Prairie Village committee to host ‘Diversity 101’ town hall

Prairie Village diversity town hall will discuss the formation of the diversity committee, which happened after the killing of George Floyd and subsequent local protests above. — A Prairie Village diversity town hall will discuss the diversity committee's work and priorities. The committee formed after the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent Prairie Village protests pictured above. File photo.

Prairie Village’s diversity committee will host a town hall this Saturday aimed at explaining the committee’s ongoing work and priorities.

City councilmember Cole Robinson, who chairs the committee, bills this latest event — the committee’s third public town hall in the past few years — as a “Diversity 101” session for curious residents.

Robinson told the Post the 90-minute event is intended to lay out the committee’s mission and what it and its members hope to accomplish as the city continues to tackle diversity issues in the wake of racial justice protests in 2020 that ultimately served as a catalyst for the committee’s formation.

The event is taking place this Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m. at the Meadowbrook Park Clubhouse, 9101 Nall Ave.

This is the diversity committee’s third town hall

This is the first event, however, devoted to trying to explain what the diversity committee is and what it does to residents.
The committee is made up of 11 members, including two city councilmembers, a police department representative and eight resident volunteers.
Robinson said public events like this one can help the committee achieve its goal of attracting and retaining diverse residents.
“It’s kind of like a ‘Diversity 101,’” Robinson said. “This is the diversity committee, the panelists are members of the committee and they just want to talk about — through their own lens — why they’re on the committee and the work they want to do through the committee.”

Prairie Village will host a diversity town hall with panelists from its diversity committee, like its previous town halls such as the early childhood education one pictured above. — One of the previous town halls covered early childhood education. Above, panelists from that town hall. File photo

Topics could range from city’s history to committee’s mission

Robinson said Saturday’s town hall will take a look at Prairie Village’s history as a suburb founded nearly a century ago, in part, with the help of racially exclusionary deed restrictions to the modern day impacts of Black Lives Matter protests.
Robinson said the town hall will showcase the diversity committee’s work and is intended to be a conversation with the public.
The 39-year-old Prairie Village native said when canvassing during his city council campaign in 2021, diversity came up nearly as much as hot topics like property taxes and teardown-rebuilds.
“The number three issue consistently was diversity: how can we make Prairie Village more diverse? How can we make Prairie Village more reflective of the Kansas City metro region or just society at-large?” Robinson said.

Residents can attend and participate in the town hall

Robinson said the 90-minute event’s agenda includes up to 30 minutes set aside for residents’ questions at the end.
Councilmember Courtney McFadden, the committee’s co-chair, will be taking attendee questions during the event.
Robinson suggests folks interested in attending should come with an open mind and be curious about the work of the committee.

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