Outgoing Mission Mayor Laura McConwell exploring a run for Johnson County Board of Commissioners

We got a tip from a well-placed Johnson County source today that Mission Mayor Laura McConwell has spent the last couple of days calling around, telling people she plans to run for a seat on the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.

McConwell says she hasn’t quite committed to running for the commission.

“I’m exploring the race,” McConwell told us around lunchtime from her Mission law office before jumping on another phone call.

McConwell hasn’t filed yet, but if she does, she would seek the soon-to-be-vacant seat currently held by Ed Peterson. Peterson, a longtime Fairway mayor before representing northeast Johnson County on the commission, is challenging incumbent chairman Ed Eilert.

Prairie Village Mayor Ron Shaffer has already filed for Peterson’s seat. A McConwell-Shaffer race would make for an intriguing campaign. Both are established names in north Johnson County and longtime mayors of their respective cities. Both have also taken their fair share of arrows for controversial development projects in their cities.

Shaffer has consistently voted in favor of the Mission Chateau senior-living community, a massive project proposed near a bunch of high-priced houses. McConwell has supported the terminally delayed Mission Gateway project.

Johnson County commissioners make $54,395 a year.