Alaina Cunningham
NAME: Alaina Cunningham
AGE: 43
OCCUPATION: RN
INCUMBENT? I am currently holding a seat on the city commission through an appointment for the unexpired vacated seat by now County Commissioner Michael Berges.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: I have served and held positions on the Downtown Hays Development Corporation Board, as well as, currently serving on the HaysMed Foundation Board and on the Hays High Academic Booster Club. In the past, I have also served and held offices on the O’Loughlin PTA, while all three of our children attended grade school.
1. Why have you decided to run for a position on the Hays City Commission?
My interest in this role comes from my desire to make a positive change within our community. I feel it is my duty to serve the public and “Do Good.” This is a motto I try to apply in all aspects of my life. I’m driven to run for this seat to expand on our current progress with economic growth. I will be focused on fostering our development of youth and engaging them with the growing needs of retirees in our community. A prosperous community includes all ages, young to old. I have had the pleasure of serving on the City Commission for the past ten months as an appointed official. The current commission has worked diligently to develop a well thought-out, money conscience budget. The commission is supporting staff, as we work to progress with the water efforts in finding a sustainable water source for our area. The commission works along side city staff to maintain our infrastructure and provide quality of life. Past commissions have helped to set the foundation for the work the current commission is able to accomplish. I plan to do the same for forth coming commissioners and the city of Hays.
2. What are the top three issues you believe the city will face in the next four years?
One of the top issues for our area is securing a sustainable water source. We are all aware how valuable water is to our area and we do a tremendous job in our conservation efforts. The city is currently making great efforts towards a solution. With the forward thinking of past commissioners in purchasing the land and water rights of property in Edwards County, known as R9, the framework has been set for the motions taking place today. I do believe with continued focus our efforts will be successful in building a pipeline and transporting water to our area to give us a sustainable water source for years to come. Another priority is increasing our economic growth. This encompasses multiple areas, such as, reducing the housing shortage, offering a variety of housing options, incentivizing developers and builders to bring in more opportunities to our area. Our sales tax collections are among the highest on record, we have millions of dollars being spent in construction and we have an extremely low unemployment rate. These are all items to celebrate, however, we currently have an issue in our workforce. We need to retain more young adults in our area, finding a way to entice the youth while encouraging all ages to make Hays their home. Without an immediate solution to this issue it needs to be kept at the forefront. The last priority is working to meet the needs of our aging population. Data shows that the fastest growing population in our area is those age 65 and older. We need to create homes that suite the needs of our retirees to retain them as citizens in our great community. The construction of a new community center that is more city centered with easier access would fulfill one of the other voids in our current offerings. Making Hays an area the aging population is able to remain viable and enticing their families to join them in relocating.
3. Is there something you would like to see change about any Hays city ordinance or program?
I would like to see the City of Hays continue to explore incentives to assist builders and developers to grow our community and fulfill the needs of our citizens. We have a known housing shortage. With current growth patterns Hays is expected to need more than 800 units of housing by 2030. I would like us as a city to be able to communicate to developers why they want to be in Hays. If our area can have a 1% growth each year we will be in need of an increase of approximately 80 housing units per year. We will need to incentivize developers to assist in making it feasible to build diversified housing. These incentives could in turn work to attract more commercial properties, benefiting our community with options to create additional sales tax and employers.
4. In light of increasing valuations, should the city of Hays reduce its mill levy? Why or why not?
Even with a stagnate mill levy home owners, renters and businesses feel the effects. Property valuations have doubled over the last two years increasing by 22%, giving our property taxes a 33% increase with the passage of the school bond. The mill levy helps to fund the library, library employee benefits, the airport, public safety equipment, employee benefit contributions, and bond and interest. This composes approximately 23% of the total budget. When looking at reducing the mill levy we have to look at what to cut in the budget; decreasing the mill levy would be decreasing funding to one or more of these areas. It is challenging to find which area or areas are disposable. They each are meaningful to different groups of citizens. The library and the library employee benefits are based on the Standards for Kansas Public Libraries set forth and mandated by state statute. Those that travel with their employment would feel the airport is mandatory. Having no airport would mean no air travel to and from Hays, which could in turn force some businesses or employees to relocate. This would in turn defeat our desire to grow. If public safety equipment is not replaced or maintained effectively it could result in delay or improper needs to respond to emergency calls. As we can see reductions create a trickle effect making the decision to reduce funding challenging. The city commission has been able to maintain a constant mill levy, without increase, for the past 13 years with a balanced budget and money placed into reserves for future use. This allows us as a city to pay cash for special projects verses taking out bonds and creates a savings for the future.
5. What experience/background do you have that would make you a good city commissioner?
In our thirteen years of residing in Hays, I have engulfed myself in multiple areas of the community. I have chosen and continue to choose to be very involved with community organizations, community activities and youth education. The dedication and time placed into each of these endeavors fosters, not only my personal growth, but more importantly allows our community to become greater. If elected I will continue to devote my time and energy to the city of Hays and its citizens, as a valuable resource.
6. What would you do, if elected, to attract or retain businesses to the community?
Keeping our community financially strong will allow us to continue to attract and retain businesses in our area. There is a fine balance between saving for the future and taking necessary risk. Our local sales tax continues to benefit our budgetary needs. The city is working with local developers to decrease the housing shortage with recent new home builds and revitalization efforts converting older buildings to apartments. We are increasing our efforts with education by approving a bond to build more suitable structures for our children. As a community we are provided a quality of life with the multiple offerings from numerous entities, some of which are aided with city funding, and our well maintained parks department. Our sewer maintenance and upkeep of our aging infrastructure is an another attractable resource provided by city funding. These are all efforts helping to retain current businesses. Exploring future programs to assist retiring business owners in the sell of their endeavors to incoming entrepreneurs could be beneficial to have assistance in finding a purchaser. This could attract workforce growth. Each of these areas stated above show we are a community that invests in ourselves, we want to support local and we want to grow.