After commissioners voted, here’s who will lead the Sedgwick County Commission in 2023

District 1 Republican Pete Meitzner will serve as chair of the Sedgwick County Commission for 2023.

Meitzner, who previously chaired the board in 2020 and 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was nominated by outgoing Chair David Dennis and approved unanimously by his colleagues.

“I believe we have the team in place for the future. And all we need for that team is a leader,” Dennis said in his nomination. “I believe that Pete Meitzner is the leader that we need for the future.”

Meitzner and Jim Howell won re-election in November, and Mattress Hub founder Ryan Baty defeated Democratic incumbent Lacey Cruse to give Republicans a four-member majority on the five-person county governing body, which sets policy direction and approves a budget for vital services such as EMS, 911, Comcare, corrections and the sheriff’s office.

“I want to say thanks in appreciation publicly to the staff and the leadership of all departments and the employees,” Meitzner said after being selected. “They’ve battled through these last few years, those couple years of COVID, and then there’s been a lot of straightening out of compensation this last year. Thanks to you, we’ve done a lot of heavy lifting.”

By a 3-2 vote, commissioners selected Howell to serve as chair pro tem, meaning he will run the board’s weekly meetings if Meitzner is unable to attend. Howell, Meitzner and Baty voted for Howell while Sarah Lopez and Dennis voted for Lopez, who was chair pro tem under Dennis in 2022.

“If we value diversity and inclusion, she is the epitome of diversity and inclusion,” Dennis said of Lopez, who is the only woman, the only non-white member and the only Democrat on the commission.

Howell, the longest-serving member of the board, noted that the pro tem role is not usually held by the same commissioner in back-to-back years.

“I think everybody deserves a right to be in leadership once in a while,” Howell said.

At the end of the meeting, Dennis lauded his fellow commissioners for their civility during the exchange of leadership roles.

“We’ve seen difficult transitions of power at the federal government, ever since January 6,” Dennis said.

“What you saw here today is how the transition of power should happen. It’s a very smooth transition from one leader to the next . . . I’m very pleased that local government can model the way that it ought to be done at every level.”