Commission dissolves District 5 Citizens Advisory Board and creates District Collaboration Board
Summary
After public comment and debate, the board voted to dissolve the District 5 Citizens Advisory Board and establish a larger District Collaboration Board of up to 18 stakeholders representing local cities, school districts and townships; the change passed by unanimous vote.
Sedgwick County commissioners voted unanimously on Jan. 22 to dissolve the District 5 Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) and to establish a new District Collaboration Board for Commission District 5.
Commissioner Jim Howell presented the pair of resolutions and said the new board will include up to 18 members: the district commissioner (as chair), up to three residents nominated by the commissioner, and one designee each from local taxing jurisdictions and political subdivisions in the district (cities, school districts, townships and certain improvement districts). The Collaboration Board will focus on cross‑jurisdictional coordination and will not hear zoning and conditional‑use cases, Howell said.
Faith Martin, a District 5 resident who addressed the commission during public comment, urged the board not to dissolve the existing CAB, saying citizen advisory boards increase participation and trust when residents are trained, informed and able to report back to the commission. Another resident, Jason Morawski, said public turnout had been low and supported replacing the CAB with a different model.
Howell said the District 5 CAB had been intentionally diverse but that the new District Collaboration Board would create a regular, lunchtime forum for collaboration between the county and overlapping local governments. He said the collaboration meetings would be recorded, would produce minutes and would prioritize engagement opportunities including town halls and other public events.
The commission adopted both resolutions by roll call (Bluebaugh Aye; Wise Aye; Howell Aye; Meitzner Aye; Chairman Beatty Aye). Howell said he will bring a separate item to a future meeting to name members recommended by the affected jurisdictions; his office plans to submit nominees and to hold the board’s initial meetings this year.
The two resolutions were presented together at the request of county counsel, and commissioners noted the change can be reversed by later action by the board if the new structure does not meet expectations.
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