A mayoral race in Shawnee, Kansas, is between 2 'very different' kinds of Republicans

Reports of a sexting video featuring the city manager are the latest upheaval in Shawnee, where dozens of city employees have left their jobs in the past two years. “I think it’s directly tied to partisan agendas,” said one city council candidate.
Shawnee, Kansas, has been turbulent lately, especially for a tidy Johnson County suburb. But the latest development was a doozy, even by recent standards: An anonymous email with a sexting video featuring City Manager Doug Gerber.

The email bounced around city hall a month ago and upset employees, but city council members say they never heard about it until The Kansas City Star made open records requests this week — just days before the Nov. 7 municipal election.

Mayor Michell Distler, who is not seeking re-election, said she and council members had been alerted about accusations against Gerber at his previous city job in Topeka, but that those concerns were dismissed by Gerber’s backers.

In February, Gerber replaced a city manager who resigned after run-ins with the council over the direction of the city.

Laurel Burchfield, who’s running for an open seat on the council, said the latest scandal was teed up by the council majority looking for ideological purity in a city manager.