Two regional officials take leadership roles at national level

Betty Knight is sworn in as NARC President

At the recent national conference in Orlando of the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), Betty Knight, presiding commissioner of Platte County and a member of MARC’s Board of Directors, was elected to the position of President. Knight has served on the NARC Board since 2001. She will serve until June 2008.

Also at the meeting Ron Shaffer, mayor of Prairie Village, Kansas, was elected to a term as the Region XI representing Iowa, Kansas and Missouri on the NARC Board of Directors. Shaffer was elected in 2006 to replace Knight, who previously held the seat, when he was serving as Chair of the Mid-America Regional Council Board of Directors. NARC Board members must be elected officials. Shaffer remains a member of the MARC board.

NARC Board Members are elected for two-year terms. Their role is to provide policy guidance to the organization while representing the members of NARC from the geographic area from which they come.

“All of us on the MARC Board feel extremely proud of our colleagues who are serving in this national capacity,” said Gary Mallory, presiding commissioner of Cass County and current chair of MARC’s Board of Directors. “We value their work here at the regional level and we are certain their contributions to NARC are equally valuable.”

NARC is a nonprofit membership organization and public interest group whose mission is to build regional communities through regional collaboration. For over 40 years, NARC has represented the interests of its members through effective interaction and advocacy with Congress, federal officials and other related agencies. Its membership is comprised of local metropolitan planning organizations. NARC’s member organizations are composed of multiple local government units that work together to serve American communities — large and small, urban and rural. The Mid-American Regional Council (MARC), which serves as the council of governments and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the Kansas City metropolitan area, is a member of NARC.

Return to News Archives
Return to MARC Home Page