Mayor’s slate of appointments wins council approval; several citizen vacancies remain

On April 8 the Independence City Council approved a series of mayoral appointments to citizen advisory boards and commissions, confirming candidates for the budget committee, planning commission, historic preservation commission, heritage museum board, parks commission and traffic safety commission. The mayor said she sought diversity of experience when making the recommendations.

Appointments approved included Jessica Porter, Bradley (last name variously transcribed) and Dana Sharpin to the budget committee (three-seat slate); Patrick (last name transcribed variably) to the planning commission; and a slate of applicants to the Historic Preservation Commission, Heritage Museum Board, Parks Commission and Traffic Safety Commission. Council also appointed Jonathan Williams to the Traffic Safety Commission; one or more seats on some boards remain open.

Councilors discussed applicant backgrounds during the approval process. Several councilors praised applicants’ community involvement; one councilor noted previous complaints filed by an applicant against a councilor but said that alone would not disqualify a candidate. The city manager and senior staff said they will follow up with applicants who were not appointed to offer other volunteer opportunities and to fill remaining vacancies.

The council approved the appointments by roll call during the meeting. Staff said they will notify appointees, publish the updated commission rosters and follow up on open positions.