KCK mayor, administrator silent on report questioning county admin’s commitment to job
During a five-hour Wyandotte County commission meeting Thursday, interim county administrator Cheryl Harrison-Lee spoke just once when she deferred a sales tax question to the mayor.
The meeting was the first since The Star reported several commissioners were concerned about Harrison-Lee’s time commitment to her job with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas. The newly-appointed administrator has also been working for the city of Kansas City, Missouri, through her consulting company.
Before the full commission met, Mayor Tyrone Garner declined to answer questions about Harrison-Lee.
“I don’t have anything to say,” the mayor said.
After the meeting, Harrison-Lee did not respond to questions from The Star.
During Thursday’s meeting, Commissioner Andrew Davis, District 8, asked Harrison-Lee to engage with him on a proposed half-cent sales tax. Several commissioners have voiced opposition to having the measure up for a vote this year.
“Can you just respond — who have you talked to who’s here that said, ‘Yes, I would be in favor of?’” Davis asked.
Harrison-Lee did not answer Davis’ question, passing it off to Garner.
Last week, The Star published a story in which four Unified Government commissioners raised concerns about Harrison-Lee’s time commitment to her full-time job as interim county administrator after it was revealed her consulting firm, Harrison-Lee Development and Consulting, has been under contract with Kansas City, Missouri, for several years and is seeking a new multi-year contract with the city.
A fifth commissioner, Christian Ramirez, District 3, later said on Twitter that he believes it’s a conflict of interest for Harrison-Lee to work for both cities.
“In both positions she is overseeing economic development projects when both cities, and states, have agreed to stop the economic border war,” Ramirez wrote.
Commissioners are likely to continue pushing for a nationwide search for a permanent county administrator in the coming weeks. During a special session meeting last month, Commissioner Angela Markley, District 6, asked Garner to start the process.
Garner declined to launch a search.
“I haven’t crossed that bridge yet and I’m not prepared to,” Garner responded.
Harrison-Lee’s contract with the Unified Government says she can still work as a consultant on the side so long as it does not interfere with her job as county administrator.
Several commissioners have heard complaints from staff within the Unified Government that Harrison-Lee is hard to reach and is at times unavailable.
“Commissioners began to receive feedback from our team members that Ms. Harrison-Lee was not available for them to receive guidance from her to do their job,” Markley previously said.
Harrison-Lee’s contract with the Unified Government allows for her to accept consulting or other business opportunities, “with the understanding that such arrangement must not be incompatible or interfere with or conflict with the duties and responsibilities,” of her job, her contract says.
Harrison-Lee’s consulting firm has been under contract with Kansas City, Missouri for several years. It helps administer the Central City Economic Development tax. That’s a special sales tax that raises funds to boost development on Kansas City’s East Side, where neighborhoods were redlined by banks and neglected by political leaders for decades.
While she has been consulting with the CCED for several years, her firm is now up for a contract worth more than $3 million to take over day-to-day administration of the program.
Harrison-Lee’s tenure as administrator is scheduled to run through April 1, 2023. Before or at the end of her term, the commissioners can vote to make her the permanent administrator. Garner has indicated a desire for Harrison-Lee to fill the position in a permanent capacity.
Harrison-Lee’s base salary is $249,995.20, according to her contract. She also receives a $1,600 a month car stipend – a $24,000 benefit over the life of her contract.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 9:29 AM.
