MARC Board of Directors (June 23, 2026)

By Connye Griffin, Kansas City Documenter

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

Summary

• The board unanimously approved agenda Item 6: the appointment of new Executive Director Geraldine Ide Gardner, effective Oct. 1. She is currently executive director of the Centralina Regional Council in Charlotte, North Carolina. Gardner succeeds outgoing Executive Director David Warm, who announced his retirement in November. 
• Several board members praised the World Cup for bringing the world to Kansas City. Kansas City Councilmember Eric Bunch asked people to “get out and support your local businesses right now. So many of them are challenged a bit because we aren’t showing up to our normal local haunts.”
• In mid-July, MARC will move its office to 801 Pennsylvania Ave. in Kansas City, Missouri. MARC’s office has been at 600 Broadway Blvd. for 40 years. 

Notes

Meeting Attendance

• MARC Executive Director David Warm
• Lee’s Summit Mayor Beto Lopez
• Overland Park City Councilmember Holly Grummert
• Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson
• Kansas City Councilmember Johnathan Duncan
• Raytown Mayor Mike McDonough
• De Soto Mayor Rick Walker
• Clay County Auditor Victor Hurlbert
• Kansas City Councilmember Eric Bunch
• Independence City Councilmember Jackie Dorman
• Platte County Commissioner Allyson Berberich
• Olathe City Councilmember Jeff Creighton
• Johnson County Commissioner Julie Brewer
• Overland Park City Councilmember Logan Heley
• Raymore Mayor Kristofer Turnbow
• Shawnee Mayor Mickey Sandifer
• Johnson County Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick
• Smithville Mayor Damien Boley
• Christal Watson, mayor/CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas (via Zoom)
• UG Commissioner Jermaine Howard (via Zoom) 

Agenda

• Introduction and board sharing time
  • Updates from area officials included:
    • The opening of the initial phase of a police training range and a fire station in Platte County.
    • The opening of Clock Tower Landing in old Overland Park, which includes the refurbished farmers market.
    • The city of Raymore is in the midst of a public education campaign for a new criminal justice center.
    • Prairie Village was planning a public groundbreaking for its new City Hall. The city has demolished the building on the property next to the current municipal campus that is part of the project.
    • In De Soto, Merck Animal Health broke ground on an expansion of its facility in the city. The city was also cutting the ribbon on a project doubling its wastewater treatment capacity, related to the construction of the Panasonic electric battery plant on the former site of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant.  

• 2025 MARC Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and the Solid Waste Management District (SWMD) 2025 Financial Report
  • The board approved recommendations to accept and submit the reports to the Government Finance Officers Association.
  • Kaleb Lilly, a partner with accounting firm RubinBrown who signed off on the audits of MARC and the SWMD, thanked Warm for his service to MARC and said the organization “is in a good place financially and also from an operational perspective.” Warm praised MARC’s staff and systems for the organization’s “clean audit.” The audits cost an estimated $89,000, according to the board meeting’s packet.

• FY 2026-2027 Head Start program
  • Head Start Program Director Kasey Lawson updated the board on the program. Head Start supports eight local school districts and nine community-based agencies in Jackson, Clay and Platte counties. The program supports 2,331 children, according to the meeting’s packet. MARC oversees and supports 29 center-based locations and three home-based programs of Head Start. 

• U.S. Department of Energy’s Renew America’s Nonprofits Grant program
  • In October 2023, MARC was awarded a $4.7 million grant. Foundations fully funded the required matching amount of $1.5 million. The application process has resulted in the Department of Energy authorizing MARC to contract with 11 nonprofit organizations that own their buildings, with work to begin in 2027.
  • The board approved the contracts with the nonprofit organizations.

• 2026 MARC board officers.
  • The board unanimously elected Mikkelson as treasurer and Walker as secretary.

• Home Plus One Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) design competition
  • The board heard a report from the Communities for All Ages Program that said:
    • To spur interest in intergenerational living and educate others about buildable ADUs, MARC expected to initiate a competition with informational webinars scheduled for July and August.
    • One key objective is to generate buildable ADU plans that incorporate key universal design elements, such as flexibility in use and age-friendly features.
    • Cash prizes will be awarded to professionals and students who submit entries in September. Judging will occur in October with awards announced in November
    • Board members said building codes and a lack of financial incentives for ADUs may hinder their use. Hanzlick said that smaller, low- or no-maintenance dwellings are of greater interest to seniors who may not choose to live with their children.

• MARC office move
  • The board heard a report on the upcoming move of MARC offices.
    • Due to increasing costs, MARC will relocate after 40 years at 600 Broadway Boulevard to a smaller space at 801 Pennsylvania Ave. MARC will occupy the building’s first floor and part of the fourth floor.
    • The next regularly scheduled board meeting will occur in August at the new office. A shared parking garage will require tickets, which MARC can validate to provide free parking.
    • Due to less available space, MARC will not move rolling chairs, other furniture or work stations. It gave these items to governments free of charge. MARC was to have offered unclaimed items to nonprofit organizations in about two days from the June 23 board meeting.

• Selection of Gardner as executive director
  • Following the vote, the board welcomed Gardner via Zoom. She was on a previously planned trip to Europe. She told the board she was “humbled and honored” to have been hired for the position and has been a longtime admirer of MARC from afar.
    • To the directors and staff in the room, she said, “I can’t wait to meet you, to learn from you and learn about your work and collaborate with you as we get started on MARC’s next chapter.”

• Consent Agenda:
  • Key items approved by the board on the consent agenda included:
    • An application to the Civic Council for a grant to develop a rural companion to the KC Investment Playbook. 
    • Retroactive acceptance of an April grant of $75,000 from the Health Forward Foundation to support the work of the regional housing partnership.
    • A subaward agreement of $100,000 with KC2026 for planning and operational support related to regional safety, security and communications planning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
    • MARC Head Start FY 2026 cost of living adjustment for partner program staff salary increases.
    • A grant submission to the federal Administration for Children and Families for the continued support of the MARC Head Start program.
    • Contracts for program year 2026-2027 Head Start Preschool and Early Head Start support services.
    • A contract with High Street Consulting to develop a transportation resilience plan and decision-support tool. MARC is initiating Phase 2 of the Transportation Resiliency KC study to strengthen the region’s ability to withstand and recover from increasingly frequent and severe natural hazards.
    • The regional Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan performance measure target. The Federal Transit Administration requires metropolitan planning organizations to adopt regional targets for the performance measures included in  safety plans. These measures cover a wide range of safety-related metrics.
    • The Critical Urban Freight Corridors priority list for submission to the Kansas Department of Transportation to update the Kansas State Freight and Rail Plan.
    • Authorizing the executive director to execute a service contract with consulting firm Vireo to develop a streamside restoration best practices manual.

Observations & Follow-Up Questions

• How will the new executive director guide MARC’s work?
• What designs will be submitted for ADUs? How will cities and counties respond to the challenges of ADUs built on properties already developed?

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@thebeacon.media with “Correction Request” in the subject line. Learn more about Documenters on our website.