MARC Board of Directors elects new officers

The MARC Board of Directors has elected new leadership.

Carson Ross, mayor of Blue Springs, Missouri, was elected chair at the Jan. 24 Board meeting. He replaces Harold Johnson Jr., commissioner for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, who served as chair for the past two years.

Mayor Ross joined the MARC Board in 2015. He was elected secretary in 2018 and first vice chair in 2021. Mayor Ross is also active on the MARC Total Transportation Policy Committee and has served as the Missouri co-chair since 2015. A Blue Springs resident for more than 49 years, he was elected mayor in 2008. Prior to that, he served a total of 14 years in the Missouri House of Representatives. Mayor Ross also supports his community and the region through roles on numerous boards, commissions and community initiatives.

“I am honored to serve as the chair of the MARC Board of Directors,” said Mayor Ross. “In our region, we have a tradition of working across jurisdictional boundaries on issues of importance. The MARC Board provides an important opportunity to coordinate and partner with elected officials from across the Kansas City metropolitan area. I look forward to continuing to serve the region and its residents through this role.”

Other officers elected at the meeting include:

• First Vice Chair — Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick, Johnson County, Kansas
• Second Vice Chair — Mayor Pro Tem Beto Lopez, Lee’s Summit, Missouri
• Treasurer — Mayor Damien Boley, Smithville, Missouri
• Secretary — Councilmember Holly Grummert, Overland Park, Kansas

About the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)

The Mid-America Regional Council serves as the nonprofit association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region. Governed by a board of 33 local elected officials, MARC provides a forum for the nine counties and 119 cities in the region to work together to advance social, economic and environmental progress throughout the region.