A change in membership structure for the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas could be coming by the end of this week, depending on how the current membership feels about a newly proposed makeup.
As KVOE News has reported in recent weeks, the RDA has been considering a structure change that would increase the board from seven to 11 voting members including three for both the city and county, one for the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and one for Emporia Enterprises while adding Emporia State University, Flint Hills Technical College and Emporia Main Street, which would replace the RDA’s at-large seat, as voting members. During a members’ meeting Wednesday morning, Lisa Kirmer, Chair of the Chamber Board and Executive Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs at FHTC, stated the Chamber was more comfortable with a nine-member structure.
Following conversations, members appeared to come to a consensus that the makeup would include two voting members for the city and county as well as single votes for the Chamber, Enterprises, ESU, FHTC and Main Street. The current membership will now take those recommendations to their respective boards for further discussion ahead of another members’ meeting at 7 am Friday inside the Trusler Business Center.
The members’ meeting came just a few hours ahead of the Emporia City Commission’s regular meeting,s which included discussions on the proposed change, which did not find favor with Commissioner Susan Brinkman. Brinkman stated the proposal made “no sense,” given the city’s letter to the RDA in December was seeking more oversight on the board which they provide 100 percent of funding for.
Additionally, Brinkman says the only reasoning she heard for the proposed change from 11 to 9 members was that “11 would be too many,” however, she did not feel there was ever a reasonable explanation as to why.
Commissioner Jamie Sauder stated he is more in favor of the original 11-member structure, however, he says he is more in favor of “progress” for the RDA, which the new proposal would provide.
No action has been taken on the proposed changes, as mentioned that could come Friday morning; however, once the structure matter is put to rest, the RDA will be able to resume its search for a new President, a process that’s been on hold for several months now. RDA Board Chair Jeff Williams tells KVOE News he hopes the urgency in finding a new president will serve as a motivator for finalizing a new structure soon.
Originally, the proposed additions of ESU and FHTC specifically named the president of both institutions, which brought about concerns of term limits, as RDA board members only serve a three-year term, which can be extended another three years for a total of six. With this in mind, members proposed altering the wording in the proposal to not identify each entity’s representative by a specific title but simply as “representative.”
Also, RDA Board Chair Jeff Williams says that while the proposed changes would increase the number of voting members to nine, there would be 10 members at the table for at least three years, as at-large appointee Justin Mallon would have to finish out his three-year term. If approved, the proposed changes would have no effect on the number of ex-officio — non-voting — members as that would remain at seven.
KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media will continue to update the situation as it unfolds.
