It’s a new year with new leadership for the city of Emporia, but many familiar themes will remain in focus for the Emporia City Commission over the next 12 months.
Ahead of the commission’s annual business meeting Wednesday morning, now former Mayor Erren Harter delivered the state of the city address in which he outlined four strategic priorities that will guide their work through 2026. These priorities include responsible stewardship of resources, community growth, quality of life and engaging citizens.
Recently appointed Mayor Becky Smith says that over the course of 2025, the commission took many steps to begin laying a foundation for addressing these priorities, including increased transparency of stewardship.
This increased transparency plays into the other priorities in Smith’s opinion, as she says transparency increases understanding regarding efforts to improve the quality of life and community growth in a way that is informative and educational to Emporia citizens.
The state of the city speech followed comments from outgoing commissioners Jamie Sauder and Susan Brinkman, who chose not to seek another term in office last year and Tyler Curtis, who ran for his first official term in office. In their comments, all three thanked city staff, employees and their fellow commissioners, with Brinkman also thanking her family and employees for their unwavering support over the course of her 14 years of community service, including two terms on the USD 253 Board of Education in addition to her two terms on the City Commission.
In closing her comments, Brinkman encouraged all residents to “Remain awake” within their community.
Sauder, who was appointed to the commission in 2021 to fulfill the remainder of former commissioner Jon Geitz who stepped down before the expiration of his second term, stated serving on the commission has been a tremendous honor, but also more challenging than he had originally anticipated.
Sauder would aim the tail end of his comments to “people who decide they like to comment on social media,” challenging them to “Do better.”
Curtis, who was appointed to the commission in 2024 to fulfill the remainder of the late Danny Giefer’s term, stated that while they may not have always agreed, he and his fellow commissioners all shared a singular goal: “Making Emporia the best it can be.” Curtis concluded his comments by saying the larger issue he observed during his time on the commission was “How we respond to criticism.”
He stated, “We have forgotten how to disagree, a sentiment that is sad and so, so incredibly wrong.”
These comments were echoed to a degree by Smith in her interview with KVOE News, where she acknowledged the large amount of scrutiny and criticism the prior commission came under, especially in the last year.
These comments also came before the official swearing in of new commissioners Tammi Ogle, Monica Duncan and Kurt Steinkuhler, who were all voted to succeed Brinkman, Sauder and Curtis back in November. KVOE recently spoke with all three of the newest commissioners on an installment of the Talk of Emporia, an interview you can hear in its entirety in the KVOE.com Audio Vault.
In separate matters as part of their business meeting, commissioners also elected Smith as Mayor and Ogle as Vice-Mayor, approved surety bonds for the city manager, clerk and treasurer, designated the Emporia Gazette as the official city paper and designated financial institutions.
