Topeka Mayor celebrates military, speaks on major projects

TOPEKA (KSNT)- Mayor Mike Padilla joined 27 News Anchor Katie Garceran on the morning show to discuss different community events and local issues the city is facing this year.

May is National Military Appreciation Month, and Mayor Padilla is hosting an event in front of City Hall May 19 in recognition of the exceptional men and women who serve in the army. Numerous different military groups such as military recruiters, incoming service members, local veterans and more.

He says the link between military members and Topeka is an important one, and they saw the strength of that link recently after communicating with the USS Topeka.

“Just this week I got communications and items from the USS Topeka,” Mayor Padilla said. “We had sent them a bunch of Topeka t-shirts, and they sent us back a photo of all of the crew, lined up on the top of the submarine, all wearing the Topeka t-shirts.”

He explained that they also draped the Topeka flag over the hull of the ship.

“We really think it’s important to continue that kind of communication and connection,” Padilla said. “It’s important that we have that kind of recognition.”

As of this week, the Topeka City Council has also been busy with the approval of the pilot Land Bank Program. The goal of the program is to take rundown, dilapidated properties, repair them, and turn them into affordable housing for lower-income families.

27 News has reported on the 2020 citywide survey that determined Topeka has a housing crisis, and Mayor Padilla agrees, however he is hopeful the new program will bring about progress.

“I appreciate, especially, all the work that Councilman Spencer Duncan has done on this,” Padilla said. “We really saw this as an opportunity to try and do something for the middle-class in need of affordable housing.”

He says some are concerned about the city taking on too many properties, thus being responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of those plots. But the Mayor says this isn’t the case.

“It’s a very detailed plan,” said Padilla. “We can accept or deny properties…we want to look at properties that we know have a future.”

He said that ultimately, he believes the pilot program will be successful in helping bring down the high number of abandoned properties in Topeka.

When asked what Topeka’s largest challenge is right now, he said it was growing our population.

“That’s a big challenge because you can’t just bring people here by offering them what you have, you have to tell them what they can have in the future.”

Although growing the population is an issue right now, Mayor Padilla said that the diversity and inclusion in the community right now has made a considerable difference.

“That is a welcoming thing for people,” Padilla said. “They know they can go there and be a part of a community and not be set a part from the rest of the community.”

After a brief break, Mayor Padilla continued the discussion by commenting on the city’s decision to bring in Sylver Consulting in to discuss new strategies the city can implement to help solve the homelessness issue in the community.

“It’s a work in progress, and so is our effort,” he said. “We have to continue to adapt to what we have in our community and I think we have done a very good job of that.”

He said he fears some people in the community believed the city did not know how to handle this issue, so they had to hire someone else. Padilla said this is not the case.

“I put it like this, we have all the ingredients in Topeka to get the job done, we just didn’t have the right recipes. “

He said by bringing in a consultant, that consultant can then provide a fresh perspective and help them know where they need to add more or less effort in their plan.

“We’re not just waiting on a consultant to tell us what the answer is, we are doing while we are planning.”

Padilla said the communication between the city and service providers is strong, so they have people dedicated to making a difference here in Topeka.

Ahead of the next election, the mayor encouraged people in the community to do their research prior to voting.

“I really encourage people to pay attention to the races, find out who the candidates are, talk with them, visit with them, really put a lot of homework into it and make sure you are prepared,” he said. “And make sure you are registered to vote.”

The filing deadline is June 1st this year.

Lastly, to close out the discussion, Mayor Padilla expressed his excitement for new funding approved just this week by Governor Laura Kelly for local airports. House bill 2336 increases the amount of money airport authorities and counties can approve to spend on airport improvements. Mayor Padilla said that he has seen improvements already.

“That airport has been interwoven into the City of Topeka for decades….they are looking very hard at their organization,” he said.

Right now, according to Mayor Padilla, the MTAA is looking at hiring a new Director of Economic Development, amongst other positive changes like growing relationships within the industry and regionally.

For more details and specifics on the topics discussed, you can watch the full interview above.