Lawsuit seeks to force Wyandotte County’s Unified Board of Commissioners to fill vacancy

A resident of Kansas City, Kan., has gone to court trying to force Wyandotte County’s Unified Board of Commissioners to fill the seat that has been vacant since Mark Holland became mayor last spring.

Carolyn A. Wyatt’s petition for a writ of mandamus, filed Tuesday in Wyandotte County District Court, alleges that she has suffered a lack of representation because the at-large District 1 commissioner’s position remains open.

The petition cites the Unified Government’s charter requiring the commission to fill a vacancy and states that its members “have failed, refused and neglected to carry out their clear and unambiguous official duties.”

Holland occupied the seat when he was elected mayor in April last year. The commissioners deadlocked 5-5 at a meeting in June and again in July and were unable to elect a replacement for the seat.

The seat is next up for election in April 2015.

Spokesman Edwin Birch said Wednesday that the Unified Government had no comment on the lawsuit.

Civil rights activist Alvin Sykes said he is serving as Wyatt’s victim advocate, and he arranged for an attorney to file the lawsuit for her.

In addition to a court order to fill the vacancy, the petition seeks unspecified damages for the plaintiff.

This story was originally published March 5, 2014 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Lawsuit seeks to force Wyandotte County’s Unified Board of Commissioners to fill vacancy."