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Lenexa State of the City Address
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2010 State of the City Address
February 17, 2010
Mayor Mike Boehm, City of Lenexa
Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us. It is my honor to present my 8th Annual State of the City address.
I would like to begin by thanking the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce for hosting today’s luncheon and Kansas City Power & Light for sponsoring today’s event.
One of my greatest pleasures as mayor is to talk about our incredible community. I am certain that I have the best job because I definitely have the best city to talk about!
I will admit that I am a little biased when it comes to talking about Lenexa, but I am not the only one who thinks Lenexa is one of the greatest communities in the country.
Last August, CNN Money Magazine included Lenexa on its annual list of “Best Places to Live.” Lenexa, which was the only city in Kansas to be recognized, was praised for our business base, concentration of bio-science companies, job growth, and ratio of residents to jobs. Those of us who live here know what makes Lenexa so special – quality, family-oriented festivals, great parks, community spirit, excellent schools and safe neighborhoods. I am very proud that Lenexa made the list. The number 26 ranking (out of over 34,000 possible cities with populations under 50,000) put us in the national spotlight for these and many of our city’s other excellent qualities.
While I’m proud of this national recognition for our community, the more important measure for the Governing Body is what our own citizens think of our community, and over all, they continue to be happy with Lenexa.
You may recall a couple of years ago, The Kansas City Star ran a story comparing the citizen survey results among cities in the metropolitan area and referred to Lenexa as “Happy Town.” We enjoyed the distinction because over all, we know Lenexa citizens are happy with Lenexa. What was not apparent was that the information for the article was taken from our 2005 survey results. When the 2007 results came out just weeks after the article appeared, Lenexa was ranked as the metro leader in nearly every major category. Today, I am proud to share more good news. The 2009 ETC Direction-Finder survey results, which were just released a few weeks ago, show that Lenexa continues to rank as the metro leader in nearly every major service area. Lenexa received the highest rating in:
• Police, fire and ambulance service
• Parks and Recreation offerings
• Communication with the public
• Street maintenance
• Code enforcement, and
• Stormwater runoff
Satisfaction with Lenexa services, which was already very high, actually went up in most categories in the latest survey!
According to the survey, 96 percent of our residents believe Lenexa is a “good” or “excellent” place to live, 95 percent of the residents responded that the city is a “good” or “excellent” place to raise children, and 94 percent of the residents say that they are satisfied with the quality of life in Lenexa, which is significantly higher than the national average of 77 percent.
The major service areas that showed the most improvement when comparing 2009 results to the 2007 survey are:
• Quality of the city’s storm water and runoff management, 84 percent rated Lenexa as good or excellent; up from 77 percent in 2007.
• Quality of parks and recreation programs and facilities, 95 percent rated Lenexa good or excellent; up from 90 percent in 2007, and
• Flow of traffic and congestion management, 74 percent, up from 69 percent in 2007.
These results confirm that the city listens to what is important to our citizens and use our resources to fund projects, programs and services that address their concerns and priorities.
When presenting the survey results to the Governing Body last month, Chris Tatham of ETC Institute reported that Lenexa continues to “set the standard.” Chris indicated that Lenexa’s results are in the top 2-3 percent in the country and praised the city for improving our results at a time when many cities across the country are seeing declining citizen satisfaction due to service reductions related to the recession.
As we move into the future with limited resources, it will be critical that we continue to stay focused on the services most important to our citizens. The complete survey results may be viewed on the city’s web site.
At this time, I ask that all members of the Governing Body and city staff present today please stand and accept our appreciation for a job well done. These are the people that make it happen every day.
During 2009, we were faced with some of the most difficult challenges and decisions we have ever had to address. We lost several long-time leaders, both on the Governing Body and city staff, and because of significant budget challenges - related to the recession and cuts in State funding - we were forced to take a critical look and prioritize programs, projects, and service offerings for the community.
But with challenge and change comes opportunity.
