Three new members to join Topeka City Council

Three new members will be sworn in Monday evening to the Topeka City Council.

Earlier that day, the Shawnee County Commission will elect a chairman and vice-chairman.

The commission will meet at 9 a.m. in its chambers in Room B-11 of the County Courthouse, 200 S.E. 7th, while the council will meet at 6 p.m. in its chambers at 214 S.E. 8th.

Council members generally meet on Tuesdays, but city ordinance calls for each January meeting in which new members are sworn in to take place on a Monday.

A swearing in ceremony will be held Monday for new council members Christina Valdivia-Alcala, Hannah Naeger and Spencer Duncan, who were all elected in November, and returning member Tony Emerson, who was re-elected in November.

Naeger is a dentist, Valdivia-Alcala is a retired VA employee and Duncan is president of a lobbying and investigative firm. Emerson owns a company that carries out street and underground utility projects.

The council and Mayor Michelle De La Isla also plan Monday to hear public input — but not take action — regarding the strategic plan being crafted to establish their goals and priorities. They plan to discuss those during a retreat set to take place Jan. 18.

City manager Brent Trout encouraged the public during the Jan. 7 council meeting to sign up to share input at Monday's meeting by calling city clerk Brenda Younger's office at 785-368-3940 or going to that office in City Hall at 215 S.E. 7th.

County Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays plan Monday to elect a new chairman to preside over their meetings and set the agendas for the coming year, as well as a vice-chairman to carry out those duties in the chairman’s absence.

Riphahn is the current chairman while Cook is vice-chairman.

Commissioners also plan to:

• Elect a commissioner to serve this year as chairman of the board of directors of the Joint Economic Development Organization.

• Designate an official county newspaper, in which the county will publish its public notices. The Topeka Metro News currently holds that distinction.

• Appoint members of their own body to serve on various boards and commissions.

• Consider extending Ransom Ellis' term as Shawnee County district coroner for four years, until Jan. 12, 2024, and entering into contracts with Ellis and Forensic Medical Holdings of Kansas, LLC, to provide services to the county at a cost of $567,800 in 2020, then increase that amount by 2.5 percent in each successive year until Ellis' term ends.

Commissioners appointed Ellis as coroner in October 2018 to fill the four-year term — which expires Monday — that had initially been assumed by Charles Glenn, who resigned to take a job in New Zealand.