City council applicant Joe Cheray hopes to see Topeka address homelessness and crime
Crime is the top issue facing Topeka's city government, says Joe Cheray.
Though city officials cite statistics indicating crime here is going down, the information she sees shared by local Facebook police scanner groups suggests otherwise, Cheray said in the application she submitted recently seeking to be appointed to a vacant seat on the Topeka City Council.
Break-ins, thefts and domestic violence are reported often in this community, Cheray said.
"I see reports where people get their cars rifled through even though they work to make sure there is nothing of value in their vehicles," she said. "One of my neighbors was recently a victim of said situation."
Joe Cheray is among five candidates for Topeka City Council seat
Cheray is among five candidates who applied Nov. 18 and 21 for west Topeka's District 9 council seat left vacant by the recent resignation of Michael Lesser.
The others are Michaela R. Saunders, Nicholas Trammell, Michelle Hoferer and Janel Johnson, who all either have been or will be featured in separate Capital-Journal articles.
Unless an alternative date is set, the mayor and council will interview the applicants at their Dec. 6 meeting, according to the city website.
More:Candidates for seats on Topeka’s governing body speak at forum
Cheray has served various organizations
Cheray grew up at Baileyville in Nemaha County and has lived since 1988 in Topeka, where she graduated from Topeka High School.
She ran unsuccessfully last August for the Democratic nomination for Topeka's District 53 seat in the Kansas House of Representatives, and previously ran unsuccessfully for the District 9 seat on the council.
Cheray's application said her experience includes the following:
• Chair of the Kansas Democratic Disability Caucus.
• Vice president and communications chair for Capital City Democratic Women.
• A member of the city of Topeka's Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Council.
• Communications secretary for the Kansas Federation of Democratic Women.
• Director of public relations for the Aaron Douglas Art Fair.
• Advertising and promotions chair for the Tinkham Veale Gallery.
• A student representative on the Washburn Campus Ministry Board.
• A volunteer at 712 Innovations.
• A technical assistant for the Association of Women Entrepreneuers.
• And a part-time employee at 39 West Gallery.
Cheray also took part in unsuccessful efforts made to 2010 to get Google to use Topeka as a test site for ultrafast Internet service.
"With my experience in communications I would like to be able to make sure every resident in District 9 knows what is going on in the city on a regular basis," she said.
More:Topeka City Councilman Richard Harmon won’t run for re-election
Applicant voices concerns about blight and homelessness
District 9 lacks the "sense of community" that is present in other Topeka City Council districts, in that it is thought of as a retail and food district, Cheray said in her application.
"It has been my desire to have a community center in District 9," Cheray said, adding that she'd like to work with Washburn University and Washburn Institute of Technology to have that center built in the "huge area" to the north of Washburn Tech, 5724 S.W. Huntoon, and Fox Ridge Co-op Townhouses, 1209 S.W. Glendale Drive.
Cheray would also like to see the development in District 9 of a community garden, from which everyone in the district could benefit.
"With food insecurity still being an issue and getting worse, I feel it is critical that we have an alternate food source," she said. "It would also solve some of the issues around homelessness."
Cheray would like to see the city deal with the issues it faces regarding homelessness, which she says aren't being addressed successfully.
"Despite best efforts there are still tent cities in tree lines all over the city," she said.
Meanwhile, panhandling has increased throughout Topeka, including on its west side, Cheray said.
"We need a non-secular option in helping homeless people in the city get back on their feet," she said.
Cheray said Topeka also still has blight issue, which she hopes to help address.
"Through my work on the neighborhood task force I was on the code compliance committee," her application said. "We worked to identify abandoned structures in the city and examined how other cities dealt with their abandoned structures issues."
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Joe Cheray seeks vacant Topeka City Council seat, proposes center
