Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday appointed Dawn Cramer to fill an open seat on the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners that was vacated by Nathan Garrett in June.
Cramer is vice president of Cramer Capital Management, which she runs with her husband, Bruce Cramer. The duo has been active in civic affairs for years, particularly in the Northland.
Ed Ford, a former city councilman who chairs the Northland Chamber of Commerce, said he supports the appointment in part because Northland residents have lacked representation on the police board for several years.
"We want someone on the police board that understands what life is like north of the river in terms of crime," he said. "We're very pleased with the appointment. We think she'll do a great job."
Cramer worked in the airline industry for 28 years before starting the financial services company with her husband, according to the governor's office. She did not immediately respond to a message left seeking comment.
On Twitter, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas — who also sits on the police board — wrote that Cramer was not among the "bipartisan set of candidates" he suggested to Parson, but he nonetheless "(looks) forward to meeting her and working with her."
Cramer, whose term will last four years, replaces Nathan Garrett, a lawyer, who resigned in June after moving outside of city limits.
Just weeks before Garrett resigned, the police board sued Lucas and the Kansas City Council to stop the city's efforts to wrest control over $42 million of the department's budget, which is about a fifth of the total. In May, hundreds of Northland residents rallied against the plan at a packed town hall meeting.
The lawsuit is pending.
