Wyandotte County voters will head to the polls on Aug. 5 for the first round of primary elections for the Unified Government’s chief governing body.
Half of the county’s Board of Commissioners, plus the mayor, are up for election this year. The winners will face decisions about how taxpayer dollars are spent and how to address issues like safety, housing and property taxes.
In the 2nd At-Large District, incumbent Tom Burroughs has decided not to run for reelection, instead running to replace Tyrone Garner as mayor and CEO of Wyandotte County. That leaves an open seat, attracting five candidates from across the county.
The top two finishers after the August primary election will appear on the November ballot to determine the final winner.
All five candidates live in the city’s 2nd At-Large District, which covers the southern half of the county, including regular Districts 2, 3, 6 and 7.
The Unified Government has been the primary governing body for Kansas City, Kansas, and the rest of Wyandotte County for nearly three decades. Eleven members make up the Board of Commissioners, which makes decisions affecting the budget, the police department and development.
The Beacon reached out to all candidates in the four competitive commissioner races in Wyandotte County, asking them to answer a three-part questionnaire. The questionnaires include biographical questions, five short-answer policy questions and five lightning-round, yes-or-no questions. Some responses have been edited for length or clarity.
The candidates for the 2nd At-Large District include Andrew Kump, Philip Lopez, J. Michael Tiner Mackey, Luis “Captain Lou” Madrigal and Kalla McLaughlin.
All five candidates received the questionnaire by email. Madrigal told The Beacon he could not respond to the questionnaire. Lopez did not respond to the email or two follow-up messages.
Click on a link to jump to a section in the questionnaire:
- Meet the candidates.
- What would you do to improve public safety?
- What kinds of developments would you prioritize in Wyandotte County?
- What parts of the budget would you be willing to trim in order to balance the budget? Are there any parts of the budget that are nonnegotiable for you?
- Do you believe the Unified Government should do more to cooperate with or resist the deportation of Wyandotte County residents?
- If elected, what issues will you make your own?
- Lightning-round questions.
Meet the candidates
Andrew Kump
Kump works as in-house legal counsel for Shamrock Trading Corp.
What’s your favorite place in Wyandotte County, and why?
St. John’s Dog Park. My two dogs, Bluejay and Maverick, love it there. It is one of those places in the county where people from all walks of life gather and talk to each other. It is good for the dogs, and good for us.
What organization in Wyandotte County is doing community work that you admire?
Wyandotte Angels. They show up for people when it matters most, providing supplies, support and compassion across our community. Their heart and consistency make a real impact.
Philip Lopez
Lopez did not respond to the questionnaire. He currently represents District 6 on the board of commissioners and owns a tree-trimming business.
J. Michael Tiner Mackey
Mackey is currently employed with QuikTrip as a relief manager filling in for vacation and personal days throughout the KC District.
He was elected to serve on the Bonner Springs City Council in 2017. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Bonner Springs in 2019.
Mackey has faced three separate misdemeanor criminal charges since then.
The first was a misdemeanor charge in 2020 for disorderly conduct. He pleaded guilty.
Mackey told The Beacon that this case stemmed from an argument with the mother of his son. He said the only physical element of the altercation was when he took the car keys away from her, which was considered “unlawful restraint.”
The second misdemeanor charge was for harassment by telecom device in 2021. He pleaded guilty to this, as well.
This charge was related to an incident where he encouraged a man texting his girlfriend to commit suicide and sent the man a photo of his scrotum.
Mackey said the other man had been distributing nude photos of his girlfriend to her family and friends, and Mackey accepted the charge so that law enforcement could use his communications with her as evidence against the other man.
The case was sealed as part of his plea deal.
The third misdemeanor charge was for alleged impersonation of a police officer. This charge was dismissed as part of his guilty plea deal for the harassment charge.
At the time, he had shown his City Council business card to a private security guard, and allegedly told them that he was working the concert with the police and asked to get into a Machine Gun Kelly concert for free.
