This fire had caught high winds and rode waves of desiccated plant material up from Oklahoma. It consumed nearly 663,000 acres, killed unknown numbers of livestock, destroyed 40 homes and claimed one life. Kay was tasked with helping rally community resources, and Stockgrowers State Bank contributed significantly to the efforts. Kay stated in an interview with Ingram’s 50 Kansans You Should Know in 2018, “We were tasked with an enormous challenge of survival, and then the massive effort and responsibility of recovery. Those who call Ashland home rose to a new level of excellence.” His key advice to anyone wanting to run for public office is to have no personal agenda but to just care to better the community in which they serve. “You need to learn how to work with people to make things happen,” Kay said. “Government is hard; even if you are at the city of Ashland level, you are still the government. People pay their tax dollars and want things to be run responsibly.” The experience of running the business of the bank did pay dividends in helping lead the city and to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. It wasn’t always easy, but Kay and the city administration always worked together to find a solution despite differences when making decisions. “In many ways, we’re all trying to do the same thing, and that is growing our community and bettering our community,” Kay said. “When you work with people and sometimes you just flat don’t care who gets credit, it’s amazing what can get done.” One example would be the electric, water and sewer infrastructures that cost thousands of dollars to maintain. Kay said you don’t want to just maintain, you want to improve as well, but the city can’t afford to replace whole systems. But doing things to upgrade every year helps in improving the overall structure and can make things better for the future and for the next generation. One of Kay’s challenges as mayor was being too accessible. But he said he was fortunate enough to work for community bankers that not just care about their community but want to see their community succeed, and so they gave him the opportunity to serve their local community. It was a full-time commitment, and there were always interruptions during the day, seeing as the bank was just right across the street from city hall. Another challenge was just always trying to be fair. Kay said that you can’t please everyone dealing in government, so you want to come up with the best solution. In 2016, the city wanted to build a new hospital. The hospital board came to the city administration and wanted to establish a public building commission so they could issue bonds for it. The revenues from the hospital would then go to pay for the bonds. It all sounded fine, but certain people didn’t want it to move forward. After many meetings, the decision to build was finally put to a vote by the public. This wasn’t easy, but the vote passed 70-30, and the city of Ashland is grateful to have a new hospital in their community. Besides being mayor, Kay has had the opportunity to serve in other capacities as well. He served on the Bankers’ Bank of Kansas board from 2010-2016, the KBA Board from 2009-2012, and was in the third KBA Bank Leaders of Kansas (BLOK) class in 2008. He currently serves on the Board for Ashland 2020, Inc., Ashland’s 501C Fitness Center, United Methodist Health Ministry Fund Board of Directors, and is a member of the KBA Federal Affairs Committee. Kay enjoys spending time with his family. He and his wife Karrie have four children: Sloan (and sonin-law Kole), Reece, Braton and Kinley and one granddaughter Kora. A 30,000-Foot View Mark Kennedy Assistant Vice President & Trust Officer Citizens State Bank & Trust Co., Ellsworth Mark Kennedy is the Assistant Vice President & Trust Officer at Citizens State Bank & Trust Co. in Ellsworth. After graduating from the University of Kansas with degrees in sports management and marketing, he was offered a job back in his hometown of Ellsworth with the bank as a Trust Officer in Training in 2012. Kennedy was approached shortly after he moved back to Ellsworth in October 2012 by the then-mayor because there was a vacancy on the city council. He was appointed by the mayor in October of that year to fill the vacancy for the rest of the term. Kennedy was re-elected Kendal Kay (right), President at Stockgrowers State Bank in Ashland, talking with Senator Pat Roberts (left) at the Command Center after the Starbuck fire in 2017. Mark Kennedy (left) with his wife Emily (right) and daughter Patton (middle). 16
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