Councilmember Debbie Kring was first appointed to the Mission City Council by former Mayor Sylvester Powell in 1999. During her tenure on the Council she has served as Council President as well as Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee, the Parks & Recreation Committee, the Ordinance Committee, the Public Works Committee, the Environmental Tobacco Smoke Committee, and the Sustainability Task Force. Debbie also serves on various Committees of the National League of Cities. She is a member of the First Tier Suburbs Committee, and serves on the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Steering Committee. Debbie also is the past chair of the City Futures Panel for Community and Regional Development.

Debbie attended high school at Shawnee Mission South, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management, with a minor in Science, from Baker University. She worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for over 30 years, retiring from there in January 2015. She and her husband Lynn have lived in Mission Ward 3 for over 35 years. They have five children and ten grandchildren.

In October 2009, Councilmember Kring, along with fellow Ward III Councilmember Connie Footlick, was awarded the Neighborhood Service Award presented by the Morrison Ridge Area Neighborhood Organization. Councilmember Kring is a graduate of the Leadership Northeast community development program in Johnson County, as well as the multicultural Leadership Program sponsored by the Urban League of Kansas City, Missouri. She has participated in the Johnson County Citizens Academy.  Her community volunteer activities include Girls to Women, the Mission Community Food Pantry, the Women’s Employment Network, The Mission Adopted Family program, the Franklin Center, and St. Pius X youth groups and Finance Council.