Last year, we experienced a significant amount of change in the leadership of our organization. We said goodbye to three members of the Governing Body
Jane Klein, who served Lenexa as a Ward 1 council member for 20 years, passed away last April. Jane had lived in Lenexa for more than 40 years and was a dear friend to many of us. She will be remembered for many things including her endearing sense of humor, her compassion for our citizens, city staff and fellow council members, and her love for all things Lenexa.
John Ramsey, who served the community in many volunteer capacities including Ward 1 council member for 14 years, passed away in November after his battle with cancer. John was a humble public servant who was quick to give of himself to help others. In addition to his work on the city council, John served many years in leadership roles on the PTA in the Shawnee Mission School District and was an active member of the Chamber.
Dan Sullivan, who served the community as a Ward 3 council member for 10 years, resigned in October when he “down-sized” to Mission Hills from Lenexa.
Dan’s leadership, creativity and attention to detail were extremely valuable to the council. I personally appreciated his calm, reflective demeanor and his ability to focus on the big picture as we worked our way through many complicated issues during his tenure.
During 2009, we welcomed three new council members to the Governing Body, who bring a great deal of experience and expertise to the city.
Joe Karlin and Steve Lemons were appointed to fill vacancies in Ward 1 and Lou Serrone was appointed to fill the Ward 3 vacancy.
Joe has lived in Lenexa for 17 years and previously served on the Lenexa Planning Commission. He has been active in the community serving on neighborhood boards, school PTO’s, the Junior Achievement Program, and in church leadership positions at Holy Trinity. After a number of years with U S Central Credit Union, Joe now owns a credit union and bank consulting business.
Steve has lived in Lenexa for 25 years. His community service includes participation in the recently completed Vision 2030 and school PTO’s. Prior to moving to Lenexa, Steve was a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in his home town.
He brings nearly 30 years of business experience in the insurance industry, with a focus on human resources.
Steve currently serves as the Director of Administrative Services for Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
Lou, who previously served on the council from 1989 to 1997, brings to the council more than 25 years of commercial real estate experience, currently serving as president of Serrone & Company. He has been involved with the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce and the Lenexa Economic Development Council, and graduated as a member of the first class of Leadership Lenexa in 1987.
These gentlemen join one of the most dedicated groups of individuals serving in public office today and I would like you to join me in recognizing them, and council members Amy Slater, Andy Huckaba, Cindy Green, Tom Nolte, and Diane Linver.
Before I move on, I want to call Diane Linver to the stage. Diane is serving her 6th term – that’s 21 years - on the Lenexa City Council.
Those of you who live in Ward 2 know that Diane takes the time during every election campaign to go door-to-door in her ward (that’s EVERY door), meet the residents, and listen to their concerns. This gives you an idea of the kind of passion and commitment Diane brings to the council.
Last fall, Diane was honored for her community service with the 2009 Excellence in Local Government Award, presented by the League of Kansas Municipalities. The award recognized Diane for her outstanding leadership and service to the community as well as her work in promoting positive relationships with other cities, counties and organizations within the metro area and state. I would like to present this plaque to Diane in recognition of this award.
An essential part of our community is our team of professional staff members who work hard every day to protect, build, and maintain our city.
I would like to thank City Administrator Eric Wade for his invaluable leadership and the Management Team members for their dedicated service. They, along with our talented and caring team of professional staff, make our jobs as elected officials easier and more enjoyable.
Thanks in large part to their great efforts the city once again won numerous national, regional and local awards for outstanding programs and accomplishments. I would like to note a few:
• The Lake Lenexa dam and spillway received the U.S. Society of Dams 2009 Project of the Year
• Officer Ryan Sumner and K-9 Diesel won first place in the patrol competition during the National Police Canine Association Seminar and Competition in October and Officer Jim Harris and K-9 Speedy took second place. The Lenexa K-9 unit has taken top honors the last 3 years the competition was held.
• The GIS division received the “Special Achievement in GIS Award” at the Environmental Systems Research Institute’s 29th Annual User Conference.
