Residents urge focus on neighborhood health equity and staffing at Northwest Community Center

During public comment, Robin Henderson, executive director of Eagle Nest and a board member of the Northwest Community Center and the Cali County Community Corrections Board, urged the commission to treat health-related needs as core city infrastructure and called attention to local health-equity data. "There are neighborhoods here in our city that are ranked as more disadvantaged than 99% of census tracts in all The United States," Henderson said, citing Kansas health and equity data and the county data-walk information.

Henderson asked commissioners to use data and lived experience to guide investments and said she provided each commissioner a copy of the book Leading Health by Ed O’Malley as a resource. Commissioners accepted the materials and thanked her.

Mickey Smith, who identified himself as a long-time resident and coroner, urged the commission to hire the right staff at the Northwest Community Center and to heed community concerns about racial incidents. Smith said he had seen swastikas and other signs of racial hostility in public spaces and questioned the racial composition of supervisory roles: "I only see white people in this community in supervisory position," he said. Smith said he has formed a 501(c)(3) and offered to raise money to support the center if the commission allows it.

There was no formal response or follow-up action recorded in the meeting minutes; commissioners acknowledged both speakers and the meeting moved on to adjournment.