Centurions October Task Force: Leadership and Governance - Security, Civility, and Diversity
October 8, 2019
Co-Chairs: Sylvya Stevenson & Steven Levy
Committee Members: Brooke Hillis & Drew Elliott
Summary:
One of the largest challenges (and opportunities) we face in our current political climate is identifying ourselves as a community of one people. All levels of government are responsible for balancing and embracing a wide range of core values. How do you keep every citizen safe and open to civility regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, age, socioeconomic background, gender, sexual orientation or origin?
We must be secure - protecting our citizens within our borders and beyond; in times of peace and in times of war. We must be civil - working together for the greater good of ourselves and our neighbors, despite our political ideologies or party affiliation. We are all diverse – a collective people made up of individuals who all have different backgrounds and identifying features.
In Today’s Government Task Force, you will attend training opportunities, hear from and engage with leaders from City, County, State and Federal levels of government that cross political ideologies and geographical boundaries. Government leaders will candidly discuss how they lead and govern in light of current issues, and we ask everyone to think through the complex social organism that is our governing system. We look forward to engaging with all of you about all levels of government function, issues, and current events.
Session 1: Becoming the Mayor
Mayor Quinton Lucas shared his personal story and journey, growing up in Kansas City to become the 55th mayor of Kansas City, MO this past August 2019. We heard Mayor Lucas’ takeaways, pitfalls and advice from the campaign trail and his time as a prominent leader in our community. Mayor, Lucas also touched on his priorities of making Kansas City’s neighborhoods safer, creating more accessible and affordable housing and public transportation, and fostering a healthier community and improving basic services.
Session 2: Show Me the Money
We heard from Tammy Queen, Director of Finance for the City of Kansas City, MO on how our tax dollars are collected, managed and allocated. Ms. Queen talked us through some of the highlights, both positive and negative, from her nearly 25 years of experience with the City in various financial positions. She touched on the importance of maintaining a non-partisan department to solely function on serving citizens.
Session 3: Counting on the County
Jackson County Executive, Frank White II, took time with the group to explain some of the responsibilities that fall under the county’s jurisdiction versus the city’s or the state’s. One major point he wanted to get across was that many citizens are unfamiliar with what services and government departments are run by the city and which are run by the county. White spoke on the touchy subject of the Jackson County tax assessment issues currently plaguing eastern Kansas City residence. White also spoke to his thoughts on how individuals can best lead local governments to bet help their citizens and provide the services a government should provide.
Session 4 Activity A: Active Shooter Training
Active shooter situations have become more common, in public places and at work premises. In the U.S., to secure the safety of children, K-12 students are required to complete active shooter training and drills in public schools. Centurions participated in a training session conducted by Inspector David Yadon of the Department of Homeland Security, assisted by Certified OSHA instructor and Assistant Corporate Safety Manager of KC, MO, David Marshall. Together the two presented a variety of active shooter scenarios and lines of thinking to educate the Centurions group on best actions to take.
Session 4 Activity B: Civility in Politics
Local politicians, reg Razer, Congressional Representative from district 25 in the state of Missouri, and Stehpanie Meyer, President and Mayor candidate in Shawnee, Kansas, lead round-table discussions with groups of centurions on the topic of maintaining civility and how to engage in civil discourse with those with varying viewpoints of our own. These conversations are highly topical in our current state of political affairs and partisan politics at the federal level. The two speakers easily related to the Centurions participants by sharing their personal stories of how they came to enter local politics and continue to navigate their pathways.
Session 5: The State of Education
Dr. DeAngela Burns-Wallace was recently appointed by Governor Laura Kelly as the Secretary of Administration for the state of Kansas. Before her appointment she was the Vice-Provost of undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas and has held a plethora of leadership roles within education and public policy throughout her career to date. An excellent and riveting speaker, Dr. Burns-Wallace shared her story from youth to current day, speaking on some of her positive and negative experiences to get to her position. She has a passion for guiding young professionals and youths to be their best selves and strive to continually improve.
Session 6: Here Come the Feds
In the final session of the day, the Centurions group heard from federal social security officials, LaMont Eanes and the Honorable Debra Bice. The group received a very candid account of the inner workings of the social security administration and the political/partisan transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration. Both speakers touched on the need for civility in politics warning that the federal government will be unable to properly serve citizens in some capacities without bi-partisan consensus.