Ronda Smith

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Ronda Smith

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 20, 2023

Personal

Birthplace

Kansas City, MO

Religion

Non-denominational Christian

Profession

Real estate agent

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Ronda Smith ran for election for an at-large seat of the Kansas City City Council. She lost in the general election on June 20, 2023.

Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ronda Smith was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her career experience includes working as a real estate agent.

Elections

2023

See also: City elections in Kansas City, Missouri (2023)

General election

General election for Kansas City City Council At-large District 1

Incumbent Kevin O'Neill defeated Ronda Smith in the general election for Kansas City City Council At-large District 1 on June 20, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Kevin O'Neill (Nonpartisan)	71.7	29,183
		Ronda Smith (Nonpartisan)	28.3	11,503

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 40,686
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Kansas City City Council At-large District 1

Incumbent Kevin O'Neill and Ronda Smith defeated Pam Mason in the primary for Kansas City City Council At-large District 1 on April 4, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Kevin O'Neill (Nonpartisan)	64.3	27,316
✔		Ronda Smith (Nonpartisan)	20.3	8,615
	Submit photo	Pam Mason (Nonpartisan)	15.1	6,392
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	141

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4	Total votes: 42,464
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Smith in this election.

Campaign themes

2023

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released March 17, 2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ronda Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Smith's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a lifelong resident of Kansas City. I am a Real Estate Agent licensed in Missouri and Kansas for 18 years. I have been married to my husband a retired KCMO Police Officer for 39 years. We have 3 children, 2 daughters in law and 2 beautiful granddaughters. I am running because I am tired of business as usual at City Hall. I would like to make a difference by restoring the voice and trust of Kansas City residents in local government.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I want to build trust with the community and City Hall, that can only be established by listening to the taxpayers. Trust can only be built by people that have been proven to be trustworthy.
• I will work on & with two of the most yearly requested services by KC Residents. Public Safety & Infrastructure. Promote All Business (Entrepreneur, Big & Small Business)
• Accountability - I plan on making sure that all areas of the city are involved in the way we spend our tax dollars. Holding our elected officials to a high standard of doing business by having outside audits done and doing line by line budgeting and putting it on the city website.

Community Question Featured local question

Do you believe crime rates are changing? Where do you get your crime rate data from? Would you make any changes to existing public safety policy?

Yes, they are increasing because there is little support for Public Safety from this current administration. Removing laws does not create a reduction in crime it just removes statistics and allows crime to run rampant. Crime data is available through the KCPD website. I will push to fully staff our Public Safety, so they can properly cover our city, which would create better relationships with the community with a hope to build trust and safer neighborhoods.

Community Question Featured local question

How important is it to involve residents in the government’s decision-making process? What plans do you have regarding resident involvement in this process?

Residents' involvement in where their tax dollars are spent is of utmost importance to me and should be to all public servants. This is a full-time position to me. I will put in as many hours needed in a day to achieve

what is needed for that day even if I have to work into the evening. The citizens will be my
priority and my door will always be open. I will also attempt to make as many community &

neighborhood meetings. I will create monthly meetings with my district and attend other council districts meetings.

Community Question Featured local question

How should record requests from the public be handled? Do you have any policies around transparency and accountability you want to enact?

Everything at City Hall should be transparent and accessible to the whole city. The city website should be looked at for easier accessibility to finding certain things. It seems some things are hidden and hard to find. Not everything needs to be a sunshine request. By allowing this information on the website it will lessen the amount of work that is put on the City Clerk's office.

Community Question Featured local question

How would you address crime and public safety? Do you have a different stance than current city council policy?

Crime is on the minds of all of Kansas City and because of the rise in crime throughout the city the residents suffer by not having enough manpower to take care of city needs. We need to fully fund all Public Safety departments. Stop taking laws off the books and hold the criminals accountable for their actions. Work with state officials in getting legislation to force local prosecutors to do their jobs (prosecute crime) Build a jail. Encourage driving beat areas to build relations with the community. Look over all areas of expenditures and make the necessary cuts to ensure the funds are there to have classes and get good quality candidates that love their city and want to keep it safe. Crime is a problem; however, we are spending taxpayer dollars on other non-priority issues. We need to focus on the citizens' requests instead of projects that have not been proven, which would open finances. Outside audits and line by line budgeting needs to be done and publicized.

Community Question Featured local question

What do you think about the city's environmental health? Would you make any changes to current policy?

We have to clean up our city. We have illegal dumping in many neighborhoods. This is a commonsense thing if the city is dirty then disease and sickness will thrive and is a health concern to all Kansas City residents. Cleaning up our city should be an easy fix, but for some reason it is not a priority with the current administration. I would recommend monthly cleanups in each district until we see an impact. Then it can be reduced to quarterly cleanups and continue to decrease from there.

Community Question Featured local question

What plans do you have regarding infrastructure?

Our infrastructure is crumbling throughout the city. We need to start by prioritizing what basic city services are needed in each district and get our Public Safety issues taken care of along with our roads, sidewalks and sewers before we spend money on any pet projects. Once the basics are covered, we can look at other wants a particular district would like to have in their area.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Creating public policy that will be a collaborative effort with Public Safety to reduce crime, enhance response times, creating safer communities and a cleaner city. This policy would include community involvement, hiring more personnel and looking at current procedures.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

First and foremost, God is who I look to for the kind of person I should strive to be, but my earthly hero is my husband. He is always kind and loving and is there to help serve anyone that needs it. He is a retired KCPD officer who served our city for over 26 years, and I know his heart is compassionate and he is a true example of the kind of person I strive to be like.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Communication, Honesty, Integrity and Accountability

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have facilitated meetings from one on one to group settings. My work experience has
involved leadership, problem solving, resolutions, communications (listening, writing & speaking) & Integrity.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To be a good steward of the taxpayers' dollars, listening to what the communities want their money spent on. Finding ways to accomplish these requests while maintaining a balanced budget and public service. Implement policies that would make our city a place where people would want to live, visit and allow businesses to thrive.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to help get our city to a place where we raise our children, grandchildren and own a small business if that is our desire and be able to thrive in the community and be united with those around in a common goal of supporting each other not being divided. I would like to be known as a uniter not a divider!

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

You are my Sunshine because I am a grandmother now and my husband and I love to sing it to our two beautiful granddaughters.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Being a Public Servant means just that. Serving the Public and when it becomes about the person and their politics it's time to end their career. What makes a great Public Servant is one that is willing to problem solve, communicate, listen, not be afraid to ask the hard questions, and hold others and themselves to a high standard of integrity.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

KC Citizens For Public Safety

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.

See also

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Candidate

Kansas City City Council At-large District 1

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