Golden, Kansas

Protecting and preserving our beloved rural residential and agricultural way-of-life

WE ARE GOLDEN - Of the People, By the People, and For the People

Despite the Miami County Board of Commissioners learning that incorporation is the only way to protect our rural residential way of life and to honor the Miami County Rural Comprehensive Plan, 3 commissioners voted NO to our incorporation petition in a 3-1 vote.

Government Leaders must be held accountable for ignoring the People and pushing their own agenda. Their NO vote was an obvious YES vote for intermodal infiltration into our community.

They don't live here so they don't care

County Commissioner Tyler Vaughan recognized this was the only way to guide responsible development and to protect the citizens. He listened to the people and gave all of the reasons this should be passed. This is his area and his constituents, yet they all ignored him. I've never seen him ignore something their citizens needed, but they ignored what we need.

Spring Hill and Gardner wrote letters endorsing Golden and stating they welcomed the opportunity to work WITH US; yet Chairman Roberts stated he felt we would be competing with those cities. He does not have the authority to manipulate another government's words and spin it for his own personal agenda or the agenda of others that want intermodal in Miami County.
They recognized Golden is a good thing, why couldn't he?

We have a 9 square mile area here that has no representation or protection. It is an area larger than Edgerton, the same size as Spring Hill, and slightly smaller than Gardner. That is not a "competing" city but an underserved city. Those citizens deserve their constitutionally guaranteed rights to be protected!

He also claimed he'll be working with them for truck routes so remember that come election time. He will allow truck routes on 223rd and Gardner Road if he they tell him to. He does not care about us because what he did to us was appalling and would never be done to any of his people if they needed his help.

A YES for Golden does not stop intermodal from coming into Miami County along I-35 where it belongs.

It just keeps it out of our residential community and the Hillsdale Watershed. This was not an either-or situation and the tax dollars and jobs they can get from warehouses should never have been a part of the hearings for our incorporation. They effectively said they would destroy the homeowners if someday in ten years or more they could get more tax dollars from someone else. DISGUSTING!!

Commissioner Dixon stated he didn't think intermodal coming in this area would be so bad. That means he is ignoring the comprehensive plan survey that had an astounding NO INTERMODAL IN THE NORTHWEST CORNER response by the people who live here. He also ignored all reports by the Hillsdale Watershed conservation department who said if the warehouse developments continue as planned, the fish and wildlife will die and we will be left with an urban watershed. Instead he tried to twist the words and claim KDHE said there would be no problems, but what they actually said is they have never tested Hillsdale for the effects from the warehouses already built. They might someday when they get the money. And the water districts claimed they can clean dirty water easier than clean water.
Can they clean the fish too?

Commissioner Pretz was vocally against our petition and pro-warehouses the entire summer. His vote was not surprising. He refused to acknowledge that most of the unplatted landowners were signers FOR GOLDEN and that "property rights" does not give someone the right to devalue their neighbors' property; nor does someone receive more votes for owning more acres. One vote per person is how this country works, not one vote per acre or per dollar or any other measurement he wants to use.

Over 300 voters signed for Golden and only 89 registered voters signed against; of which 36 were originally Pro-Golden before they were lied to with a grossly-inflated $750,000 annual tax budget number given to them in a scare-tactic by the main opposition petitioner - a retired Miami County Planning Commissioner who doesn't even live in the city limits. Other opposition signers believed the County could stop the annexations and rezonings by Edgerton; yet the study sessions confirmed they cannot.

Commissioner Pretz also ignored the fact that we weren't allowed to modify our petition during the process and that we would be able to let out as many opposition petitioners as strategically possible after incorporation.
The entire process was WIN-WIN FOR EVERYONE that had an invested interest in this area - except the ones wanting to sell out their neighbors for dreams of getting their own intermodal money someday.

Miami County can claim we had due process, but they just gave the illusion of due process.

The refused public comment after June 30, 2021 and refused petitioners the right to correct the errors on several material misrepresentation of facts presented by "expert witnesses" and they refused us the right to closing arguments. It was just a large-scale production of the same circus we go through in Edgerton. All the way down to the blatant lies and material misrepresentation of facts presented by the Miami County Appraiser Justin Eimers. I demanded my data showing facts of decreasing property values be included in the record and their attorneys would not allow it.

Now we know why. They did not want the truth on record because then they would admit to the decrease in property values once the tax value disputes begin after warehouses infiltrate.

Remember these names come voting time. They just sold you out!

Click the Media Coverage link above to learn more!

Read the public comments:

https://www.miamicountyks.org/979/PUBLIC-RESPONSE---Golden

Golden Kansas Video

Those entities and individuals who want to turn our area into an intermodal park are already lobbying against us.
We must let our voices be heard! They will lie and use fear-based motivation to stop us! They are spreading rumors about ridiculous taxes

We must be vocal about the truth! Publicly show your support to preserve your rights.

• The commissioners represent us - and are supposed to be our voice - and they need to hear us so they can properly represent us!

• Our incorporation harms no one with rights in the matter and benefits everyone involved. NO ONE is being forced to join us

• There is no reason for a NO vote - unless it's a political agenda to force industrial development against our will.

• The City of Spring Hill's City Council and Mayor have unanimously endorsed this as a good thing for the people and wrote a letter of recommendation to Miami County for us. If Spring Hill, the city whose name and zip code the majority of us have, endorses us and recognizes the importance of this incorporation, then Miami County should listen and allow this!

• The City of Gardner's City Council and Mayor unanimously agreed to write a letter of support for Golden as well.

THIS IS OUR RIGHT to incorporate our borders in order to elect our own officials to control the future development and growth of our city!

Let them know that we are watching and respectfully requesting all 4 to give a YES vote to incorporation and a YES to protecting our constitutional rights and maintaining our property rights and voting rights for any future growth and development of our city!

This is an exciting, historical event and we want to make sure everyone is thoroughly informed and part of the process! We want your input and ideas!!!

Still have questions? Contact Jennifer Williams at GoldenKansas@yahoo.com

Proposed Boundary of the City of Golden, Kansas