L&T Publisher Earl Watt
After fighting fires and putting in long hours last week protecting the citizens of Seward County, Chief Andrew Barkley has opted to step down.
No doubt more resignations are coming.
Why?
I believe it’s because some of these people were expecting to see more positive change at the county and have not yet seen it after three new commissioners were appointed to fill the slots of the previous three who also found themselves out of touch with the people.
If the new commissioners believed the massive tax increase was the only reason they were appointed, they are only putting a bandaid on a bleeding artery.
The mistake made by the previous commissioners was only receiving information from one prime source.
Former Commissioner Presephoni Fuller made that statement public one night when she told the public if they wanted to be informed, they should go “to the horses mouth” to get it.
Other remarks were made to defend decisions and processes that were clearly out of step with the public.
The new commissioners have taken a stand against the 17 mill increase, but they are neglecting to realize how that was developed and brought to fruition.
They are neglecting to see how previous commissioners signed documents they never should have signed.
Many of these decisions were made on advice from administration.
Surely with three new commissioners they wouldn’t fall into that same trap, right?
So far, I would say the cheese always smells good until the trap comes down.
The county recently had a challenge of fires, and it seems a bit strange that after successfully guiding his staff through the emergency that Chief Barkley resigns.
While I’m sure he will take the high road, I have to wonder if the intrusion of the county administrator and county chair into the fray didn’t come into play.
We will see how other staffers respond, but don’t be surprised to see more resignations because the problem with Seward County wasn’t a 17 mill tax increase or challenging fires but how we are administrating the issues we face.
Carolyn Huddleston went the extra mile to reach out to the State of Kansas Department of Corrections Deputy Secretary of Adult and Community Based Services Megan Milner to see why pay raises are being approved locally because the misconception being spread is that these workers are not county workers and are paid by the state.
Except they aren’t, according to Milner.
“JCAPS/Cimarron Basin staff are still county employees,” she said. “KDOC’s stance has always been that local county policies and procedures are still applicable to corrections staff.”
County employees. Not state.
And they are governed by the Seward County Commission despite the false efforts to state otherwise.
Even Seward County Chair Steve Helm had to ask, “Are we your governing body?”
He should have known that. And he should have known that some of the out-of-control salaries do not align with other jobs within the county as required.
Yes, Seward County receives state dollars to help fund these positions, but that doesn’t mean they can overextend others within the county. They are supposed to be in line.
But this commission is looking for answers from within, the same mistake the previous commissioners made.
In addition, last week the commission had a work session before their Thursday meeting to discuss the budget reductions to return to Revenue Neutral.
They reached consensus among themselves, and then placed the item on the agenda at the meeting to approve the amended budget, despite KSA 79-2929a requiring public notice 10 days prior and a public hearing.
So the public, without knowledge of the budget being on the agenda, without publication of the proposed budget and without a public hearing, approved the amended budget.
Why?
After Counsel Forrest Rhodes asked if notice was required, Administrator April Warden informed the commission that she had talked to Mandy Patek in the Office of Accounts and Reports at the Kansas Department of Administration, and she said since the budget was a reduction, notice wasn’t required.
That’s not what 79-2929a says, and I tried to contact Ms. Patek twice to no avail and no returned call. I am curious to hear how the law seems to not apply in Seward County.
And while I am sure it does, just for a moment let’s say notice wasn’t required. With the public being locked out of discussions on conditional use permits for wind farms, with the public ignored by the previous three commissioners on tax increases, and with evidence of disproportionate pay being allocated by administration, it would seem following the law anyway would have been the right thing to do.
New commissioners should be reading the room.
I know they haven’t had a lot of time to acclimate, and that makes them prey for those who want to manipulate to protect the status quo.
And as long as we have decided to follow the same playbook, we will continue to make the same mistakes and govern in the same haphazard way.
The question remains today just as it did in December — who is really running Seward County? Is it a group of elected officials who are listening to their constituents? Or is it a rubber stamp of administrative advice that has been proven to be suspect at best. To this day there has never been a correction to the false statement made during the RNR hearings including when the DCP refund was completed.
These are easy, provable errors, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface of how the books seem to be a mess and this commission in its new budget did not include a CFO.
This commission can still do the right thing and revisit the budget process and follow the law. This commission can still listen to the public and set the county on a positive path forward.
It was recently stated by a new commissioner that there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the county in the past two months.
Pointing out the truth is not negative. Having to point it out and not correcting the reason why is what is negative.
When the doctor tells the patient he has cancer, that’s not the doctor being negative. When the patient ignores the diagnosis, you can fully expect catastrophic results.
Until we are willing to deal with the root causes of the continuing sources of bad advice and leadership, we can expect more resignations, a continued effort to leave the public out of the discussions, and voters left looking for solutions.
This isn’t a time for our elected officials to get defensive and bunker down. That didn’t work well for the last commission. Instead, this is a time to get out of the bunker and seek input from the people.
A good faith effort has been made to see if the ship can be steered forward. But there is no excuses now that the iceberg is in plain sight and has been for quite some time.
Talk to the public. Read the room. Seek counsel that does not have a vested interest.
I trust the people of Seward County, and I have not given up on this commission.
Let’s hope they have not given up on us.
