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Vol. 1, Issue 1 April 2016
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Many of you are familiar with my Word in Edgewise articles that I have written consistently each week since I was Mayor of Haysville. Over 18 years. I will continue to communicate in that manner because it gives me the platform to stay current and topical with the issues that I write about. The County is embarking on this new vehicle that allows commissioners to communicate County news to interested citizens. While I will keep my current avenue for connecting to citizens, I will embrace the newsletter format as an adjunct to what I am already doing. Please know that I am going to make a concerted effort to avoid boilerplate filler information and make sure the content in most cases are my thoughts and analysis of County government and our role in sustaining, promoting and fostering public service and the local community.
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Every year since 2003, the Board of County Commissioners has had a retreat in February to define emerging issues, review county financial status, dialogue about upcoming initiatives and projects, and discuss with staff guidance and information the outlook for both the next year and the out years. I was chair of the Commission that year and instrumental in starting the retreat format to insure that the BOCC had a good forum for discussing and debating the future and engaging in strategic planning early in the year before we got encumbered in the budget season.
This year that retreat was Thursday afternoon, February 18th. Once again it was a robust, open discussion about priorities, programs and projects that affect the citizens of Sedgwick County. Over the years we have dialogued about issues as far ranging as a mental health pod in the jail to what to do with the coliseum. We are never at a loss for items both short and long term that will affect the economy, livability, health, and safety of the citizens of Sedgwick County.
Obviously, the Commission has embarked on some new directions and philosophies of governance, budgetary guidance, and communication values and delivery. As always we discussed some new ideas at the retreat. I am not particularly in lock step with all the new directions that the commission is taking. I am dedicated to keeping an open mind on issues. I will speak up when the changes are counter to what I believe good local policies, procedures and directions should be.
Another important part of the retreat is an update and conversation about the impact on the County from the decisions the Governor and the legislature will make this session. Many services, programs and infrastructure improvements in the County are tied directly to actions, regulations and revenue decisions that are made in Topeka. Sedgwick County presently is in really good financial condition. I am hopeful that our ability to serve our public is not hampered by unfunded mandates from the State and dramatic decreases in revenue in areas such as roads and bridges, mental health, the judicial system and others.
No decisions were made at the retreat. It served only as a platform to foster a good dialogue and debate about the direction of Sedgwick County in 2016, the budget for 2017, and the County’s ability to meet the needs of the public going forward. As we embark on the budget process, there will be many stages including departmental inventory of programs, submittal of budget requests, capital improvement plan requests, and budget hearings. The County Manager will present a recommended budget in mid-July with public hearings following in August.
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Investment in Elephants at the Zoo
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After years of planning, fund raising and hard work and months of working out the logistics of getting them to Sedgwick County to a new facility and habitat grounds, and a building exhibit area large enough to have an expanded herd and meet American Zoological Association (AZA), the elephants are here! A forward-thinking vision and an equal measure of tenacity have paid off.
Over the last several years, there are several sides to the case for moving ahead with this project. Certainly, there is an emotional side for those that love the Zoo and can’t imagine a visit without elephants. Just as compelling is the argument that to maintain the Zoo status as the number one tourist attraction in the State that elephants would have to be an integral part.
We are a nationally accredited Zoo that meets stringent guidelines and procedures in the placement, breeding and care of the animals that we house. New standards were established several years ago by the AZA for the housing and care of elephants. These new guidelines precipitated a board dialogue and process to get us to this exciting point in the evolution of our Zoo this week.
Certainly, the financial commitment from the County to the Elephant exhibit has most certainly come with analysis and scrutiny. The investment in the exhibit came with a price tag. The Zoological Society embarked on a private fundraising effort like they have with most of the major exhibits at our Sedgwick County Zoo. Half of the needed money to insure that this updated elephant facility and habitat was raised with private donations and Sedgwick County stepped up to insure the project moved forward.
We are blessed to have this wonderful amenity in our community. Sedgwick County commissioners and the public made some incredible, thoughtful, forward-thinking, expensive and tough decisions decades ago. We are bearing the fruits of their insights and actions today. The decisions to invest significant taxpayers’ dollars in the Zoo should not be taken lightly. I know the board of the Zoo has spent time, energy and intellectual capital in the process of determining the best course of action. I have always been supportive of the Zoo in the context of making sure it thrives and serves generations to come. The new elephant facility and habitat falls into that category.
