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CORRECTION: The MARC Board meeting date was incorrect in our first email. It is Dec. 21, not Dec. 28 as previously stated.

december 2021

REGIONAL NEWS

Ary named city administrator of Peculiar — Peculiar’s Board of Aldermen appointed Mickey Ary to be the city’s next city administrator. Ary previously served as city administrator of Odessa, Missouri, as well as part-time city administrator of Arcola, Texas.

Teufel and Gilmore recognized as Top 100 Influencers — Shelby Teufel, city administrator for Pleasant Hill, Missouri, and Kimiko Gilmore, assistant city manager for Kansas City, Missouri, were recognized as 2021 Top 100 Influencers in Local Government by ELGL. Individuals are nominated by peers and are selected for their influence in their community, as well as outside their community through professional associations, mentoring and writing.

Overland Park creates mental health advisory committee — Overland Park, Kansas, approved the creation of a mental health advisory committee. The advisory committee will meet quarterly to review city policies and practices and will advise the city on issues of mental health within the community, identify and increase mental health awareness and prevention, develop mental health initiatives, and support existing mental health initiatives. The committee will include five members who represent a diversity of interests that pertain to community mental health issues.

KCMO earns perfect LGBTQ equality score — Kansas City, Missouri, has earned a perfect score for LGBTQ equality on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI). The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies and services are of LGBTQ people who live and work there. The MEI rates cities based on 49 factors related to non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services and law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ equality. The MEI evaluated 506 cities in 2021.

Johnson County approves transit pilot programs — Johnson County, Kansas, approved several pilot programs designed to address public transportation. The programs will include a streamlined commuter express service, fixed route improvements, a new complimentary paratransit service supporting vulnerable populations and an expansion of their micro transit program. The pilots will start in the second quarter of 2022.

Unified Government receives inaugural Meadowlark Award — The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City Kansas’ Central Area Master Plan received the Kansas Chapter of the American Planning Association’s inaugural Meadowlark Award for Outstanding Public Outreach efforts. The award recognized the project’s quick pivot to alternative — mostly digital — outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its bilingual efforts that included a full translation of the final planning document into Spanish.

Merriam Community Center wins merit award — The Merriam Kansas Community Center received a 2021 Merit Award from the Design-Build Institute of America Mid-America Region. Awards recognize excellence in design-build practices. Projects are rigorously evaluated based on their design build process, their excellence in design and teaming performance, and their ability to demonstrate advanced and innovative applications of total integrated project delivery. The new Johnson County, Kansas, courthouse also received a Design-Build Project of the Year award.

 

MARC NEWS

MARC Board of Directors — The next Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) Board of Directors meeting will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 21, from noon to 1:30 p.m. The agenda will be online one week before the meeting. If you missed the last board meeting, read the key highlights.

CPM Program applications are open — The Heartland Certified Public Managers (CPM) program is accepting applications for the next round of cohorts. CPM is a nationally accredited management program that aims to strengthen management skills and understand current management practices. Classes meet two days each month from January through November. For more information and to apply, click here.

MARC announces new housing program manager — The Mid-America Regional Council has named Katie Killen as the new housing program manager. Killen will work with regional partners to support the Regional Housing Partnership to improve the system for delivering and sustaining affordable, quality housing regionwide. She previously served as an attorney for the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom, as well as Legal Aid of Western Missouri. Before that, she served as the assistant city manager of Shawnee, Kansas.

Managers Roundtable — Please save the following dates and times for 2022 Managers Roundtables. Stay tuned for additional information regarding locations and program topics.

  • Thursday, March 24 from 11–1 p.m.
  • Wednesday, August 10 from 4– 5:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Oct. 4 from 4– 5:30 p.m.

Beginning in January 2022, MARC will conduct stakeholder engagement with local government chief administrative officials and assistants to determine the ideal purpose, structure and programming for the Managers Roundtable moving forward. Stakeholder engagement will be conducted through individual, informal meetings and through focus groups. If you are interested in participating, please contact Jacob Worth or Lauren Palmer.

Nationwide Cybersecurity Review — Registration for the 2021 Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR) self-assessment is open. Cities and counties of all sizes in the MARC region are encouraged to take advantage of this free, anonymous tool to help governments better understand and measure gaps in their cybersecurity programs. It should be noted that all subrecipients of the FY21 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) must complete the 2021 NCSR to be eligible for funding.
If you’re new to the NCSR or need a refresher, watch an informational webinar that reviews the new NCSR platform, its maturity scale and resources available after completing the assessment here. Register for the NCSR here. For questions, contact Jacob Worth.

Kansas City Regional Purchasing Cooperative (KCRPC) news — KCRPC is soliciting interest in developing a regional contract for shared micro-mobility operations (e-scooters, bikes), on-call legal services and testing services for fire hose, ladders and pump testing. Other services for consideration include building safety (intrusion/breach detection, fire detection/suppression, vehicle barrier control, and security gate control with monitoring services.) Contact tracing for covid response was extended to 3/31/22 with two firms, Agile and 22nd Century. Contact KCRPC with interest or more information.

First Suburbs Coalition – The next First Suburbs Coalition meeting will take place on Jan. 21 from 8–10 a.m. at the Roeland Park Community Center. Phyllis Hardwick, executive director of the Community Capital Fund, will share information on the Small Business Economic Recovery Program in Overland Park, Kansas, and Independence, Missouri. MARC staff will also provide updates on the Regional Housing Partnership and Housing Data Hub, information on the CFAA Remodeling for Accessible Homes Universal Design Handbook and Video, and will recognize Community for All Ages Award winners. Networking with a continental breakfast starts at 8 a.m. and the program starts at 8:30 p.m. Please register here.

 

STATE & NATIONAL NEWS

Regional effort works to improve broadband — The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission works to coordinate broadband-related projects/applications for funding and become a regional clearinghouse for broadband policy development. Read more at governing.

Dealing with staffing shortages in the public sector — Public officials discuss strategies for dealing with workforce shortages. Read more at route-fifty.

Build Back Better Act analysis — The National Association of Counties provides a legislative analysis of the Build Back Better Act. Read more at NACo.

MAPC releases net zero playbook — The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) launched a municipal net zero playbook to help communities efficiently and equitably reach net-zero emission goals. Read more at American City and County.

 

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Click HERE to view a list of open grant opportunities.

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