The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., County needs to lower its taxes and drop its mill levy. That was part of the message on Tuesday for Mark Holland in his first term as chief executive of the Unified Government.
Mayor Holland’s state of the government address, though, keyed in on economic development. Connecting citizens to new jobs is something Holland campaigned on last year. The county has added 6,000 new jobs in the past five years, but he said they have to led the way in recruiting.
"When you have jobs on the fire department that start at $50,000, that’s half again the median household income of our community," he says. "People should be clamoring for these jobs. Why aren’t our young people excited about getting on these departments with these high paying jobs?"
Holland says he worries about a declining general fund. He’s also concerned 40 percent of people in jail are on psychotropic medications and the cost to house them is $100 a day.
In April 2013, Holland succeeded Mayor Joe Reardon, who opted not to seek a third term.
