Kansas and Missouri say they’d like to work together, but they keep poaching each other’s businesses.
Friday on Up to Date, Kansas City Mayor Sly James and Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach tell us about their challenges with job development, balancing the budget, promoting affordable public transit through streetcars and buses and keeping up city infrastructure.
And where do Overland Park and Kansas City split on the concerns surrounding the spread of Google Fiber, Overland Park’s new open carry policy and public artwork?
Sylvester "Sly" James was sworn in as Kansas City's mayor on May 1, 2011. James was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps in 1975 and earned his law degree in 1983. He joined Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi and became the firm's first African-American partner. He started his own practice, the Sly James Firm, in 2003. He has led or served on the boards of multiple legal organizations as well as the United Way, Committee for County Progress, Partnership for Children, Bishop Hogan High School, Notre Dame de Sion schools, Operation Breakthrough, Genesis School, the Kansas City Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, Enhanced Enterprise Zones of Kansas City and the Jackson County Ethics Commission. Learn more about Mayor James on his website. Carl Gerlach was elected Mayor in April 2005 and re-elected in 2009. He served on the City Council from 1995 to 2005 as a representative of Ward 3. While on the Council, Carl served as Council President in 2002-2003, and as Chair of the Community Development and Finance, Administration and Economic Development committees. Carl currently serves on the board of the Overland Park Economic Development Council, the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, and the Overland Park Convention and Visitors Bureau. He also is a past member of the K-State School of Leadership Studies Advancement Council, the Bi-state Commission, and currently serves on the League of Kansas Municipalities Governing Body. Carl is married to Jill, and they have three children - Chris, Jennifer and Katie. He is the Director of Marketing for a major screen printing company in the promotional products industry. Carl recently served as the chairman of the Promotional Products Association International Board of Directors.An Eagle Scout and graduate of Shawnee Mission South High School, Carl received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University while also playing. Learn more about Mayor Gerlach on his website.
