Category: Unified Government Commission

Several items are on the agendas for Unified Government committee meetings tonight.

The meetings will begin at 5 p.m. Monday, May 23.

The agenda for the Public Works and Safety Committee meeting includes:

• Amendments reflecting changes necessary to comply with a Kansas House bill on the UG’s Safe and Welcoming Act.

• Approval for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department to apply for and accept a Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center grant award of $700,000.

• Approval for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department to apply for and accept funding through the COPS Hiring Program to fund 12 patrol officer positions for three years. If the UG does not receive a match waiver, the total cost to the UG would be $173,355 per position over the three-year period, or $2.08 million for the 12 patrol officer positions, according to the agenda.

• An overview of the fishing supplies budget.

• A discussion about the sidewalk and curb replacement incentive program.

• An update on stormwater credits and appeals.

• An appearance by Martin Cunningham requesting discontinuance of herbicide spraying at Rosedale Park.

On the agenda for the Administration and Human Services Committee meeting:

• An amendment to an ordinance allowing telecommunications towers in residential zones if they are integrated into stadium and athletic field light towers.

• An ordinance prohibiting conversion therapy of minors. The ordinance had been previously considered at a UG Commission meeting Jan. 24 and was sent back for more discussion.

• A draft policy for remote work by UG staff to be included in the Human Resources Guide.

• An overview presentation of the draft 2022-2026 consolidated plan and 2022 analysis of impediments to fair housing choice, from Community Development.

• A departmental update on Municipal Court.

Two items were removed from the PWS Committee meeting, according to the agenda.

Those items were a survey for property to be condemned for a sanitary sewer pump station north of Central Avenue on North 4th Street, and an ordinance about property to be condemned for the Armourdale Pump Station rehabilitation project. They were removed from the agenda.

The meetings will begin at 5 p.m. in the fifth floor conference room, Suite 512, at City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

The meetings will be on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82239677018?pwd=Sy8je5647nvf32oArAFGrlqiEjPHYw.1.

The passcode is 892930.

To access the meeting by telephone, toll-free, call 877-853-5257 or 888-475-4499.

The webinar ID is 822 3967 7018.

The meetings also are expected to be on UGTV cable TV and on YouTube.

For more information on the meeting, visit https://www.wycokck.org/Engage-With-Us/Calendar-of-Events/Standing-Committee-Meeting-PWS-and-AH.

Mayor Tyrone Garner said the county’s interim administrator will not seek a permanent position. He made his remarks at the Thursday night Unified Government Commission meeting.

Garner also said she would recommend starting a national search for a permanent administrator expeditiously.

The mayor said he would be working with the interim administrator and legal team to help in the process of searching for a permanent administrator.

He said he hoped to have a thorough, inclusive and transparent process.

He said he also would work with the commission to gets its feedback as they send out a national notice for the administrator. Working with the community on it also will be important, he said.

Later in the meeting, interim administrator Cheryl Harrison-Lee told the commission she was working on three audit projects. The first is a general audit of the entire UG; the other two are human relations and the finance department, she said.

She said she will start to present results of the audits next month. The results of the general audit of the UG will be presented first, she said.

She also outlined some of the accomplishments in the first four months.

Harrison-Lee said she looked forward to assist the mayor as he searches for a permanent administrator, and she would work with the governing body, citizens and staff.

During a public comment time after Mayor Garner’s announcement, several community residents said they hoped Cheryl Harrison-Lee, the interim administrator, would stay.

Carolyn Wyatt, a resident, said she hoped Harrison-Lee would change her mind.

Reginald Jones, a resident, said the UG commissioners were not visible enough in the community.

Reese Towers, a resident, said she was praying that Harrison-Lee would stay.

“The attacks against Ms. Cheryl Harrison-Lee, against our mayor, and against our staff is sad,” she said, adding it was “set up.”

Tscher “Cece” Manck, a resident, said it was important for Harrison-Lee to stay and complete the audit she has started of UG departments.

Lisa Yeager, a business owner who has property in Kansas City, Missouri, said she was almost in tears that Harrison-Lee is leaving.

Thomas Gordon, a resident, said he was concerned about the way Commissioner Andrew Davis was responding at a recent UG Commission meeting. “We are watching your behavior,” he said.

Melvin Williams, a resident, said if he wanted to watch something like the mayor and commission, he could stay home and watch two kids fight over a remote control.

“Let this woman do her job,” Williams said about Harrison-Lee.

Commissioner Gayle Townsend pointed out, in response to one of the comments, that she had put in seven hours at a UG committee meeting Monday night, and the week before that she attended three neighborhood meetings in the community.

“You have no idea what it takes,” Commissioner Townsend said.

Commissioner Chuck Stites said that he hoped the audit would not end, and also that Harrison-Lee will still have the opportunity to apply for the permanent UG administrator position.