Kansas leaders visit Iowa to talk about shared governments

Leaders from Kansas are coming to central Iowa today, to address a meeting of the Des Moines Polk County Charter Commission about merging governments. Carol Marinovich s the mayor of Kansas City, Kansas and also the C-E-O of Wyandotte County. She says with a county-wide government, you have a single local government, with one vision, which has an effect on economic development and helps address issues in the long term instead of band-aid approaches. There’s been a reduction in property tax rates and she expects more. She says there’s been a lot of economic development, taxpayers have supported school-bond issues, there’s been investment in the urban core, and there’s been work on local projects like the Kansas City Speedway. The Mayor rejects the idea the cities in the county lost their identities. Not at all, she says. The Mayor says two smaller cities within the county have retained their identity since the consolidation, and Marinovich says it was “the right thing” for the community. Mayor Marinovich and County administrator Dennis Hayes speak at a luncheon meeting of the charter commission at Drake University.