New City of Kansas City, MO Key Staff Announced
On January 31, Josh Henges was announced as the City’s first Homelessness Prevention Coordinator. According to the City’s official press release, he is “tasked with implementing community-wide strategies to expedite assistance to the houseless and those at-risk of becoming houseless and creating strategies to reduce homelessness and generational poverty.” Prior to this role, Henges served as the Chief Development Officer at the Shelterwood Academy and as the Director of the Veterans Community Project.
Dr. Marvia Jones was announced as the new Director of the City’s Health Department. She is the first Black woman to serve in this role. She brings an immense amount of experience both at the local and federal levels. She has been with the Health Department since 2019, where she has served as the Violence Prevention and Policy Manager. She has been in the field of Public Health for 15 years, focusing on violence prevention and health policy. She officially begins on February 14.
Jane Brown, who is currently serving as the General Counsel to the Mayor of Kansas City, has been named as the Director of the Housing Department. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, she served as a Federal Prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and was the first woman attorney to ever serve as Associate Circuit Judge in Clay County, MO. She is considered an expert on housing law and has worked closely with the mayor to draft ordinances.
Key Council and Commission Actions
- K-12 mask mandate extended for two more weeks for Kansas City, MO public schools. Vote was 10-2 with Ellington and Hall voting no.
Wednesday, February 9
Transportation, Infrastructure and Operations Committee: 9:00am
Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee: 1:30pm
Special Committee on Housing Policy: 4:00pm
Thursday, February 10
Full Council: 3:00pm
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