OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KSNT) – Communities across Kansas are working together to determine how local government should best be operated.

The annual League of Kansas Municipalities Conference was held in Overland Park. City leaders from around the state have been there since Friday.

“We learn things, it doesn’t matter if it’s Cimarron or Overland Park,” said Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach. “We learn things from them and they learn things from us, and then we also build friendships. Relationships are the number one important thing I think in doing business across the state of Kansas.”

Mayors, city managers, city attorneys, and council members from all across the state came to the conference. 

“We all have the same challenges, whether it’s economic development, housing, workforce development,” said League of Kansas Municipalities President Daron Hall.

One of the attendees was Becky Anderson, the mayor of Lindsborg, in central Kansas.

She said issues in her city include running out of land to build on in city limits and the need for better access the interstate. The conference served as a way to talk with others about solutions.

“One of the other best things I think about them is sitting around, like having breakfast with a bunch of other mayors, you learn so much, what’s going on in those communities, and you take those things back and it’s great,” Anderson said.

The conference had workshops with topics ranging from addressing abandoned buildings, to new housing, to getting each community’s economy growing.

“Connecting with the folks on the ground who are in local communities, who are ultimately the ones that are going to do the work to bring these businesses into these communities and will be the first beneficiaries of new economic development in the state,” said Commerce Secretary David Toland.