“I thought I was being funny,” Mackey said. “I showed somebody my council card and said that I was a superhero and I was there to save the day, and would I be able to get in for free.”
What’s your favorite place in Wyandotte County, and why?
Admittedly a bit biased but I’d have to say the newly renovated 1918 Bonner Springs City Hall. The materials and quality of the building will never be replicated due to the use of old-growth lumber and stone quarried from Bonner Springs in the 1900s. A walk through the historic halls is quite peaceful and genuinely a special place.
What organization in Wyandotte County is doing community work that you admire?
Once more I’d have to rely on personal experience and local roots. The Jerry Lee Jarrett Life Center, which was a beautifully remarkable collaboration of community effort at the direction of my uncle Guy B. Tiner of Tiner Construction to honor his friend and local community servant Jerry Lee Jarrett. At the time of his passing, Jarrett was the second-highest decorated Black man in the state of Kansas. From the food kitchen and community outreach to addiction recovery, I have great admiration for the Jarrett family and the legacy they’re leading.
Luis “Captain Lou” Madrigal
Madrigal did not respond to the questionnaire.
He worked as a firefighter for three decades, including 14 years as a fire captain in the Argentine neighborhood. He retired at the end of 2015.
Kalla McLaughlin
McLaughlin was an urban planner and floodplain administrator for the Unified Government, but she left her position to run for office. She also holds a Class A general contractor’s license and does some private consulting work.
What’s your favorite place in Wyandotte County, and why?
Just one? I think right now it’s the Strawberry Hill Overlook. I never had a skyline view growing up, and I think this one is gorgeous.
What organization in Wyandotte County is doing community work that you admire?
Another “just one” question? There are so many amazing organizations here. I work most closely with the Heart of America Humane Society and ACE Mentor at Sumner Academy.
What would you do to improve public safety?
Kump: We need to support first responders while also investing in long-term prevention. That includes improving recruitment and retention for police, fire and emergency medical services, expanding mental health crisis teams and building partnerships that reduce violence before it starts. Trust and transparency are key.
Mackey: In the over 10 years I’ve been civically involved in Wyandotte County, we’ve made great strides towards community policing and partnerships between local organizations like the Central Avenue Betterment Association and Police Athletic League that have strengthened community involvement as well as civic engagement. You can see the impact these efforts have made in reviewing the drop in violent crime throughout Wyandotte County. We’ve evolved from enforcement to empowerment, which has had a lasting impact through all of WyCo’s diverse communities.
McLaughlin: There’s public safety and the perception of being safe, and both things need to be addressed. People feel unsafe because they see failing infrastructure, dumping and vacant lots, making areas appear unsafe even if violent crime isn’t high. I also think behavior changes when people have a reason to feel restored pride in their community. On a larger note, community policing is doing a great job of interacting with neighborhoods and working on repeat offenders, but I believe this outreach could be increased. The community and enforcement agencies need to come together and rebuild trust to repair the deep-seated issues.
What kinds of developments would you prioritize in Wyandotte County?
Kump: I would prioritize developments that create good-paying jobs, support small businesses and strengthen neighborhoods. I support well-planned and regulated data centers and other future-focused industries that bring long-term investment without putting extra strain on residents. Projects that provide real value to the community and contribute to growing the tax base will earn my support.
Mackey: During my time as an elected official (something my opponents can’t mention) I certainly wasn’t shy about grilling developers about their projected and active community involvement. How they sought to empower the local high schools and partner with our educators and students to have a generational impact. Opening opportunities and possibilities for our youth that can only be done at the drawing board by having folks on the record for how they will invest not only in projects but people. We need to start thinking in terms of decades and how we can champion the success of generations to come.
