Government

Mission Statement

Adopted by City Council June 14, 1993

Who Are We?

As elected representatives of the citizens of Shawnee, Kansas, we are responsible for both providing general direction and setting policy to help guide the city into the future. We are responsible to our constituents for the decisions we make today and how those decisions will impact us tomorrow. We genuinely want to contribute to improving our community. Therefore, we will strive to learn all we can about this city - its history, its operations, and its financing - to allow us to do our jobs the best we can. We want to be known as a governing body which is proactive, focusing on ways to prevent problems, rather than being reactive, trying to solve problems as they occur.

We believe it is important for citizens to "buy in" to city government, therefore, we want to involve both long time residents and those who have just recently moved to our community in the process of governing and improving the city's quality of life.

Although we may not always agree on every issue, we will work towards finding a solution which will benefit the majority of those we are elected to represent. Recognizing that consideration of different points of view is not only healthy, but vital to our decision making, we will strive to not let honest differences of opinion degenerate into personality conflicts.

We are enthusiastic about the opportunity and the privilege of serving the citizens of Shawnee. Individually, each of us are leaders, but we are also members of a team which must work together if we wish to accomplish good things for this community.

What Basic Social Needs must we meet or what Basic Social Problems must we Address?

Our constituents expect the City to fulfill certain basic social needs, including:

• Health, welfare and quality of life for all citizens
• Police and Fire protection
• Park and Recreational opportunities
• Protection of our community's historic assets
• Assisting the business community

How will We Recognize, Anticipate, and Respond to these Needs or Problems?

We will solicit input from citizens, business owners, and community leaders whenever possible and weigh all concerns and information carefully before choosing a course of action.

We will strive to govern proactively by attempting to develop our city's financial base so that needed resources will be available in the future. We must weigh the needs and desires of the public against state and federal mandates which drain available resources. We must balance the ever increasing costs of financing existing services and growing capital improvements needs with the desire to make the city more livable. We will continue to search for revenue sources which will allow us to meet these needs while keeping local taxes and other charges reasonable.

We will therefore seek to:

• Provide safe and decent housing in pleasant neighborhoods in all areas of the city.
• Encourage a variety of high quality housing located throughout the community.
• Provide efficient and effective delivery of public services including public safety and storm drainage.
• Maintain city infrastructure at the highest level possible given limited resources.
• Encourage a transportation network promoting efficient, rapid and safe movement though the community.
• Provide an attractive environment for all residents, enhancing the physical appearance of the community.
• Provide abundant open space, parks and recreational facilities in pleasant, safe, and healthy surroundings accessible to all residents, while preserving our natural landscape.
• Identify and preserve appropriate areas for future parks and open space.
• Provide diversity in recreational programs to meet the needs and desires of persons of all ages, income levels, and physical abilities.
• Work with the school districts to develop long-range plans for school locations.
• Increase the proportion of local income spent locally.
• Provide for a vital and stable downtown Shawnee, developing a downtown which is a center of commerce and activity as well as a source of pride for all citizens.
• Encourage good quality development and ensure timely and orderly growth in the city.
• Support efforts to attract clean industries into appropriately designated areas to broaden the economic base of the city.
• Encourage adequate sewer and water for commercial and industrial development.
• Promote the city as having a high quality of life.

How should we respond to our key Constituents?

City government is strengthened when citizens feel they have a strong voice in our decisions. We need to work together with our constituents whenever possible to find answers we can all live with since ultimately our decisions will affect everyone. We shall seek their suggestions on how to improve services and work together to solve problems and improve the community. We will try to be open-minded and listen carefully in order to more closely align city services with the needs and desires of our citizens. We recognize that our decisions will not always please everyone but we will strive to treat similar situations similarly, and avoid favoritism. We will strive to keep our constituents informed and encourage citizen participation on citizen advisory boards or appointments to boards and commissions. We will both expect and respect citizen complaints, and consider this a healthy means for the city to gauge the job we are doing.

What is our Philosophy and What are our Core Values?

We are residents of Shawnee by choice. We are proud of our city and those who work to make it better. We believe that positive growth for the city is good. We will work towards building enthusiasm and excitement for the future. We want to make decisions which will endure the test of time. Therefore, we will try not to rush our decisions, avoiding crisis management whenever possible. We will strive for excellence, professionalism and pride in everything we do.

We support the principle of voluntary cooperation among all levels of government on a county and regional basis as well as in conjunction with other local governmental units to best serve the interests of the public and make the best use of our resources.

We believe the governing of public affairs should be as close to the people as possible and that home rule is essential to vigorous, effective, and responsible local government. We will attempt to find appropriate solutions to problems based upon the greatest need of the community and not our own personal interests or gain. We believe our actions should be reliable and consistent. Fairness, fiscal responsibility and accountability will always be important while good basic services will always be a necessity. We will strive for a record of honesty and approachability. We will try not to be swayed by the strong demands of special interest groups but instead will consider the long-range public interest of the community as a whole.

We are not afraid of challenges. We have been asked to serve and we are ready to make those tough decisions which won't always be understood by the public. We will not always be content just to follow the routine of our predecessors. We will review new ideas, seek better ways of doing things, and encourage imaginative and innovative solutions or alternative courses of action, so that we may leave the city a better place than it was when we took office.

We strongly believe our community is a good place to live, raise children and to retire. We are committed to the idea of telling others about the high quality of life residents enjoy in our community.

What makes us distinctive or unique?

As one of the earliest towns in Kansas, this community has a history which is very important to us. We were the site of the first territorial legislature and home to the first territorial governor. Located at the intersection of early roads leading to the Santa Fe Trail, Shawnee also became the first county seat of Johnson County. Old Shawnee Town, a recreated mid-western prairie town of the 1840's to early 1900's, symbolizes this history and allows both residents and non-residents a chance to step back in time and imagine how things used to be. Shawnee is home to the Johnson County Museum, the Wonderscope Children's Museum and the Shawnee branch of the Johnson County Library. Two major softball complexes are located here - the Johnson County Girls Athletic Association Complex and Mid-America Sports Complex. Each hosts numerous local, regional and national games and tournaments, resulting in Shawnee's designation as "Softball Capital of the World."

Shawnee is also a rapidly growing and changing residential community with a population in excess of 40,000 and a diversity of lifestyles: older established neighborhoods, newer subdivisions, lakeside homes, condominiums, townhomes, and senior citizen developments. People come to Shawnee because of the character of the residential areas and our school systems. We are part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area, offering all the benefits of suburban life. We have an excellent parks system. In addition to the numerous neighborhood parks throughout our community, Shawnee is home to Shawnee Mission Park and is part of the Millcreek Streamway Parks system, operated by the Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department.

Most of all, Shawnee is its people. We are both the families who have been here for several generations as well as those who have moved here from other parts of this area or from other states because they are attracted by those very virtues which we proudly claim. People move to and live in Shawnee because of the high quality of life we have here.

Shawnee is many things, but above all, it is our home.

City of Shawnee, 11110 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, KS 66203
(913) 631-2500 Fax (913) 631-7351 E-Mail