Documenters in Focus reports: Some boards are state-mandated, “essential to core government functions” or arose due to a legal settlement. Others may not be “operationally necessary.” But there is disagreement with at least one of the report’s suggestions for mergers.
The City of Wichita operates 39 boards. There is a proposal coming from the City Manager’s office to reduce or consolidate several of them.
The plan was presented on Feb. 24 during the City Council Workshop by Zamaria Ball, the city’s Management Fellow. For the last six months, Ball has been studying the boards and developed a five-part justification matrix to decide whether a board should be consolidated, remain in place, or disbanded. The criteria included inactivity, vacancy duration, scope drift, overlapping missions, and access and transparency.
Some, such as the Library Board, the various District Advisory Boards, or Access Advisory Board are state-mandated, “essential to core government functions,” or arose due to a legal settlement. Others, such as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board or Sustainability Integration Board, arose due to public interest or upon the city’s receipt of a federal grant. These are not necessarily “operationally necessary” according to the Wichita Board and Commissions Review Draft Report and subject to evaluation.
The city manager’s office preliminary report recommends that the city disband the Stormwater Advisory Board and Sustainability Integration Board. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board and Transit Advisory Board are recommended to become one new “Connected Community Advisory Board.”
The city’s various housing boards are also encouraged to be consolidated, specifically the Community Services Block Grant Board and Grants Review Committee. The Grants Review Committee, according to the City of Wichita website, seems to have had their last meeting in 2024.
One rationale for consolidation or disbandment was that some boards have outlived their usefulness. The Storm Water Advisory Board was founded to provide input on stormwater management policies. Now that the city has “fully implemented” the board’s suggestions, staff recommend disbandment.
Another rationale focused on economics. These boards cost money to operate and “there is a lot of administrative work that goes into managing these boards,” Wichita City Manager Dennis Marstall told city council during the workshop. Staff members compile minutes, the agenda, and oversee the meeting itself.
The City of Lawrence, Kansas, saved money during a similar restructuring. In 2023, Lawrence’s City Manager, Craig Owens, stated that the city was spending around $500,000 to operate around 45 boards. In 2024, city commissioners voted to eliminate nine discretionary boards. According to Assistant Manager Brandon McGuire, this saved the city $100,000 dollars. “The savings does not translate to a direct budget reduction,” he added in an email. Rather, “it’s staff time that is freed up to focus on priority work, such as our city’s strategic plan.”
Efficiency was also cited as a reason behind consolidation, and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Board and Transit Advisory Board were proposed to merge into the Connected Community Advisory Board. Doing so would make it easier to coordinate transit, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure projects, argued Ball.
However, Becky Tuttle and Maggie Ballard were less enthusiastic about this part of the plan. Tuttle questioned what inefficiencies currently existed between the Transit and Bicycle boards and asked for clarification on the process by which city staff came to recommend this consolidation. Board members were not consulted about the idea. Staff members Stephanie Knebel and Stephanie Friess, who staff the Bicycle and Transit volunteer boards, were alluded to have given their support of the merger, though.
“I was very disappointed to hear they tried to lump our board together with transit,” said Tia Raamot, member of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, in an interview.”I think it’s vital that there’s a bike-ped advisory board. It’s a voice for advocates that want to see some change.”
For members like Raamot, the city’s volunteer boards are very important. “We give city engineers great feedback” regarding capital street projects, she said. Specifically, she praised the “good work” that the board did with Douglas, advocating for bike lanes and against the plan’s proposed installation of angled parking, which members felt was dangerous to cyclists.
A final report will be complete in early April. At that point, all the data pertaining to the matrix will be available and full recommendations will be made.
This is part of a series of stories focusing on items of interest emerging from notes being taken by Wichita Documenters, a program that trains and pays residents to take notes at government meetings. In just over a year, Wichita Documenters has dispatched nearly 50 documenters to cover more than 350 meetings, building a better record to keep the public informed. Wichita Documenters is funded through grants from the Wichita Foundation and the Trust for Civic Life as well as contributions from local donors.
This article was republished here with the permission of: KLC Journal