Sam Matier is one of three candidates running in Ward 4 of the Merriam City Council. The primary is Aug. 6 and will narrow the field down to two for the Nov. 8 election. Mail-in voting begins July 17. His opponents are incumbent Councilmember Bob Pape and Staci Chivetta.
Matier, 77, has been attending Merriam’s city council meetings for four years and said he sees “fraud, waste and corruption” in the city. He said taxpayer money is not paying for essential needs like street maintenance and police and fire protection. Instead, according to Matier, the city council budgeted $565,000 over a five-year period, or an average of $113,000 per year, for five art sculptures.
If Matier is elected to the city council, he said first on his list is to attract at least one supermarket in Merriam. Currently he said there are zero dollars budgeted to find a grocery store for Merriam’s 11,000 residents.
“It is currently not even a priority for the mayor and council,” he said. “The mayor declares there is nothing the city can do. As a former commercial retail estate broker I know the marketing steps that need to be taken to get that grocery store once the city makes it a priority.”
Matier also wants to attract new businesses such as restaurants, shopping and services, but said downtown Merriam will not blossom until it is removed from the Turkey Creek flood plain and businesses are willing to make an investment in the area.
As an elected member of the Merriam Drainage District Board, Matier has urged the Corps of Engineers to begin the project needed by downtown Merriam.
Ever since Matier began attending city council meetings, he has published a short newsletter called “What’s Happening in Merriam City Hall.” It comes out before every city council meeting so residents will know which decisions are pending. Sign up for the newsletter at eepurl.com/dmIcIP.
Matier said he will use the distribution of his newsletter to find out what residents want. His primary reason for wanting to be on the city council is to change the culture of local government, making it friendlier to resident wishes.
“The fix is simple. Vote according to what the majority of residents want instead of what a council member thinks is best for the city or what the paid city staff recommends,” Matier said. “Local government has unnecessarily frustrated residents with bad decisions on the new pool size, art sculptures, home occupation permits, not accepting petitions with 900 signatures, use of eminent domain, trash can storage and many others.”
Now semi-retired, Matier said he has an industrial engineering degree and MBA and has the analysis tools to understand city issues before voting on them. As a professional he worked in budget management for major corporations such as Sprint, TWA and Airtran Airlines. He said his responsibilities at the airlines included making policy decisions on $100 million in annual maintenance expenditures, compared to the city of Merriam, which spends about $50 million per year.
Matier is not currently affiliated with any congregation, but has been a member of Congregation Kol Ami and Temple Sinai. He is the volunteer webmaster for the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City’s website.
Visit Matier’s campaign website at sammatier.com. He can be reached at or 913-262-5579.