McLaughlin: There are a lot of big developers here who are coming to western WyCo, and that’s great! While we want to encourage that growth to continue, local entrepreneurs have been shown to keep the economy running and build better communities through their local investments and I’d like to focus on elevating our locals. I’m looking for the outside-the-box person who needs guidance to get to the next level while providing missing things in our community — the hardware store, the neighborhood markets, the blue-collar services and other similar businesses that can fill in the gaps in our older neighborhoods.
What parts of the budget would you be willing to trim in order to balance the budget? Are there any parts of the budget that are nonnegotiable for you?
Kump: Every budget item should be reviewed, but I will not cut essential services like emergency response, infrastructure or programs that protect vulnerable people. I would look at outside contracts, inefficient programs and duplicative spending to find responsible savings.
Mackey: Once again as the only candidate that was elected and completed a full four-year term as a city councilman for Bonner Springs. You learn that budgets are not as simple as the numbers on the pages people from the outside are privy to. For far too long, the UG has been gorging on debt and incentives, throwing away the futures of our youth for instant gratification. We need to start thinking on 10-to-20-year real estate and economic growth cycles, instead of two-to-four-year election cycles.
McLaughlin: Anything related to health, safety and general welfare should be prioritized. What I’m not seeing is bottom-up feedback of how departments can be improved and where smart changes can be made — all we’ve seen so far are top-down cuts and blanket percentages without informing the public where those cuts are allocated and how they will impact services. Simply saying “a xx percent reduction here” isn’t detailed enough to really know what we are cutting and where. Before we do any more blanket cuts, we need to see what exactly we are cutting and compare that to the recent satisfaction surveys.
Do you believe the Unified Government should do more to cooperate with or resist the deportation of Wyandotte County residents?
Kump: Our limited resources should go toward public safety, not federal immigration enforcement. People who live, work and raise families here deserve dignity. I support policies that avoid unnecessary cooperation with deportation efforts, unless there is a clear public safety issue.
Mackey: Once again it’s simple to give the easy answer but unwise long-term to pick and choose which federal laws we recognize. As a contractor for over 15 years and a good portion of that working as a roofer, I can attest that WyCo and the UG do what is needed to follow the law but respect our vibrant and diverse culture. We certainly need to make sure the proper processes and constitutional rights are followed and respected. If you’ve been a positive contributor to the community, we should be giving these people access to tools towards citizenship.
McLaughlin: It seems like council members voice their support of resisting deportation, but I don’t see any real actionable plans in place or community outreach to inform or protect residents. It has to be a multifaceted approach — from schools, to area businesses to homes. It’s great that we support them verbally, but unless action accompanies it, it’s more of a “thoughts and prayers” motion.
If elected, what issues will you make your own?
Kump: I will focus on government accountability, transparency, smarter spending, infrastructure repair and neighborhood investment. I want to lower the burden on taxpayers while improving the quality of life for working families, and short- and long-term economic growth. I will always prioritize what helps our people and keeps Wyandotte strong.
Mackey: Unifying the fractured relationships throughout the community. For far too long a handful of individuals and legacy family names have been controlling everything from judgeships to commission seats. We also struggle with youth involvement in WyCo. As an at-large commissioner I’ll seek to empower my fellow in-district commissioners to make sure our youth and struggling small businesses are no longer silenced and ignored. They deserve a seat at the table as they are our future.
McLaughlin: I definitely want to tackle small-business changes, departmental process changes and environmental concerns that can impact residents and businesses financially as well as physically. Most people don’t understand the impact that environmental implications have on our budgets and pocketbooks. We have a lot of low-hanging fruit here.
Lightning round questions
Candidates were asked for a yes-or-no position in response to these five questions:
- Would you support using taxpayer money to pay for a stadium for the Chiefs or Royals?
- Would you support a proposal to dissolve the Unified Government, separating Kansas City, Kansas, from Wyandotte County?
- Would you support a property tax revenue freeze?
- Would you support a regional sales tax to support public transportation?
- Would you support increasing the salaries of the mayor and commissioners?
