Flora draws on Judaic teaching of tikkun olam for public service, run for Mission mayor
Sollie Flora draws on her legal training to work through complicated issues as a city council member in Mission, Kansas.
But as a Jew, her inspiration for public service also comes from the spirit of tikkun olam.
“There is an influence of Judaism in the work that I’m doing,” she said, “that social justice tradition that I feel very strongly about and making sure that we really are welcoming and inclusive of everyone that wants to be part of our community.”
And now, Flora is hoping to apply those ideals as the mayor of Mission, as a candidate in the Nov. 2 election.
Flora is a Ward 4 member of the city council, elected in November 2017. Her mayoral opponent is Arcie Rothrock, who represents Ward 2 on the council.
Flora said her motivation to run for the Mission council, her first elected office, came from the “overwhelming and pretty discouraging” national and state political climate at the time and her belief that she could help her community.
She is the council’s only lawyer, and along with working through issues, Flora uses her professional skills to communicate with stakeholders and resolve disputes.
She is running for mayor “to cement our city’s forward progress,” she said. She thinks the city’s government is on the right path but needs “strong leadership.”
Her priorities, if elected as mayor, would include executing the council’s parks and master plans; catching up on deferred maintenance of streets; increasing connections between city government, residents and businesses; and pushing efforts for environmental sustainability and equity — all aimed at making Mission the “very best place to live and work.”
As a Mission councilmember, Flora updates her constituents on social media and holds quarterly ward meetings to field their questions and concerns. She is considering expanding that by holding themed, citywide town hall meetings if elected as mayor.
“I am dedicated to transparency and community participation,” she said on her mayoral candidacy website. “I work hard to ensure that my neighbors and Mission residents understand my positions, and am always willing to explain the ‘why’ behind my votes.”
Heather Ousley knows why Flora has “a strong shot” at becoming Mission’s mayor. Ousley is the Shawnee Mission School District’s board president. Like Flora, she is Jewish and a lawyer. They met when Flora ran for Mission’s council.
“She’s a genuinely good person,” Ousley said. “I think she’s one of the hardest-working people I know.”
Flora recognizes that some problems have policy solutions, Ousley said. For example, soon after joining the Mission City Council, Flora helped develop an LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance and helped other cities’ councils do the same.
“She recognized that there was a potential problem in that our LGBTQ friends and family could be at risk because there were no specific ordinances that recognized them as a protected class,” Ousley said. “So, she set out to correct that and was successful.”
Hillary Thomas, who represents Ward 1 on Mission’s council, met Flora when they were both running for the council and they became friends. They learned they had gone to the same high school a few years apart and had grown up near each other.
Asked what made Flora tick, Thomas said it was “when things move too slow.”
“She very much has an entrepreneurial spirit,” Thomas said. “She’s always ready to move things forward as quickly as we can. … She’s going to be a fantastic mayor.”
Flora lived in Chicago for three years and returned to this area in 2015, when she bought a house in Mission. She likes living there because of its people, the Johnson Drive corridor with its independent businesses and walkability, the city’s old neighborhoods with mature trees and its central location, she said.
“I think it’s a lot of those intangibles that make a difference,” she said. “The people when you’re out and about. We have an ethos of looking out for one another in Mission.”
Flora is 35. She is an in-house lawyer for Corbion, a Dutch company with U.S. headquarters in Lenexa.
She was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Overland Park, where her parents, David and Elaine Flora, still live. She became a bat mitzvah at Congregation Beth Torah. She doesn’t currently belong to a congregation.
She graduated from Blue Valley Northwest High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Grinnell College and a law degree from the University of Michigan.