The Year in Review and the city Honors and Awards flyer at your tables provide a glimpse of the caliber of people we have serving our community. I know I speak for the entire community when I say we are proud of our staff and the excellent services they provide, especially during these difficult economic times.
During 2009 and into the present, the staff has worked together as a team to restructure several departments to ensure the continuation of quality services to the community with fewer people and less resources.
Three city departments – Planning and Development, Public Works, and Information Technology – underwent significant changes so that we could improve efficiency while continuing to provide quality service.
To improve efficiency and facilitate private and public development, engineering and inspections, previously a part of Public Works, were integrated with the planning and development department and will be known as the Community Development Department.
The Municipal Services Department, formerly known as the Public Works, will focus on maintaining the city’s public assets such as streets, facilities, equipment, and infrastructure.
The Enterprise Systems and Technology Department combines the city’s information technology services with the graphic information systems division to provide more comprehensive and efficient technical solutions.
In January, we appointed three new directors to lead these restructured departments and I would like to take a moment to introduce them to you.
David Knopick is our new Community Development Director. Many of you already know David as he joined the city in 2008 as the assistant director of planning and also served as the interim director after Roger Kroh announced his retirement. David brings a great deal of planning and community development experience, both private and pubic, to the position, previously working as a principal with Gould Evans in Kansas City and other governmental units.
Chuck Williams is our new Municipal Services Director. He brings over 30 years of experience and a strong dedication to all aspects of public works. Chuck spent most of his career working for the Manhattan Kansas Public Works Department, serving in just about every role possible and was named director of the department in 2002. In 2005, Chuck retired from Manhattan and became the Public Works Director for Gladstone, Missouri.
Andy Davey is our new Enterprise Systems and Technology Director. Andy brings nearly 20 years of technology, networking and business experience to Lenexa.
Prior to joining Lenexa, Andy worked as the senior manager of technology and operations development for Sprint Nextel, and previously held positions with Puritan Bennett, Blue Valley Schools, and Johnson County government.
Please join me in welcoming these new members of our Management Team.
Much like in your businesses, the past 2-years have been interesting times for the city. We went from recruiting employees through a job fair at City Hall in April of 2008 to a downsizing of staff beginning in the fall of 2008 and continuing throughout 2009.
The city ended 2008 with more than 20 unfilled positions and more than 60 employees accepted a voluntary retirement and resignation offer in 2009 as the city worked through the strategic reorganization process.
Four management team members left the city as part of our voluntary retirement and resignation program.
• Molly Deckert, Assistant City Administrator, resigned last summer to spend more time with her young son.
• Ron Norris, Public Works Director, retired in September and was recently hired by the city of Olathe to lead their public works department.
• Roger Kroh, Community Development Director, and
• John VanNice, Information Technology Director, both retired in December.
I want to personally thank each of these outstanding individuals and all of our former employees for their tremendous work ethic and professionalism in providing many years of service to the citizens of Lenexa.
In addition to restructuring the organization and significantly reducing the city’s workforce we put in place many other cost saving measures to address the revenue shortfall for the 2010 budget. Salary increases for 2010 were eliminated, the overtime policy and pension benefits were changed, selected capital projects were delayed, and some programs and services were eliminated or modified to save money. A few examples include:
• The July 4th fireworks display was cancelled saving the city over $50,000
• The Ambulance transport service was modified by partnering with Johnson County Med-Act. This change increases efficiency by allowing Lenexa fire and emergency medical personnel to remain within Lenexa and focus on first-response care for all medical incidents while Med-Act transports patients to the hospital.
• With significant citizen involvement in the decision making process, the school crossing guard service was out-sourced to a private company after the city considered eliminating funding for the program and proposed working with the school districts and the community to find an alternative method of delivery. This change resulted in approximately $40,000 in annual savings to the city.
In spite of the downturn in the economy, the city continues to make strategic investments in the community to address current needs and to put Lenexa in a stronger position to emerge from the recession.
