Geary County board expresses no confidence in EDC director, freezes most Chamber payments and orders master-agreement review

At a Geary County board meeting, a board member moved that the board has no confidence in the county EDC director and president of operations, Mickey Dean, saying she "failed to effectively and responsibly lead" the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce and affiliated operations. Another board member seconded the motion and the board carried it.

Following that vote, a board member moved that Geary County "cease disbursement of all monies not yet distributed to the Chamber except for payroll, contractual agreements, and utilities." The motion also required that all requests for operating funds be submitted bi-weekly to the County Finance Office and that other requests be presented to the respective governing bodies. The motion was seconded, debated, and approved.

A separate motion directed county counsel to deliver written notice under the master agreement to renegotiate, restructure, or terminate the current master agreement governing the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce prior to the July 1 deadline; that motion was likewise seconded and approved after board members said community members were dissatisfied with the current arrangement and called for greater city and county oversight.

During discussion supporting the suspension of funds, a board member said the MAC budget was "$18,000 in the hole" and expressed concern that not all expenditures were transparent across the Chamber's budgets. The board said it expects the County Finance Office to review operating requests on a bi-weekly schedule and that payroll, contractual obligations and utilities would continue to be paid while other disbursements are paused.

The agenda also included routine business: the board approved minutes from the prior meeting (with a note that a member, Trish, participated by phone while on medical leave) and accepted the budget as presented. The board confirmed upcoming budget presentations for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and discussed scheduling the next regular meeting on the 15th, settling on an adjusted start time for convenience.

The actions leave the county's relationship with the Chamber in flux: the board has publicly registered formal no-confidence in the EDC director, stopped most outgoing payments to the Chamber (with narrowly defined exceptions), and ordered legal steps to revisit the governing master agreement before July 1. The board adjourned after setting the next meeting and the public budget presentation schedule.