(KTTS News) — Springfield City Council has a new council member.
Monica Horton was chosen from four applicants to fill the vacant Zone 1 council seat.
She’ll be sworn in at Monday night’s city council meeting.
Press Release
Monica Horton is City Council’s newest member. City Council interviewed four applicants for the Zone 1 seat, appointing Horton with seven votes in one round of voting. Steven Sexton received one vote. The other applicants were Karen Banta and Kathy Hubbard.
Horton will serve in the Zone 1 seat until the April 4, 2023 election. She will be sworn in at Monday night’s council meeting.
Qualifications:
“Teaching required coursework necessary for DE&I certification and my work on the Springfield Inclusion Study producing recommendations to address the welcome deficit qualifies me to provide additional support and counsel regarding citywide DE&I efforts. My high degree of civic engagement and awareness in Springfield-Greene County (in multiple domains including poverty) certainly qualifies me to serve Zone 1 residents and make significant contributions to municipal governance and public policymaking necessary to make Springfield an extraordinary place for all to live, work and play. And finally, my analytical/research/evaluation skills can provide insights into City Council deliberations, consensus building and the decision-making process.”
Previous employers and positions:
“As a self-employed person for the past 11 years, Lenica Consulting has subcontracted with Center for Music Therapy and Wellness as a geriatric music specialist for four years; and began contracting with Drury University in 2016 as an adjunct instructor for Drury students earning degrees in music therapy and certification in diversity, equity and inclusion. Lenica Consulting has secured business contracts with Pratt Consultants as a data curator; Community Partnership of the Ozarks as a program evaluator and researcher and Missouri State University as a contributing researcher to the Springfield Inclusion Study funded by Community Foundation of the Ozarks.”
Educational background:
“Master of public administration, Missouri State University – completed a master’s thesis entitled ‘The Effect of Student Characteristics on Leading Indicators of Academic Success.’ Results and policy recommendations were presented to SPS Superintendent John Jungmann and many policy recommendations were implemented by the school district.
Master of music therapy, Florida State University – ‘The Effect of Stepping as a Group Music Therapy Intervention on Group Cohesion’ and Positive Oral Statements of African-American Females Attending an Educational Treatment Center;’ the degree of group cohesion and positive statements were statistically significant demonstrating stepping as a useful tool to promote prosocial behavior among adolescent females considered to be at risk.
Bachelor of arts in psychology, Tuskegee University – graduated summa cum laude.”
Community activities and offices held:
“Since 2018, I’ve served on the Greene County Senior Citizens’ Services Fund Board serving as treasurer of the $2.9 million tax levy for two of those years. In 2019, I was appointed to the Mayor’s Commission for Children by Mayor McClure and City Council; and also during 2019 I began serving as Ujima Language and Literacy’s founding board president while at the same time beginning a three-year appointment serving on Leadership Springfield’s board of directors.
From 2017-2020, I served on the advisory council and the performance measures and data management workgroup for Prosper Springfield.
But I can go back as far as three months after moving to Springfield in 2013 volunteering as a guest guide at Community Partnership of the Ozarks’ annual Hope Connection being assigned to an unsheltered person to build rapport and help them navigate through service providers. Then just a few months later, I co-produced the Hope Connection’s survey data results report and presented the report to CPO’s Continuum of Care team. And being the analytical creative that I am, I participated as a survey volunteer during CPO’s Point in Time count of homeless persons in our area.”