• Black Hoof Park at 91st and Monticello was officially dedicated and opened to the public with rave reviews in May of 2009 with a program that included students from our Learning about Lenexa program and the descendants of Chief Black Hoof who traveled from Oklahoma to be a part of the celebration. I would encourage you to put on you walking shoes and take a stroll around Lake Lenexa when spring arrives.
• Construction of Phase 2 improvements, funded in part with the 3/8th cent sales tax approved by voters in May of 2008, will begin this summer and include a large playground, a second picnic shelter, and additional parking. The city received a $75,000 matching grant from Game Time for the play ground equipment.
• Work began last fall on two important projects that will put City Center in a stronger position when the economy recovers.
o The Central Green storm water project and park area under construction at the northwest corner of 87th Street and Renner will provide a connection between City Center and Shawnee Mission Park
o Utility relocation is underway for the reconstruction of 87th Street Parkway between Lennox and Renner. The project will divide the east and west bound traffic to create developable city blocks between the newly constructed lanes.
o The project is being funded by city, county, and federal stimulus funds as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
• Several road projects were completed during 2009 or are nearing completion including Prairie Star Parkway from K-7 Highway to Canyon Creek Boulevard, Clare Road from Prairie Star Parkway to 83rd Street and Noland Road in the Old Town area. These projects leveraged private developer, city, and county funds. Along with these new projects, the city continued its commitment to street maintenance and once the weather improves we will begin working to repair winter-storm related pavement failures.
• In February, an existing company of firefighters moved into Fire Station #5, located in the geographic center of the city on Prairie Star Parkway between Renner Boulevard and Woodland Road.
The LEED certified 2-bay station will provide primary protection to the central area of Lenexa however also has easy access to the east and the west neighborhoods of the city.
In addition to these projects, Lenexa continued its focus on protecting our citizens and resources, enhancing communication and fostering community spirit and involvement.
• Lenexa, with the help of David Urban, a local Eagle Scout candidate, devised a new mapping and trail marking system using GIS to enable trail users to report the location of an emergency. The program is being tested at Black Hoof Park and may become the standard for other metropolitan communities through a joint effort with the Mid-America Regional Council.
• Using funds from a federal grant, the Police Department installed license plate readers on two police cars allowing the traffic unit to collect data while patrolling the community.
• To help improve communication with our citizens, the city introduced new online service request systems, new interactive maps, a new subscription e-mail link for businesses to Town Talk - our citizen newsletter, and social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube. As part of this communications initiative an updated city web site will be launched later this year.
• Eight-six (86%) of Lenexa residents participate in curbside recycling compared to a national average of just 32%. The message from our residents is clear and the City of Lenexa’s focus on sustainability moved forward with new programs and initiatives to recycle and protect our environment. Volunteers helped with our new recycling programs at our festivals and our city sponsored electronics recycling events now coincide with the three dumpster weekends. These efforts alone diverted over 40 tons of recyclables from the land fill.
• Additional efforts include our first Rain Barrel Parade, a cell phone recycling joint venture with the Lenexa Historical Society and Learning about Lenexa participants, and a complete energy audit of all city facilities. The energy audit and upgrades will be funded in part by federal stimulus money. Finally, Ripple Glass has located a glass recycling container in the parking lot at the Country Hill Center at 87th and Lackman Road. Thanks to Marshall Rimann and Block & Company for their efforts in making this space available.
• Continuing in the spirit as the City of Festivals, Lenexa once again provided family fun for thousands of citizens and visitors last year at our many festivals and events. We are working hard to find a way to bring back the July 4 fireworks to Old Town this year. Discussions continue with members of the community to find a new, safe and enjoyable route for the Midnight Bike Ride.
• Details about the route are still being worked out, but we anticipate this year’s event also may include a family oriented, late-night walk to the Lake Lenexa dam and spillway in Black Hoof Park.
