Karen Hiller
Non-Partisan | Kansas
Candidate Profile
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Karen Hiller
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2025
Election
General School Boards and Municipal
Race
Topeka City Council 1
Incumbent
Yes
Links
EDUCATION
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, B.S. Distributed Studies in Housing, 1974
WORK & MILITARY
Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc., Executive Director (25 years), 34
AFFILIATIONS
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Councilwoman, City of Topeka District 1, 16
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
ENDORSEMENTS
OTHER (1)
Greater Topeka Chamber PAC
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (4)
Democratic National Committee (2025)
Sharice Davids (2023)
State Democratic Party Organizations (2022)
Laura Kelly (2021)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (0)
SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life deserves legal protection from conception until natural death.
Agree
Equally, women must be protected to make their own choices for themselves and their families. Not a local government issue.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Choose not to answer
Not a local issue....at least not here.
ECONOMY
I support using taxpayer funds to lobby the state legislature and/or U.S. Congress.
Neutral
In local government, it is very helpful to have staff assist with state and federal contacts.
It is the responsibility of city government to provide subsidized housing at taxpayer expense.
Strongly Disagree
Not City government, for sure. And I'm a housing person! Housing is a community issue, so it is important to support the private sector in developing and supporting. It has been incredibly helpful in the US to have both federal and state support, directly and through various tax credit programs, for very low income tenants and to help with rehab of older homes in older neighborhoods
Property taxes should be abolished.
Disagree
Not abolished, but held in balance. In Topeka, we have a balance of property tax and sales tax, some local-option taxes and some grants that give us some flexibility and our residents choices.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Government should not discriminate against individuals, organizations, or business owners who affirm marriage as between one man and one woman.
Agree
Agree. Equally, government and individuals, organizations and business owners should not discriminate against those who feel differently.
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
Agree
Agree.....as long as what you mean is that everyone's choices should be respected and protected.
IMMIGRATION
City officials should have the right to proclaim their city a sanctuary city for illegal aliens.
Agree
I am very uncomfortable with your term about our immigrants. We are a nation built on immigrants. I'm not saying I want my city to declare itself, but cities should have that right.
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I was raised in the Christian religion, am not an active churchgoer, but am very comfortable with my faith and values. People who know me, I think, would tell you that I live those values of respect and caring for everyone every day, and have lived both a professional and personal life of service. A key part of my belief system is to value and respect the beliefs of others, whether I do or don't understand them or agree....in fact, be eager to understand.
Children have the right to be protected from sexually explicit materials in publicly funded libraries, including school libraries.
Agree
Agree. That said, I believe it is up to those libraries, not any of us from the outside, to handle the selection and management of their collections.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Neutral
Some sort of ID makes sense.
All filings by candidates for municipal office, including ballot application and campaign finance reports, should be available for public online access on the city website within 24 hours of filing deadline.
Neutral
That's pretty fast... That said, I think our election office does that.
Ballot measures which include bond issues should fully disclose both the potential tax rate increase and actual monetary increase for the average single family residence.
Agree
Agreed. People often overlook that...and it matters.
EQUALITY
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Disagree
Have to disagree. For one thing, we are learning more about gender-related DNA biology every day. And, everyone's circumstances are different. How we accommodate different circumstances can be different as well.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) instruction should be required for all city employees.
Strongly Agree
Some people have made "DEI" a negative term, which I can't agree with. When I say I strongly agree, it is because all of us have a lot to learn about others who are not like us, in things like faith and appearance, as well as in how we think and choose to relate to others. Workplace training (as well as community-based opportunities) so that we discover more about ourselves and each other is invaluable in any and all communities.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Taxpayers should subsidize green initiatives such as electric vehicle charging stations.
Neutral
Neutral at this point. States are trying to figure out how to collect something akin to the motor fuels tax from electric vehicles, and innovators are working on making the batteries last longer. This hasn't yet emerged as a local goverment issue here.
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
No
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
No
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
I'll speak of local, though what I say applies to all. To work with residents to make where they live a safe and attractive place to live, work and play - a place they are proud of, and that supports them and all of those around them.
Candidates and officeholders should be required to disclose all business investments and real estate, whether in the city or in an area currently proposed for annexation.
Neutral
Hmm.. I'm not sure how much you are really asking for in the question. We aren't doing much annexation now, no cities in Kansas are. We do have conflict of interest laws that we adhere to, so people would be asked to declare already. As far as disclosing investments and real estate, Kansas has a required set of disclosure forms that are pretty complete as far as what types of investments a candidate/office holder has. Those seem to satisfy disclosure requests without being overwhelming.
Please list your business investments and/or real estate, whether within the city or in an area currently proposed for annexation.
I own my own older home, and two next to it, in my older center-city neighborhood. That's it!
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to immigration and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Moderate
Moderate being an average? I am very conservative budget-wise, am a stickler (and good contributor) on policy, and at the same time consider all City issues - from streets to public safety to economic development to neighborhoods - critically important. No matter the issue or constituency, I will look at what we are trying to achieve, whether we are succeeding and whether the approach is cost-effective. I will not support anything for political reasons only or just to do something.
I voted in these primaries and general elections:
Did not answer
If you check, I think you'll find I vote in every single election where there is something I can vote for on the ballot. I think maybe I've missed one in the last 20 years...
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
I support redirecting funds from police departments to community programs.
Disagree
I do not support redirecting. That said, we need both police and community programs, and they need to work together. The community needs to help (and does help) support the community programs. And, our police departments should be as meaningfully and efficiently run as our other departments.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
I support responsible gun ownership. I do not support open carry.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Neutral
I note you ask about recreational, not medicinal. Things have really changed in how marijuana is seen in recent years. I am from a generation where recreational marijuana was pretty common (not with me, but common!), and really not a problem. I have not been in the middle of many deep-dive conversations about this issue recently. Many police departments no longer look at recreational marijuana as a problem, and do not prosecute now.
LOCAL
I support annual financial audits of every city department by an independent, third party auditor.
Agree
We have that now.
Please list up to three issues or projects that you think need the most attention.
Hard to limit. I am working on at least 8 major issues now. To keep it to 3, I'd say Neighborhoods (which includes infrastructure, code compliance, redevelopment, affordable housing and neighborhood heritage and character), Infrastructure overall (maintaining our streets and utilities and all that is related to them as well as major projects such as our interstate highway reconstruction that is going on in my district right now), and Economic Development (which includes everything from police and fire and emergency management to attracting and growing large and small businesses to revitalizing our downtown and gateways to our arts and entertainment and featured destinations to nurturing our youth and young adults and families to our community communications and to our support network for all of our people). When you are a local elected official, to do it well, you can't really just pick out a few things. They are all right there.
