3 vie for Roeland Park mayor’s office

Roeland Park is one of the few communities in northeast Johnson County (Fairway being another) that will have a primary election tomorrow.

While Fairway’s race only draws voters from one ward, in Roeland Park voters across the city will narrow the field for the April mayoral election. Incumbent Adrienne Foster faces two challengers in the primary, Joel Marquardt and Linda Mau. The top two vote getters will be on the April 2 ballot.

Foster has been mayor since 2009 and prior to that served a term on the city council. She is executive director of the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission. Marquardt is an archivect at Gastinger Walker Harden + Bee Triplett Buck. Mau is a former council member, serving from 2003-2007.

The next mayor will be leading the city through potentially difficult financial times. The impending move of the Walmart store on Roe Avenue to the Mission Gateway project is expected to drain more than half a million dollars of sales tax from the city budget. A proposal to increase sales tax lost by a narrow margin in a city vote last fall.