In early 2020, Kearney Mayor Randy Pogue notified City Staff and the Board of Aldermen that he was in discussion with the local Department of Justice office to establish a City-SPIRIT group for the City of Kearney. The Kearney School District started a school version of this program December 2019. Many of the issues the students discussed are issues that the Mayor feels must face as a community. He said that the issues identified are simply not issues in the schools.

On June 11th, via a Facebook Post, Mayor Pogue stated, “I’m excited to announce that I have selected the leadership committee for the first ever City of Kearney City-SPIRIT! Our first meeting is scheduled later this month and I look forward to working with these individuals.”

City-SPIRIT is a program that brings together leaders from local government, law enforcement, faith communities, civil rights groups, community-based organizations, youth groups, and others to identify and address critical issues impacting communities. The program is facilitated by the United States Department of Justice Community Relations Service and local volunteers and helps communities develop and implement concrete solutions to address local specific problems.

Mayor Pogue feels that this program will provide a unique opportunity to empower Kearney by allowing the group to collaboratively identify and address conflicts in our community. He indicated they will work to:
*Increase understanding and communication between leaders to resolve conflicts.
*Provide the opportunity to include voices of key community stakeholders.
*Support other community engagement and collaborative problem-solving efforts.
*Work with the Kearney School District SPIRIT group.

The Mayor also announced the SPIRIT Leadership Committee:

Bo Shelby - Committee Lead
Jim Eldridge
Harry Patel
Eduardo Garcia
Jeff Morrison
Ashraf Shaheen
Adam Mustoe
Terri Shuler Gulliott - Botts
Dr. Dale Sanson

More information regarding this initiative will be released as the program progresses.

KPGZ News - Jim Dickerson contributed to this report