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2025 Election Archive, . For our current work, see News.
November 4, 2025 Election

2025 Voter Research Guide

Your one-stop hub for researching Overland Park's local elections

Quick Facts

Election Day

November 4, 2025

Polls close at 7:00 PM

Voter Registration Deadline

October 14, 2025

In-Person Advance Voting Begins

October 25, 2025

View locations & hours →

Advanced Mail Ballot Deadline

October 27, 2025

Learn more →

Find Your Polling Location

Johnson County Election Office

Last updated: October 17, 2025

OP Voice is brand new and (for now) very small. We don't have the capacity to cover every forum or race this cycle, but we can make it easy for you (and your neighbors) to find reliable info fast.

Below is a 15-minute research checklist for any local race, plus a living link hub we'll keep updated through election day.

We're committed to expanding this work in future elections to cover every forum we can. If you want that too, jump to Help us grow at the bottom.

How to Use This Page

  • • Bookmark this page: we add new forums, candidate links, and resources regularly
  • • Use your browser's search (Ctrl+F / Cmd+F) to find candidates by name
  • • Start with the checklist below if you're new to local races
  • • Submit new forums or links using the form at the bottom

15-Minute Local Race Checklist

1

Find the Candidates

  • • Check the Johnson County ballot guide and civic hubs (e.g., VoteJoCo)
  • • Grab official campaign sites from Google or candidate social profiles
2

Watch or Skim a Forum

  • • Search YouTube for: "[City/Race] forum [Year]" and "[Candidate Name] town hall"
  • • Pro tip: Use playback speed 1.25× or 1.5× to skim faster; note timestamps for key topics
3

Scan News & Endorsements

  • • Try: "[Candidate Name]" site:johnsoncountypost.com (or another trusted local outlet)
  • • Note endorsements and, where available, who's funding them
4

Compare on Five Essentials

  • • Housing & land use
  • • Budget, taxes, & incentives (TIF/abatements)
  • • Public safety & civil liberties
  • • Transportation & infrastructure
  • • Transparency & ethics (disclosure, open data, meeting conduct)
5

Record Your Sources

  • • Save links + timestamps
  • • Screenshots help when posts disappear

What to Watch For

As you compare candidates, keep an eye out for:

Specific vs. Vague Answers

Do they explain how they'd do something, or just say they would?

Consistency

Do their stated priorities match their voting record (for incumbents) or funding sources?

Who's Funding Them

Follow the money. Endorsements and donations can reveal alignments. Check OpenSecrets.org for federal races.

Tone and Conduct

How do they handle tough questions? Do they listen to opposing views?

Link Hub (Living List)

We're collecting race pages, forums, and official sites in one place so you don't have to hunt.

Mayor

Read our full analysis →

Council Member, Ward 2

Melissa Cheatham

Chamber questionnaire • Campaign site

Sydney A. Marsden

Chamber questionnaire

Forum video:

YouTube

Council Member, Ward 3

Forum video:

YouTube

Council Member, Ward 4

Forum video:

YouTube

Council Member, Ward 5

Alexandria Washington

Chamber questionnaire • Campaign site

Forum video:

YouTube

Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees

Carlton Abner

Campaign site • Chamber Q

Chad Carroll

Campaign site • Chamber Q

Dawn J. Rattan

Campaign site • Chamber Q

Geoff Holton

Bio page • Chamber Q

Jerry Charlton

Campaign site • Chamber Q

Kenneth Stokes

Campaign site

Lee Cross

Campaign site

Mark Hamill

Campaign site • Chamber Q

USD 229 (Blue Valley)

  • Member 4: Sonya Evans
  • Member 5: Gina Knapp; Steve Roberts
  • Member 6: David Benson; Jim McMullen

USD 512 (Shawnee Mission)

  • Member 2: Mary Sinclair
  • Member 4: April Boyd-Noronha
  • Member 6 (At-Large): Heather M. F. Ousley

Water District

  • Board Member 3: Kay Heley
  • Board Member 4: Bob Reese; Jennifer Gunby
  • Board Member 5: Jill Westra

Help Us Grow

Our Promise for Future Elections

  • • Coverage goal: Every forum we can verify, with side-by-side summaries
  • • Standards: Source-first citations, full-length videos where possible, and clear topic tables so you can compare positions in minutes
  • • Timeline: We'll recruit and train volunteers between cycles to scale responsibly
🙋

Volunteer

Note-takers, timestampers, and fact-checkers welcome; no experience needed

🔗

Submit Links

If you attend a forum or spot a new video, send it our way

📢

Share the Hub

The more neighbors use it, the better our collective research gets

Get Involved

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 14, 2026

Overland Park Voice ("we") runs opvoice.org. This explains what the site collects and why.

Information We Collect

We collect as little as we can. We don't use cookies, ad trackers, or tracking pixels, and we don't build profiles of visitors. The only personal information we get is what you choose to send us.

Sign-Up Form

If you use the sign-up form on our site, we receive:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Your message, if you add one

We use these only to reply to you and to send the updates you asked for.

