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July 29, 2025

I am excited to announce that I am running for Re-Election as your Mayor on November 4, 2025 and I humbly request your Vote!

I have served the City for almost 50 years. I was on the Fire Department for 38 years and retired as the Fire Chief/Fire Marshal. I served for 6 years on City Council as your Ward 4 Councilmember. I have served as your Mayor for 3.5 years. It has been my pleasure to serve you. . I am honored that you put your trust in me to lead our City for the past 4 years and I am asking for your vote again. We have seen tremendous growth in our land locked community. You asked for the old K-Mart to be torn down. We worked with Drake Development and we now have Merriam Grand Station which boast 365 class A apartments, 30 Hop, Homegrown, Jersey Mikes, Cava, Starbucks, Treats Unleashed, Vitamin Supplement Super Store and Shake Shack. Freddy’s and Krispy Kreme are still part of this site. We have a new Community Center and a new Library on our Merriam City campus. As part of our strategic plan to redevelop the old Antioch library site, we have partnered with Drake Development to provide something that you have been asking for years. A grocery store will be located on this site as well as a restaurant, parking structure, and a four-story apartment building with 215 Class A apartments. A portion of the apartments will even be offered at reduced rates to address housing affordability issues. The Chipotle will stay on this site as well. You asked for Single Hauler trash service. We are happy to report that we have signed a contract with GFL and for many, your trash service bill will be cut into less than half of what you are currently paying. This will go into effect in November 2026. You asked for better walk-ability and bike lanes throughout the City. We have updated and added numerous side walks and we developed a bike plan that addresses bike-ability whenever we do maintenance on our streets. You have asked for downtown Merriam to be redeveloped. We are currently working with the Core of Engineers. to address flood plain issues. This area must be removed from the flood plain prior to any major re-development to occur. This area is a priority for myself and our City Council. We are working with current business owners to keep them informed on what options are being considered and how it may impact them. There are many great business in downtown that we hope will continue to thrive in Merriam. We have added numerous grants for our residents and business to help them here. Please check our City web site to see which ones could be beneficial to you. Please contact me if you have questions or suggestions on how we can make Merriam even better. My cell number is (913) 707-9316 or you may email me at bpape@merriam.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

If elected, I would like to share my vision of Merriam and the goals that I believe our Community would benefit from. They are as follows:

• Provide excellent Fire, Police and EMS services that will keep our community safe.

• Not only refrain from raising taxes, but look at ways to provide tax relief; especially to our senior citizens who are on fixed incomes.

• Maintain our infrastructure of streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, street lights and storm drains.

• Address flooding concerns in various locations throughout the city especially in downtown Merriam.

• Continue to Improve walk-ability and bike-ability throughout the City. Progress has been made but there is much more to do.

• Address resident’s concerns about speeding in our neighborhoods. This may require a redesign of our streets when they are scheduled for overlay or repair.

• Continue to Increase the energy efficiency of our street lights and city structures and provide grants to our residents that encourages them to do the same.

• Explore ways in which we can assist our senior citizens to stay in their homes or provide affordable housing for them and our lower income population. We will continue our numerous grant programs and partner with the County.

• Plant more trees as we continue to do our part to reduce carbon emissions. We will continue the tree grant program.

• Install electric vehicle charging stations where appropriate..

• Improve communication between City government and our citizens as we continue our efforts at transparency.

• Explore all options to get Downtown Merriam out of the flood plain and develop it into a thriving destination location that takes into consideration both new development and the existing business.

I am also interested in hearing from you. Please let me know what you think is important and what your goals would be for Merriam doing the next four years. Together, we can make Merriam even better. I may be reached at bpape@merriam.org or (913)707-9316.

Education. Dedication. Experience.

I have been a public servant for Merriam for over 49 years. I’ve been part of the Merriam Community for over 59 years. I served the Merriam Fire Department for over 38 years ascending the ranks to retire as the Merriam Fire Chief/Fire Marshal in 2014.

In 2015, my neighbors elected me to serve as Ward 4 Council-member. In 2019, my neighbors chose to keep me at city hall! I ran for Mayor and was elected in 2021. I’m excited to continue representing my neighbors on city council and to serve as your Mayor.

A Record of Accomplishment

During my FIRST four Years, I worked with city Council and staff to implement several new programs to improve our city:  

We started an “Adopt a Street Island” program where a citizen can become the designer and caregiver of a street island for one year. We have nineteen islands in our City. Many of these islands have fallen into disrepair. The City will reimburse up to $500 each year for the care and upkeep of that island. Working together, we keep Merriam beautiful.

