Kenneth Gardner’s write-in campaign for Emporia City Commission recently brought him to the KVOE studios for the Candidate Spotlight interview series.
A real estate investor with time in places like Wichita and Wamego, Gardner says Emporia’s property taxes aren’t as bad as places like Manhattan and the city has good levels of services. He says the city needs to determine its priorities before deciding how to handle property taxes.
Gardner believes Emporia could land an Amazon shipping facility or a data center at some point down the road, and he sees the Regional Development Association as leading that charge.
Gardner says it was a good move to restructure the RDA board, adding Emporia State University, Flint Hills Technical College and Emporia Main Street as voting members.
Residents wanting more information on City Commission candidate viewpoints on different topics can go to the KVOE.com Voter Information Guide courtesy of Community National Bank. The full interviews are linked in that page and also part of our separate Candidate Spotlight page.
