By: RANDALL HARDY
I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself to you and to let you know what is important to me. My name is Randall Hardy, I’m a candidate for the city commission. I’m a 45-year resident of Salina. I was president of construction rental Inc. with a store here in Salina and two stores in Nebraska. I was married to Saralyn Reece Hardy, and I have three sons, all who live in Kansas City. I also have four grandkids that I’m very proud of. I served on the city commission from 2013 through 2016 and I served in the Kansas Senate from 2017 to 2020.
Why do I want to serve as city commissioner?
My first reason is: I listen to the people of Salina. While on the commission, the vacant Dillon’s building on iron was being considered for different uses. It was important to me that that building remain a grocery store. I went out and chatted with a couple business people and discovered that they had formed a group that would provide the seed money for a grocery store at that location. I brought that idea back to the commission, and the idea became reality. Now we have DG market that is available for people who live in that area.
The second reason I am running is that I want to do good things for the people of Salina. A gentleman from Hays came up to the podium during citizens forum and remarked that he drove through Salina and enjoyed the Fire engine red beer at blue sky brewery. On his way out the door he wanted to purchase some to take home with him, but the bartender said I’m sorry we can’t sell this to you because it is Sunday and we have no liquor sales on Sunday. When I heard that, I thought, why not? So, I made my case to my fellow commissioners and they agreed that we should indeed have liquor sales on Sunday.
Lastly, I want to make Salina a better place for everyone. When we were talking about the development that was happening on Santa Fe, I remarked, wouldn’t it be great if someone could sit out on the sidewalk in a dining area of a restaurant and have a glass of wine with their meal. I think we should do that. The city manager and city attorney resisted, saying that it was not possible to do in our city. So I did some research, and called the Lawrence city commission and got a copy of their sidewalk dining with alcohol ordinance, brought it back and told the city manager I think we can do this here. Now we have it.
Again, my name is Randall Hardy, and you can visit my website randallhardy.org if you would like to learn more about me and my campaign. Thank you for this opportunity to visit with you tonight. It is an honor to run for this position. If I am elected, I will consider my position as a partnership with the citizens of Salina; I will be open to ideas or suggestions from citizens as we decide the best path forward for Salina while I am in office. Since filing for office, I have attended every commission meeting so I can hit the ground running if I am elected. And believe me, I will stand up for you so that we never have to spend our tax dollars on an unnecessary lawsuit like Cozy Inn again. I am a former city commissioner who can do good things for Salina. I would appreciate your vote on November 4.
Thank you.