Incumbent Janeth Vazquez has filed for one of three positions available on the Liberal City Commission for the August primary.
FILINGS TO DATE
CITY OF LIBERAL COMMISSION
Jeff Parsons
Janeth Vazquez
USD 480 SCHOOL BOARD
Travis Martinez
SCCC BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Dustin Ormiston
Casey Mein
KISMET CITY COUNCIL
Jason Jennings
The filing deadline is at noon Monday, June 2, with the Seward County Clerk’s office. Following is an unofficial list of offices to be elected in 2025:
• Liberal City Commission – three positions
• Kismet City Council – two positions
• Kismet city mayor
• USD 480 School Board – three positions
• USD 483 District 2 School Board – three positions
• SCCC Board of Trustees – three positions
• USD 209 School Board – three positions
• Wild West Extension District – two positions
There has been a lot of work going on in Liberal in regard to economic development and Tuesday, the Liberal City Commission got to hear an update from Seward County Development Corporation (SCDC) Executive Director Eli Svaty about just that.
“There have been some positive things and some not-as-positive things that have happened so far this quarter, and there will definitely be some of both shared,” Svaty said. “First, I went and played my first round of pickleball a few nights ago, and while I won't run out and buy everything pickleball-related, it was a fun time and we were there for a long time. When we were there, the court was packed and it was an overall great time, so kudos to the city for getting that facility put together. If you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend it.”
Those looking to report issues throughout the community to City Hall now have a new tool to do just that.
Last week, the City of Liberal officially launched the new Resident Report Tool, which can be used to share non-urgent concerns, such as potholes, drainage issues, park maintenance needs, and more.
Chief Communications Officer Keeley Moree said she is excited to have the tool up and running.
“Everything actually came together with this project pretty quickly. It’s something I’d been wondering about putting in place for a while, and as I was experimenting with getting other projects set up and completed, I stumbled across a way we could use our existing City of Liberal Web site to be able to have this tool without requiring a new username or login or any of that,” Moree said. “I found it rather accidentally, and I thought it would be a great way for people to submit concerns to us directly and easily to the applicable department head. It all came together in the span of a couple weeks as I’ve continued to look more into our Web site’s capabilities, and this tool is something I know other cities have available, so it’s to be able to have another avenue of contacting us at City Hall.”
Once the discovery of the Web site’s capability was made, Moree said it was easy to put everything together.
“Throughout the years, we’ve all seen situations where a resident could have reported an issue but weren’t entirely sure who to get in touch with,” Moree said. “Maybe a road sign has been hit by a car, and we want to make sure that gets fixed quickly. Or maybe something happens on a weekend or in an area of town where city crews didn’t go by on a particular day, so this is a way for those types of issues to get addressed more quickly. Or maybe you’re out on one of the tennis courts in the evening and notice a light or two isn’t functioning. This tool also allows residents to have a role in taking care of the city, which is always good. I’m a firm believer in communication and as I’ve said at past town hall meetings, if we don’t see something or know about something, we can’t fix it. This tool makes it very easy for people to let us know if there’s something that needs taken care of, and the form is quick and easy to fill out.”
Moree said the form is very user-friendly.
“The form is on the City of Liberal Web site, cityofliberal.org/report. There’s no sign-in credentials that need to be created, all the reporter has to do is give some basic information like name, phone number and e-mail address (if they have one), and then you choose the option that’s closest to what you’re needing to report, and then you give a brief description of the problem and where it is,” Moree said. “And the more details you can give, the easier it will be for city crews. On the back end, it will generate an e-mail to all of our administrators as well as the department head(s) directly in charge of that area – i.e., if it’s a pothole, the request will get sent to the Streets Director and all of the administration. And the request goes to multiple people in case there’s someone who ends up not seeing that e-mail, so we want to be sure all bases are covered.”
And the tool is already seeing use, Moree said.
“We’re really excited people are already using it. It’s been live for not quite a week now, and we’ve already had about a dozen submissions. Most of those submissions were about things needing fixed, but some of them were also ideas for future projects, like installing children’s swings at one of the parks,” Moree said. “Another submission was about a fire hydrant that was leaking because it had been struck by a vehicle – it wasn’t gushing water, but it was leaking enough to be noticeable, so a citizen submitted that to us and it was taken care of later that day. I know we’ll probably get some general complaints among our submissions and maybe some neighbor versus neighbor conflicts, and we’ll take care of what we can. It’s great to see people already using it and knowing it’s available for use, and it seems to be pretty user-friendly, which is what I was going for when I was designing it, especially for phones. It really has been a great tool, and I feel like the community is embracing it as a way to help keep in communication with City Hall. I know a lot of people get in touch with us on our social media pages, which is great because I follow up with anything that comes to us through there, but this is a more direct method of communication to the person(s) in charge.”
