Wednesday, Aug. 10 2011 8:44AM
Changing of the guard
Board begins executive director search, new officers elected
By Miranda Wycoff, wycoff@lsjournal.com
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ReprintThere’s a lot of change going on in downtown Lee’s Summit this month.
As of July 29, Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street Executive Director Jeanine Rann’s resignation took effect. The resignation was announced earlier this summer and Rann has taken a position as the Community Development Coordinator for the Missouri Main Street Connection.
But the position won’t be vacant for long, the DLSMS Selection Committee held its first meeting Aug. 3 to begin the process of selecting the next Executive Director. And in the meantime, Assistant Director Sarah Shore will fill the interim role.
Selection Committee Chair Brian Whitley said the selection committee is still determining the exact qualifications they are looking for.
“This is a critical post to fill and we want to have it well orchestrated and all our ducks in a row,” he said. The committee intends to post the position opening during September, conduct interviews in October and name the Executive Director by late November.
Additionally, Steve Tominia, who has served DLSMS Board of Directors as president for seven years, decided not to seek another term.
In his place, the Board elected Ryan Smarr as president.
“I’m real excited to take over after Steve,” Smarr said. “I’ve got some tough shoes to fill.”
Tominia said downtown Main Street organizations typically elect a president for two or three years.
“We were going through a lot of construction downtown and I was asked to stay on longer than was typical to see the process through,” he said. Tominia also said he needs to be more involved in his business at Cameron’s Home Furnishings.
Journal publisher John Beaudoin was elected vice president, Christine Bushyhead was elected secretary and Paul Schwartz was elected treasurer.
Smarr said that although the faces of the officers have changed, the objectives of the board haven’t. “We’re going to try to keep the ball rolling with the plans we’ve made over the past several years and the implementation of the recent study from Kennedy Smith,” Smarr said.
Additionally, he said he plans on “getting back to the investors,” by developing more relationships with the downtown stakeholders and business owners.
“We’re excited about how vibrant and busy our downtown is and we’re going to work hard to keep it that way,” Smarr said.
