UG Commissioners take oath of office at City Hall
by Mary Rupert
With the oath of office tonight, the Unified Government 1st District, at large seat finally was filled.
Melissa Bynum was sworn in as the new commissioner in the seat that had gone vacant for two years. Judge Kathleen Lynch administered the oath of office.
“When I asked you for the privilege of serving you in this way, and you granted that to me, it is an honor and a commitment. I intend to work very hard every day to make you the proud, proud Wyandotte County residents that you already are,” said Bynum, who also is the executive director of Shepherd’s Center. “I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity, and I’m excited to get to work.”
Another new face on the UG Commission will be Harold L. Johnson Jr., 4th District.
“The importance of giving oneself for the benefit of the whole has been ingrained in my mindset,” said Johnson, who is the pastor at the Faith Deliverance Family Worship Center. He was sworn in by Judge Timothy Dupree.
“This is the opportunity I have felt drawn to, to be part of serving the community I love, that I have been a part of all my life, and that I have chosen to stay and be a part of,” he said.
He said he was glad to hear about the developments happening in the 3rd District and out west, and wants to see similar things happening in the 4th District.
“I believe that the 4th District is ready for a renaissance,” Johnson said.
Also sworn in were incumbent commissioners, running unopposed, who won another term, Ann Brandau- Murguia, Brian McKiernan and Angela Markley.
McKiernan said, “There is no shortage of potholes and detours on the road to our dreams.”
“But our past does not define us,” said McKiernan, who was sworn in by UG Clerk Bridgette Cobbins. “Our present does not limit the heights to which we can achieve in the next four years. We have the tools, we have the people, we simply need to find in ourselves the strength, the patience, and the perseverance to make our dreams a reality.”
He said he had a dream to make this city and county the one everyone aspires to become.
Murguia was sworn in by Judge Carlos Murguia. In her speech, she thanked her constituents and family.
She mentioned the achievements in the 3rd District for the past two terms, including infrastructure improvements, a new grocery store, a new Walmart neighborhood market, the Startup Village and expansion at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
“Some might say this is a time to kick back. I disagree. I think it’s a time to kick in,” Murguia said. “We want to continue moving the progress forward, and the way to do that is exactly how we have been doing that.”
She said all the work that has been done in the 3rd District is primarily due to the residents in the 3rd District.
Markley mentioned several accomplishments, and mentioned that she attended more than 1,000 community meetings and events. Among the activities of the past term were new sidewalks and lights for Turner, improving the budget process, working on strategic planning and data-driven strategies, graffiti ordinances, neighborhood drainage issues, community garden in Turner, and new strategies on abandoned housing, and several other items.
In four more years, she said the original STAR bonds would be paid off, the U.S. Soccer Training facility will be open, and everyone will know what futsal is. She pictured new housing in the Highland Crest area, new facilities, sidewalks and streets for Oak Grove School, more sidewalks in the Turner area, and Sporting KC will have won a few more championships.
She pledged to work at least as hard in the next four years. She thanked friends, family, staff, coworkers, neighborhood leaders and the community for their support.
Register of Deeds Nancy Burns also took the oath of office, administered by Judge Robert P. Burns. She had run unopposed.
“My goal is customer service,” she said. She added she believes in treating people as they would like to be treated.
Bynum won election April 7, with 5,437 votes to Mark Gilstrap’s 4,151. There were 805 write-in votes. Nathan Barnes had run a write-in campaign.
The UG Commission had been unable to fill the 1st District, at large seat for two years, as it could not reach the required six votes on any of the candidates proposed for the appointment. Bynum had been one of the persons who submitted her name for the appointment, and was one of the names the mayor had proposed to fill the seat, but the deadlock stayed in place.
Alvin Sykes, a human rights activist who attended the swearing-in ceremony, and who had been in favor of a lawsuit to try to get the UG Commission to fill the vacant 1st District at large seat, remarked that it took about two years to fill it, but it was finally done.
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