By JACKIE TAYLOR | June 10, 2026

Getting educated

It was very refreshing covering the Linn Valley City Council Monday night. 

First off, there was no faction creating animosity with another part of the council – they all got along well and actually discussed information in public, on camera – not retreating to executive session to eliminate public interaction.

There is no doubt that data centers are hot topics; look at the controversy swirling around the Osawatomie data center. And of course, users of Facebook couldn’t help but drag Linn County into the fracas scaring individuals that the Marais des Cygnes is going to go dry.

Well, I learned a lot Monday night as the mayor of Linn Valley is a tech guy; and, with the help of the city attorney, turned a controversial subject into one where the city could become educated and benefit immensely.

And it all comes from bringing discussion into the public, asking for public involvement, and becoming educated on a subject potentially dissuading tar pits, pitch forks and coffee-shop BS.

The Linn Valley mayor ran on a platform of economic development, and he’s sticking to his word.

Kudos to him.

I understand caution when approaching big tech; windmills, solar, data centers – they all have their own encyclopedia of uses, economics, positives and negatives. One thing remains in common, the public needs to be educated in a non-biased manner about the pros and cons.

Linn Valley is being pro-active in how they are approaching potential growth; clean growth that could do wonders for their city. And they’re doing it as a council, in public; no one is getting texts from anyone not on the council, no one is bullying the other – it is honest, open discourse between five elected officials and a mayor.

The council is open to new ideas, but has the ability, as individuals, to ask honest, educated questions about topics – things are not taken into executive session to avoid the public from knowing what is going on. The council is not afraid of the public, they ask for engagement from the public and welcome ideas and conversation.

The city carries the aura of a well-oiled machine; despite being one of Kansas’ newest cities.

It wasn’t always the fact. In 2000 to 2001, approximately, when some in Linn Valley didn’t like the idea of the city being a city, there was great upheaval. But the city lived through it, various councils came and went, and now, Linn Valley is on the verge of seeing great growth.

Constant bickering, in-fighting, and perceptions of back-door dealing don’t do any council any good; it is a hindrance to productive conversation that can lead to good ideas for their city.

No constituent wants their elected official to not get along with the mayor or other elected officials; councils sometimes need to grow up – take an example from the Linn Valley council.

Some ideas are good, some are not; that’s okay. But open, honest discussion where the voters have access to it is necessary to keep the peace. In instances where a more controversial topic may be on the table, the more a council needs to be open about it.

Kansas has many laws on the books concerning open meetings; statutes aren’t created to keep ink makers in business; they are created to make communities better and to protect the populace.

Though the Linn Valley meeting was long, the interaction between department heads, employees, council and mayor was refreshing and should serve as an example for certain other cities that are becoming laughing stocks in and out of Linn County.

It’ll be interesting to watch Linn Valley maneuver through growing pains, but I’m sure they’ll succeed.