By Tyler Schneider
“Building Up Grandview” no tax increase bond issues:
Grandview Question 1 (GO Bonds for city buildings)
80.7 percent, or 909 voters, chose to back Grandview’s bid to issue general obligation bonds (not to exceed $6,000,000) to be applied towards renovations of the city’s municipal services complex and police station. 217 residents, or just under 20 percent, voted in opposition to the measure.
Grandview Question 2 (GO Bonds for streets, bridges, sidewalks)
85.4 percent (963 votes) approved Grandview’s bid to issue general obligation bonds (not to exceed $12,400,000) to be applied towards “the purposes of improving and extending the City’s transportation-related infrastructure, including streets, bridges, sidewalks, parking areas, and construction of a carport to shelter City street equipment.” 164 voters disapproved of the measure.
Grandview Question 3 (GO Bonds for fire department):
The final GO bond package, directed towards raising up to $2,600,000 for fire department improvements, drew the largest approval rate from Grandview voters with 88.5 percent, or 997 ballots to 11.5 percent (130 votes) against the proposal.
Grandview Alderman Ward III:
Thomas Rousey (51.62%) and incumbent Ron Brownlee (47.68%) fought a hard contest to get out the vote, and the former ended up ousting the latter by a slim margin of 214 votes to 195.
This is the second time in two election cycles that this Ward III seat has changed hands. Prior to that, it had been securely held by James Crain since 1980. Brownlee took over the job in 2020, and had since then been involved with efforts to bring new businesses to a resurgent City of Grandview.
Before the election, Rousey—who has been active in local politics and especially invested in Grandview Parks and Recreation—promised to be visible to his constituents, saying that he would take one weekend per month to meet with and hear the concerns of those he hoped he would come to represent in Ward 3.
Grandview School Board (3-year term, pick two):
Incumbent and vice president of the Grandview Board of Education, Dawn Foy (33.75%), will remain on the board in one of the most closely contested school board races in the greater Kansas City area.
Foy won by just one vote, 926-925 over runner-up Joshua Hill (33.71%). Hill’s campaign drew 54% of its voters from within south Kansas City itself to defeat the other incumbent in the race, Helen Ransom (32.54 %) by just 32 votes to snatch the seat Ransom had been appointed to in October 2021. Foy and Ransom both drew about 40% of their votes from Kansas City ballots.
Hill has shown a keen interest in boosting the STEM curriculum, while Foy will look, among other goals, to establish stronger compensation packages for district employees over the course of her second term.
Grandview School Board (1-year term, pick one):
Stacy Wright (70.12%) tipped the scales to retain the seat she had been appointed to, like Ransom, in October of 2021. 1,124 voters showed out in support of Wright versus 479 for the challenger, Keith David Shaw (29.88%). Wright has taken a pragmatic approach to her work on the board, and emphasized that she had already been brought up to speed in her short time on the board.
“I have spent the last six months learning about what the current administration is doing, and I think they are on the right track,” Wright said prior to the election. “If that changes, I would vote to not renew the contract of [Superintendent Kenny Rodrequez].”