OPINION – Mr. Chain was a legend
L&T Publisher Earl Watt
LIBERAL FIRST
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One of the rules of the Kansas Department Of Corrections grant that Cimarron Basin Community Corrections has for Fiscal Year 2025 is that “Grantee must demonstrate salaries for all positions are consistent with similar, County-funded positions.”
Is Kayla Janko’s salary of $104,957 in line with that of others at the county in positions of comparable responsibility? And what about her supervision officers who are making $30.99 per hour (At 40 hours per week, that amounts to $64,459 in a year)?
According to information provided to me by April Warden under open records requests, in June of this year, the Advisory Board for Cimarron Basin Community Corrections met and approved a 7 percent bonus for all staff. These bonuses were paid in July. Note that this was all done at a time when nobody at the county is supposed to be getting a raise.
Kayla Janko, the Director of Cimarron Basin Community Corrections, whose total pay in 2024 was $107,647, got a $7,347 bonus, and her supervision officers got bonuses in the amount of $4,513.
No, I’m not going to address the county tax increase today. I believe there are enough members of the community taking a keen interest in remedies, and we will report on those efforts as information becomes available.
Needless to say, the natives are restless. Justifiably so. And while this decision has created a rift in our community, there are other efforts being discussed by other entities that are looking to a more positive future.
For one, the City of Liberal is exploring the option of changing downtown to angle parking and a more pedestrian friendly district for about three blocks.
It is the time of year for vegetable gluttony.
The truth is, I am a vegetable glutton all year round. I blame my mother. My mom grew up on a farm, and when my sister and I were growing up, my mother was one of the first moms in our suburb to plant a big vegetable garden. We had beans and tomatoes and zucchini, and I don’t remember what else. I loved vegetables from a very early age. My mother would serve whatever we were eating in a large serving bowl, and if there was anything left, she’d give me the bowl to finish up — I’d eat with the serving spoon.