Site Analytics

We count visits with GoatCounter, an open-source analytics service built for privacy. It's fully anonymized. It records which page was viewed, the referring site, your browser and screen size, and your country. It doesn't use cookies or store your IP address, and it can't identify you or follow you across other sites. We use these counts only to see which pages people read.

Our Web Host

Like any website, our host keeps standard server logs under its own policy. We don't use them to identify visitors.

How We Use Information

  • Replying to you: we use what you send through the form to answer you.
  • Improving the site: anonymous visit counts tell us what's useful and what's broken.

We never sell, rent, or share your personal information for marketing.

Third-Party Services

  • GoatCounter (gc.zgo.at): the anonymized visit counts described above.
  • Formspree (formspree.io): handles the sign-up form and forwards submissions to our email. We don't store form data on the website.
  • Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com): serves the site's typeface. Your browser contacts Google to load it.
  • Tailwind CSS (cdn.tailwindcss.com): serves the site's styling.
  • Chart.js (cdn.jsdelivr.net): draws the charts on our housing research page.

Social Media

We link to our accounts on Facebook, Instagram (@op.voice), Reddit (r/OverlandParkVoice) and YouTube (@VOICEofOP). Those platforms have their own privacy practices, which we don't control.

Data Security

The site uses HTTPS encryption, and form submissions go to Formspree's secure servers. No method of sending data over the internet is completely secure, but we keep what we hold to a minimum.

Data Retention

  • Form messages: we delete them when they're no longer needed to reply to you or send the updates you asked for.
  • Visit counts: kept as anonymous totals.

Your Rights

You can ask what personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it, delete it, or stop contacting you. Email us and we'll take care of it.

Contact Us

  • Email: overlandpark.voice@gmail.com

We aim to reply within 5 business days.

OP Voice Transparency

AI Use Policy

How We Use AI in Our Research and Writing

Updated: October 2026

Scope: All OP Voice research, policy drafting, and community projects

Objective: Ensuring human judgment remains the foundation of civic advocacy

Part I

Why This Exists

As a one-person organization juggling a full-time job and serious policy work, efficiency is a necessity. However, if we demand transparency from the City on their AI use, we owe you the same.

Core Principles:

  • 1.
    Authenticity Over Polish: AI helps me be more thorough, but it never replaces the reading or the judgment.
  • 2.
    Transparency as Default: If AI contributed significantly to a piece of work, we disclose it.
  • 3.
    Human-in-the-Loop: AI can surface patterns, but humans make the call on what matters.

Part II

How the Work Actually Happens

Step 1: Human Research & Analysis

Every project starts with reading actual documents: city contracts, vendor policies, ordinances, and investigative reporting. I form my own hypotheses and arguments from this research foundation. AI never sees a blank slate; it sees work I've already started.

Step 2: Using AI to Cover Gaps

AI tools are used to find sources I might have missed, identify logical holes, and synthesize patterns across multiple documents. All AI-surfaced sources get verified independently. We use multiple AI systems to avoid vendor lock-in.

Step 3: Red-Teaming & Stress-Testing

Before committing to a position publicly, I use AI to find the strongest counter-arguments. This helps identify vulnerabilities before they reach the City Attorney or Council. If red-teaming reveals a weak position, I change or abandon it.

Part III

The Red-Teaming Practice

Red-teaming is the most valuable way I use AI. It's brutally honest feedback without social pressure.

The Red-Team Protocol: What We Ask

"What's the strongest case against this?"

Finding the counter-perspectives early.

"What am I assuming that I shouldn't?"

Exposing blind spots in our logic.

"Where is this most vulnerable to criticism?"

Strengthening the evidentiary base.

"How would city staff oppose this?"

Preparing for the real-world debate.

Part IV

Verification & Disclosure

Section 1: The Human Verification Standard

This mirrors our February 2026 RTIC governance proposal. Just as OPPD shouldn't take enforcement action based solely on an AI alert, OP Voice doesn't publish AI analysis without human verification.

Claims verified vs original sources
Tested against lived experience
Judgment on community needs
Tone edited for authenticity

Section 2: Clear Disclosure Requirements

Disclosure is required for research posts where AI helped find sources, policy documents with AI assisted structure, or any content where AI contribution was substantial.

"Research conducted by OP Voice, gaps filled and verified with AI assistance. Draft organized with AI tools, substantially edited for accuracy and voice."

Part V

Accountability When AI Gets It Wrong

No verification process is perfect. If AI-assisted research leads to an error in published work, our response is human-centered:

Public Correction

We correct it with the same visibility as the original post, explaining what went wrong (bad source, flawed synthesis, verification gap).

Human Accountability

We don't hide behind "the AI got it wrong." The human verified it. The human published it. The accountability is 100% human.

What This Means for Readers

When you read an OP Voice research post, the sourcing is real. I've read the contracts, the ordinances, and the vendor policies myself.

Where AI shows up is in the gaps: flagging a case I hadn't found, catching a logical inconsistency, or helping organize 30 pages of research into something readable. The positions, the framing, and the decision to publish are mine.

If something seems off or you want to see the underlying sources, ask. That's the whole point.

This policy is a living document, evolved through community feedback and technical changes.

© 2026 Overland Park Voice

Visit opvoice.org for more information