• Capitalizing on our community’s wiliness to become involved, city staff is in the process of enhancing our volunteer program. Each year, hundreds of volunteers participate in city festivals, streams and parks maintenance, conduct street light inventories and traffic counts, help with Learning about Lenexa, and much more. These volunteers save the city thousands of tax dollars through their efforts. If you or your organization would like to become involved, please contact Ron Drain at City Hall.
• There will be other ways for you to get involved in the near future. The Parks & Recreation Department will soon begin work on our city’s first Comprehensive Park Master Plan.
• This plan will focus on the needs of the community in all aspects of parks and recreation and will be used to guide future parks improvements throughout the city. Substantial public input will be involved including surveys, focus groups and public meetings. We look forward to working with many of you on this endeavor.
As you might expect, growth and development in Lenexa softened in 2009. Overall construction valuation for 2009 was $64.4 million, compared to the near-record $204 million the previous year.
Notable projects completed in 2009 include the LEED certified Kiewit Power office building and the CoreFirst Bank Johnson County Headquarters at Renner and Prairie Star Parkway. Progress was made on Lifetime Fitness, which will open March 5th, and the CVS anchored developments at 87th Street Parkway and Pflumm Road and 101st and Woodland Road in western Lenexa.
While there were not a lot of shiny new buildings constructed in 2009, all wasn’t lost. Through joint efforts of the LEDC and the city, over 2000 jobs were created or retained. Companies such as Deluxe, System Air, CEVA Biomune, Uhlig, PRA Laboratories, and Burlington Northern, to name a few, increased their presence within Lenexa.
We want to welcome our new investors and thank our existing businesses for their continued support of the city. We treasure the relationships we have built over the years with the business community and the chamber.
We hear a lot about the financial woes of governments on a daily basis and I want to assure you that Lenexa remains on sound financial ground.
Through careful planning, conservative financial forecasting, and a prudent reserve policy, the city was prepared to weather the economic downturn. We remain extremely cautious however as several external factors related to the economy and politics could negatively impact us in the coming years.
The state budget deficit continues to be a significant concern and may again negatively impact the city’s revenues. Potential actions under consideration in Topeka include confiscating the city’s portion of the gasoline tax and the alcoholic liquor tax which generate $2.5 million annually in city revenue.
These funds, by statute, are used to fund street maintenance, park improvements, and drug and alcohol treatment programs. Failure of the state to return these funds to the city simply shifts the burden from the state to local governments and does not address the underlying issues.
The recession is negatively affecting city revenues with the current decline in residential property valuations and sales tax receipts; and - the anticipated decline in commercial real estate values.
As we begin preparation of the 2011 budget and beyond, careful evaluation of city programs and levels of service will be necessary and the focus will be on core services. Like you we will live within existing means.
Lenexa is blessed to have supportive residents, active civic partners, strong faith communities, and an exceptional business base.
Working together with our dedicated professional staff and elected officials, we will continue to meet the challenges and focus on emerging from the economic downturn as a stronger community. I ask for your continued support and understanding as we work through this ever-changing economic environment.
When I look back at the accomplishments this past year and the possibilities for the coming year, I feel a great deal of pride in our community’s long tradition of working together to create a city recognized for its quality of life and opportunity.
Despite the challenges we faced this past year, our community pulled together and worked through the tough decisions to find solutions that put us on firmer ground today with a focus on the future. While we still face uncertainty with the economy in the coming year, I am confident that with the involvement of our residents and our partnerships with our business community and the Chamber, we will continue to be successful.
Our sense of community pride and well practiced teamwork sets us apart from other communities. No wonder, Lenexa really IS one of the ‘Best Places to Live’ in America.
Thank you to Blake and the Chamber for providing me the opportunity to speak today, thank you to Kansas City Power and Light for your sponsorship of today’s luncheon, thanks to Commerce Bank and my associates for allowing me the time to serve, and a Big Thank You to the members of the Governing Body and city staff for your dedication to Lenexa.
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