Prairie Village Mayor Steps Down

Ron Shaffer resigned from his fourth term and 16th year as the mayor of Prairie Village last Monday. He was then sworn in as the new representative of District 1 for the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners. District 1 is composed of Westwood, Westwood Hills, Mission Woods, Roeland Park, Fairway, Mission Hills, Mission, Prairie Village, Merriam, as well as a portion of Overland Park and Leawood.

Shaffer says that his past 35 years of public service experience will aid him in his new position.

“Whether it be a council member, or a mayor, or a commissioner… we’re all elected people,” he said. “Every experience that you are able to be involved with as you move along in life always makes it easier to move forward in the future, when you have to make some tough decisions.”

There is little that Shaffer regrets from the past years. Prairie Village has received many awards in the past few years. One of these from the past year recognized PV as one of America’s top five suburbs. The new improvements to the pool complex, the recent renovations to the Village and Corinth Square and other things too, from parks to public safety, make Shaffer proud.

Due to Shaffer’s resignation, Ashley Weaver will be serving as acting mayor, making sure all city government proceedings function normally until the approaching mayoral election in April.

Shaffer’s main piece of advice to both Weaver and his successor is to keep an open mind.

“Listen to all of the people, all of the citizens, [not just] a few, because the few will always have the loudest voice at any given time, but there’s always the other 99% of the citizens who probably don’t think the same or feel the same as those people,” Shaffer said. “You can’t just let a few people sway you, when you know what you need to do: what is right for all of Prairie Village.”