bobby_knight_600x600

On Air

Bobby Knight

Mon - Fri 03:00 PM to 08:00 PM

County advisory board replaced with “collaboration board”

County advisory board replaced with “collaboration board”

County advisory board replaced with “collaboration board”

sedgwick-county-logo-2-2

Sedgwick County Commissioners have approved a change that disbands a citizen advisory board and replaces it with a “district collaboration board” for one of the commission districts.

5th District Commissioner Jim Howell asked for the change.   He said the citizen advisory boards are doing the best they can and he has appreciated the conversation with his board, but in a sense the boards have functioned as another level of government.   He said they have spent hours talking about property rights cases, and he raised a concern with the demands made on county staff members with meetings sometimes going as late as 11 p.m.     Howell said citizens have rarely attended the 5th District advisory board meetings, and collaboration has been missing from the process.

Howell is creating an 18-member collaboration board, and he will appoint three members from his district.  The other members will be appointed by the cities of Wichita, Derby and Mulvane, the Wichita, Derby, Mulvane and Rose Hill school districts, the Gypsum, Riverside, Rockford and Minneha townships, and the Oaklawn, Sunview and Sunswept Highlands improvement districts.   Each member will serve two-year terms, and five lunchtime meetings are planned this year.

Howell said he wants less government and more citizen engagement, and the collaboration board will be less expensive and more transparent.  He said there will still be a lot of opportunities for citizen engagement and he is always open to discussing issues with citizens.  He said he is planning three citizen town hall meetings this year.

 

 

Recommended Posts

Loading...