Peabody mayor resigns
Staff writer
Peabody Mayor Kevin Burke, whose resignation was called for even before he took office in January, abruptly resigned Monday, citing medical issues.
Council member Bailey Penner was appointed to replace him during a meeting marked by discussion of the city’s future direction.
In a letter, Burke wrote that medical issues required his “full attention” and prevented him from fulfilling duties as mayor and as a member of the city’s land bank board.
He thanked residents and urged city officials to act “in the best interest of the entire community with honor and integrity.”
City code specifies that the council president fills any mayoral vacancies but that the council elect a president at its first regular meeting in May, city administrator Paul Leeker said.
Council member Linda Martinez nominated Penner for president. Andrew Rosine seconded, and Julia Ensminger cast the lone dissenting vote before Penner was sworn in first as council president and immediately afterward as mayor.
The council then elected Rosine as president after he was nominated by Ensminger.
After the meeting, Penner said that Burke left the city “in a position where the operations are moving forward at a good, efficient pace.” He said he hoped the council could continue moving in its current direction without “micromanaging.”
He also said he wanted a transparent process for filling now-vacant council seats.
“There are two now,” Penner said. “I want to maximize transparency with that process and not conglomerate. So, I want to get the pulse of the public in on that, get as many eager participants in that pool as possible.”
Rosine characterized the transition as another step during a period of rapid change for Peabody’s government.
“If that’s what it takes to get going and get moving positive, then let’s do it,” he said.
Martinez said after the meeting that regardless of who was mayor, the council wanted “to keep moving forward and making positive progress.”
Ensminger, who dissented on Penner’s appointment, said after the meeting that she “believes in honesty and integrity, and I don’t feel that we’re going to get that.”
During a report to the council, Leeker said he had notified Wichita State University’s Public Policy Management Center about the city’s leadership changes because the organization had been working with the city under its previous governing structure.
In addition to Kevin Burke’s resignation, Peabody also recently lost its city attorney, Zach Strella.
Leeker said the city now would work to “pivot” those plans around the new mayor and council structure while seeking additional guidance from the League of Kansas Municipalities about future legal representation and governance matters.
The rest of Monday’s meeting focused on infrastructure and operations issues facing the city.
Leeker, public works superintendent Aaron Waddell, and sewer contractor Kaleb Spencer discussed long-term maintenance of the city’s sewer lagoons, where decades of deferred maintenance have left major structural and upkeep problems.
Waddell said public works employees spent months clearing heavy tree growth, repairing fencing, controlling weeds, and working to establish a regular maintenance cycle around the lagoons.