And that initial positive response, Moree said, is making her and city staff happy.
“I think it shows our community really cares and want to be able to help make the town better, which is great, and my role is to help facilitate all of that,” Moree said. “The great thing about this tool is all of our administrators are seeing it, so even if there’s not a specific maintenance need, it could be a potential project that’s already been talked about, and we could start brainstorming ideas of how to make it happen. This tool is another great avenue for people to share their thoughts with us so we can build the community everyone wants. I think this tool is going to be a great way to continue building those relationships with the community, because we want everyone to know we do care and we want to keep everything up and maintained. I also hope this tool helps continue to build trust among the residents and the city crews who work so hard every day in what they do, because they are always willing to go above and beyond for this town. This tool will be great for everyone overall.”
Overall, Moree said, she looks forward to seeing the tool’s continued use by the community.
“This is a tool other cities have had in place for a long time, and it’s something we probably should have had in place much sooner,” Moree said. “The great thing about this tool is I was able to create it through our existing Web site and using what I already had in place, and it comes at absolutely no extra cost to either the City of Liberal or the residents. It also took a very short time to put everything together, which was also great. We’re really excited to have this live and in front of the community now, and I just encourage anyone and everyone to send in an issue if there’s something they come across.”
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Division, encompassing Missouri, Kansas and Southern Illinois, is partnering with 196 law enforcement agencies to host the 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
More than 219 Take Back sites across the DEA St. Louis Division will be open for the public to safely dispose of tablets, capsules, patches and other solid forms of prescription drugs.
With nearly 4,500 collection sites nationwide, Take Back Day aims to reduce the risk of prescription drug misuse by helping Americans safely remove expired, unwanted or unused medications from their homes – medications that might otherwise be misused.
For 16 years, DEA has worked with state and local partners to make safe medication disposal accessible to everyone, helping communities prevent prescription drug misuse and raise awareness of the dangers of keeping unneeded medications in the home.
“National Prescription Drug Take Back Day provides communities with an opportunity to safely rid their homes of medications that are unused and expired,” DEA St. Louis Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Davis said. “It also gives families a way to begin conversations on the consequences of prescription misuse. By opening dialogue now, you could make a significant impact on a life down the line.”
According to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine are among the most frequently misused prescription pain medications.
In October 2024, DEA and its partners collected nearly 630,000 pounds of medications. Since the program’s inception in 2010, more than 19.2 million pounds of medications have been collected and safely destroyed.
Find a collection site near you for Saturday’s event by visiting www.DEATakeBack.com.
For those unable to participate on Saturday, nearly 17,000 pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and law enforcement locations offer year-round drug disposal options across the country to ensure Every Day is Take Back Day.
The Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) is conducting the “Our Community, Our Future” survey for the second year in Liberal and Hugoton in order to gain a deeper understanding of local priorities.
The initiative is a three-year, three-part process consisting of a survey, community forum, and grant opportunity. The survey is open to any individual that is a member of these communities as employees, students, or residents.
Survey responses will be collected throughout the Spring to be followed by a community discussion and gathering in the fall. WKCF seeks to bring together people from various sectors, including nonprofits, businesses, healthcare, government, education, and the general public to discuss potential solutions. Community dialogue is expected to take place in the fall.
At that time, a grant opportunity of up to $15,000 will be made available to eligible organizations for applications that address the needs outlined in the survey. Last year, the “Our Community, Our Future” survey process resulted in a $15,000 grant award to the Liberal Area Coalition for Families to address the need for transitional housing assistance in the community.
“The initiative is meant to bring local leaders together to discuss their community’s most pressing needs,” WKCF Executive Director Conny Bogaard said. “We know there is a lot of talent and opportunity, and we want to empower local leadership in addressing broad community needs. WKCF wants to not only understand their priorities but also, be part of the solution.”
The survey is available in English and Spanish and takes approximately five to 10 minutes to complete. Interested participants can access the survey online through the foundation’s Facebook page and wkcf.org. Print copies of the survey are available by request. WKCF encourages every community member, high school aged and older, in Liberal or Hugoton to complete the “Our Community, Our Future” survey and provide insight and perspective that will create opportunities to positively impact their community.
Western Kansas Community Foundation is the region’s hub for philanthropy, simplifying giving and amplifying impact through connecting individual donors to causes they care about, and using the power of collective giving to address our region’s greatest challenges. WKCF holds nearly $50 million in more than 200 funds established by individuals, families and organizations, each making a difference in their own unique way. Through WKCF, people who care about Western Kansas can make a lasting impact on the place we call home.
For more information visit wkcf.org or call (620) 271-9484.