We implemented an exterior home grant that will provide up to 30% reimbursement up to $3,000 for anything dealing with the exterior of your home. We allocated $120,000 to the program this year and it was distributed on a first-come basis. This grant is important to keep property values from declining.

We implemented a residential sustainability grant that will provide up to 30% reimbursement up to $3,000 for anything that helps to make your home more energy efficient. We allocated up to $65,000 to the program this year and it was distributed on a first-come basis. Items like new windows, furnace, air-conditioning, insulation, solar and basically anything that will make your home more energy efficient.

Everyone wins when houses are well maintained, beautiful and energy efficient!

We started a neighborhood block party grant that will reimburse residents up to $300 for food, drink, entertainment and other items necessary to throw a party for your neighborhood. There is no better way to get to know your neighbors than breaking bread with them.

We began offering twice a year, a large item pick-up where residents can put out large items like furniture, appliances, lawnmowers and other large items that you cannot put out in your trash can.  This gives you the opportunity to get rid of unwanted items without having to pay someone to haul it off. All you have to do is get it to the curb on the designated pick-up day. The City will then remove it.

We offer free tree limb pick-up in the spring. We are fortunate to have large lots with many trees. Unfortunately, storms often bring down limbs. You can’t just put this out with your trash for pick-up. However, if you can get it to the curb on the designated date, the City will haul it off for you. Even after some severe storms, the City will sometimes open up a site at Public Works where residents can drop off limbs. These occasions will be advertised when they are available.

Do you need a new tree? We offer a grant that will provide a free $500 value tree. Trees help to reduce carbon emissions and provide a variety of benefits. The tree is planted for you. All you need to do is keep it watered and love it.

Every one of these ideas came from residents.

Your city council listened.

And I voted to support every one of these initiatives.

I am proud to call Merriam my home.

I have lived here for almost 60 years and plan to live here many more. I want all Citizens to know that they made the right choice in locating in Merriam. The City has changed a lot since I moved to Merriam in 1965. Antioch used to be a two-lane road with ditches on both sides. There were no curbs, nor gutters.  There were very few sidewalks and storm sewers. Our Fire Department only had 3 paid firefighters and the rest was comprised of Volunteers.

I started my Career in Merriam as a Volunteer Firefighter

in 1976 and became a paid firefighter in 1977. I served my entire career in Merriam. I worked my way through the ranks and retired in 2014 as your Fire Chief/Fire Marshal after serving 38 years. During this time frame, I learned how to serve the public. That deep desire has never gone away. I ran for City Council in 2015 and became your Ward 4 representative. It has been a pleasure serving you in that capacity and in 2019 my neighbors were happy enough with the job I’ve done to keep me on city council with a re-election! I ran for Mayor in 2021 and was elected to lead our City. I want to continue serving this Community. We have done a lot to make Merriam better, but the task is not done. We can never stop trying to improve.

I believe that I have prepared

to serve you my entire life. My education was dedicated to learning what it takes to run a City. I received my Associate Degree from JCCC. I then went to KU to get my Bachelor degree with a major in Personnel Administration. I continued my education at KU and received my Master’s Degree in Public Administration. I was fortunate to use this knowledge to benefit Merriam for over 49 years. I bring to the table dedication, education and experience.

I understand the importance

of keeping our taxes down. Many in our community are senior citizens who are on fixed incomes. We also have younger families who have to work two jobs, just to make ends meet.  This is why it is important to bring in new business and retain current business. The sales revenue generated from commercial enterprise allows us to keep personal property taxes down. We have what is referred to as a 4 to 1 pull factor. For every Merriam resident paying sales tax, we have four people outside our community paying sales tax. This is how the majority of our new Community Center is being funded. We have worked to keep our mill levy low and actually lowered it since I became Mayor. It is our plan to reduce it again this year. Let’s keep that tradition going.

I am excited that our new Community Center

and Aquatic Center has been built and is now open. It is over 66,000 square feet. I would encourage all residents to check it out and become members. It has state of the art work-out stations and an indoor walking track. It has a large basketball gym where you can also play pickleball. It has an indoor pool with lap lanes, slides, a lazy river and a therapeutic heated pool. It has an outdoor pool with low-level diving boards and a zero-depth entrance. There is a large gymnasium, art gallery and meeting rooms. It has the Tim Murphy Art Gallery where various Artist are given the opportunity to display their work. There is something for everyone. Please check it out and utilize this wonderful facility.

In Closing

Merriam has seen continuous improvement for four years.  All of us on city council take our City motto “Merriam – Just Right” very seriously and I’m proud to be part of the team.

Bob Pape

Your Merriam Mayor