on a platform of infrastructure improvements, including upgrades and maintenance for bridges, roads, sidewalks, and parks. He helped prioritize street resurfacing, particularly on the city’s east side and led the commission in approval of funds to help renovate a number of city parks that had been ignored for decades.
The city’s bridges remain an issue that there are not enough funds to address, leading the Kansas City Star to write an article about the County almost becoming landlocked.
DEVELOPMENT IN WYANDOTTE COUNTY
Development in Wyandotte County is booming. Wyandotte County Economic Development estimates more than $1 billion in development projects are planned or already under construction in the county.
Village West, now the number one destination in Kansas, continues to be a major attraction for developers. Scheduled to come on open soon are the American Royale facility, Margaritaville a family tourist attraction that will include a Top Golf, and most recently approved Kansas’ first Buc-ees, just to name a few.
However, Mayor Garner has remained persistent about growing development in the City’s eastern core. Earlier this year, the Wyandotte County Commission passed a resolution committing to focus heavily on redevelopment and revitalization proposals in eastern Kansas City Kansas – considered any area east of 635.
Thanks to a creative Request for Proposals process where the City sought out developers to build on three city-owned sites – two new developments are in the works. While just outside 635, a proposal for the development of the former Indian Springs Mall site was announced earlier this month.
A second development, a six-story high-rise apartment building overlooking the Missouri River in downtown KCK, was also approved. Located at 4th and Minnesota, it’s the site of the old Holiday Inn. The third project at 18th and Quindaro was designed to jump-start redevelopment along the city’s historic black-business district thoroughfare but failed to receive a proposal despite great incentives from the city.
These are two of many development projects underway in eastern Wyandotte County, including a number of projects that will help revitalize downtown KCK.
Mayor Garner also envisions a development along the KCK riverfront, running from the Quindaro site, past Kaw Point to the Rock Island Bridge. Similar to riverfront projects in Oklahoma City and San Antonio, this is a project that could have a major impact on the development of KCK.
To learn more about development in Wyandotte County, see the story in our Nov. 22. That story will include an extensive list of the upcoming development projects that will help change Wyandotte County’s look and feel.
BPU PILOT
It’s hard to like taxes, but the Payment in Lew of Taxes (PILOT) is a tax that’s almost universally despised in Wyandotte County. The PILOT is tacked on to residents’ monthly water and electric bill, issued by the city-owned Board of Public Utilities (BPU.)
Mayor Garner has fought to separate the PILOT from BPU bills, calling the separation an issue of morality that must be addressed.
“We’ve got people thinking differently; we don’t have to be the less than community; we can be just as great as any other community,” says Garner.”
Mayor Tyrone Garner
“It [PILOT on the utility bill] guarantees money to the government because if you don’t pay it, you get your lights and your water cut off,” says Garner. “That moral compass is skewed in the wrong direction because you shouldn’t put that [PILOT] on the backs of people that depend on basic life-sustaining things such as water, clean water, and electricity.”
Earlier this year, Mayor Garner spearheaded a task force to look into separating the PILOT from the BPU bill. Following this year’s budget hearings, citizens believed the PILOT was set to be removed from their utilities leading to frustration when it wasn’t.
Mayor Garner says it is one of those issues he, the commissioners, UG staff, and BPU board members and staff will continue to work on.
“This debate is not over; this work is not done,” says Garner. “For as long as I am mayor, I will continue to work to deliver on the reasonable requests of residents demanding change.”
HIS LEGACY
Mayor Garner has a full year left in office, and he says he’s not through working for the people. He hopes in his final year to accomplish more of the things he set out to do. He says he will continue to forward policy recommendations to the Unified Government that will further solidify what he terms a “community-driven agenda.”
However, as he weighed his decision not to seek reelection, he says he feels satisfied that he’s accomplished a lot of what he was put into office to do.
He’s particularly proud of the positive change he sees in Wyandotte County residents.
“We’ve got people thinking differently; we don’t have to be the less than community; we can be just as great as any other community,” says Garner. “I think God just wanted me to open people’s eyes, to see our value, to reimagine and improve Kansas City, Kansas, for all that love and call Wyandotte County home.”
“They have hope now, and I think that hope will be there whether I’m mayor or not. People are seeing If they come together, they are powerful. They can bring about whatever changes they want. They don’t need a Tyrone Garner to do that for them because it’s not what I can do; it’s what everybody can do together. All the people have to do is stay unified as a people. At this point, I think my mission is done.”
MAYOR’S ENDORSEMENT
Mayor Garner says he will not be endorsing any candidates to replace him as Mayor. Instead, he says elections should be community-driven.
However, he wants the citizens of Wyandotte, on their own, to get engaged and educate themselves on the candidates and to understand a candidate’s commitment, or lack thereof, to a true spirit of service and shared success for all.
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