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Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn is passing the torch after 27 years in office

A woman smiles while talking into a microphone inside a radio studio.
Claudia Brancart
/
KCUR 89.3
Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn, after three decades in city government, is in her final full month in office in office.

Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn announced last summer that she wouldn't run for re-election. She'll officially leave office when newly-elected mayor Marc Elkins is sworn in on Jan. 2.

Leawood, Kansas, will swear in a new mayor next month for the first time in 27 years. Mayor Peggy Dunn announced in June that she wouldn't run again.

Dunn first entered public office in 1993 as a city councilmember, and after two terms in that role, she was elected mayor in 1997.

Among her most significant contributions to the city were establishing major commercial shopping areas, like Park Place and Town Center, which allowed the city to keep property taxes down.

"I kept running because I enjoyed it so much, and the city was in a time of historic growth," Dunn told KCUR's Up To Date. "So, it made it extremely interesting and just a great time to be involved to work with great people and see lots of progress and change."

Marc Elkins, a longtime public servant in Leawood, was elected mayor in November and will assume the role Jan. 2, 2024.

  • Peggy Dunn, mayor of Leawood, Kansas
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