Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn is up for re-election this year, and he could have a potential challenger in Goddard Mayor Marcey Gregory.
Gregory will need to come up with 2,500 signatures from residents of the Sedgwick County Commission’s 3rd District, which includes Garden Plain, Colwich and Goddard, where she’s been mayor for nine years. Gregory is running as an independent and says the County Commission has become too partisan, especially the person she’s hoping to unseat.
“Karl Peterjohn has been a strident voice on the commission, blathering about national and state issues that the commission can’t impact, and was not elected to address," she said Monday.
Gregory has run against Peterjohn in the past, but was unsuccessful. She says her time as mayor of Goddard has strengthened her politically, and that she’s going into the campaign with confidence.
In reference to last year’s controversial budget cuts to, among other things, Project Access, Exploration Place and the Sedgwick County Zoo, Gregory says the commission can bring a better balance to county spending, and that infrastructure and social services should be of equal importance.
“We can certainly make sure our roads are in good shape, but take care of our people, too,” she says.
County Commissioner Tim Norton is also up for re-election in November, but so far, there are no challengers.
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