As budget season approaches, it is paramount that we work with the Zoo board to insure we adequately fund the operations of this new exhibit and develop a sensible, workable and adequate operating agreement. We have embarked on moving our Sedgwick County Zoo to another level of excellence with this expanded Elephant exhibit. Now is not the time to short-change this remarkable jewel in our community.
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Law Enforcement Training Center
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For over 15 years now we have been lamenting the need for a new law enforcement training center in Sedgwick County to serve as the educational hub for the training of Wichita police, Sedgwick County deputies and detention officers and other law enforcement personnel. The old elementary school that the training center is housed in is tired, needs upgrading and is woefully insufficient for the mission of insuring the highest quality of training for the guardians of our safety. And it has been for a long, long time.
At one time several of us on both sides of the street (City and County) worked closely with the State Adjutant General’s office to include the law enforcement training component in the footprint of the National Guard training and maintenance facility now built and occupied at the junction of I-135 and K-96. It was to be a regional first responder training center that focused on multi-disciplinary training and shared facilities for many levels of first responders.
Initially, there were a host of partners engaged in conversation and charrettes to plan the needs, usage and shared spaces of the complex. The State National Guard, Kansas Highway Patrol, the U.S. Marines, Sedgwick County, the City of Wichita, and other entities were at the table working to create the Heartland Preparedness Center. The vision was to create a one- of -a-kind facility in the United States. Over the years that vision has dissolved, was diminished by subsequent decisions, watered down for various reasons and has deposited us in the situation we have today: No new training center, diminished funding, little agreement between partners on where to put it, and more time gobbled up failing to move forward.
I am saddened that gridlock, political maneuvering, penny-wise/pound foolish thinking, disregard for partnering with other jurisdictions to create something unique as well as functional for our community and a laissez-faire attitude towards public safety training and first responder co-operation has won out. I believe that public safety is top-of-mind for citizens. And that exemplary training curriculum and facilities is called for to delivery what our community deserves. And by the way, in times of disasters and crisis situations, the idea that all first responders have trained together, practiced together, planned together and worked together made a lot of sense.
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At the end of 2014, the Board of County Commissioners voted 4-0 to invest a million dollars in the renovation of the former Lincoln Elementary school in to a one-stop, multi-disciplinary Child Advocacy Center. This action indicated the dedication of the Commission to serving the victims and families of child abuse and neglect in our community. And reveals our support for the law enforcement, prosecutors, investigators, social workers, medical professionals, etc. that deal with the upwards to 4000 cases a year with unfortunately the potential for many more. Both Sheriff Jeff Easter and District Attorney Marc Bennett have been loyal and vocal proponents for the need of this facility.
Over a year ago a press conference was held at the former Lincoln Elementary school to announce the capital campaign to re-purpose, upgrade and re-vitalize that facility to the new Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County. It was a bell weather day for the ongoing mission and positive outcomes of this umbrella organization that works so hard with the District Attorney’s office, the Exploited and Missing Child Unit, the Internet Crimes Against Children’s team, the Human Trafficking group, the Department for Children and Families and other government and non-profit groups.
Diana Schunn and her board are continuing to advocate and work hard to take this system working for abused and neglected children to a new level of service provision and collaboration. District Attorney Marc Bennett and pediatrician Dr. Kathyrn Melhorn both spoke at the announcement about their years of work with abused and neglected kids in our community. While they described the gut-wretching work that has been done, they also described the imperative for new facilities, co-location of all the key players and the importance of this kind of multi-disciplinary entity in creating the most effective and efficient system to deal with this pervasive and complicated issue in our community.
At present the CAC and some of its partners are the last tenants of the State office building. It is not the best scenario to say the least for all the partners that work tirelessly on the complicated, pervasive and sad cases of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and trafficking in our community. But we can now see the progress on the new building everyday.
The board of the Child Advocacy Center has taken all the appropriate steps to realize their expanded mission and future vision for a stand-alone facility. They have engaged community leaders. They have developed ideas and plans of what the new footprint at the Lincoln location would look like. They are defining staffing and co-location partners.
The Lincoln site is a construction zone now. Demolition is happening on the inside. In the foreseeable future there will be a new home for the Child Advocacy Center and all its co-located partners. There is an extremely important and ongoing mission and community need that will be served by this project. We expect safety for our kids and know full well that they hold our greatest hope for the future. But that demands a commitment of time, energy, political will, community awareness and action, and money.
I challenge all who read this to find out more about child abuse and neglect and the insidious ways that it affects families, children and our society. April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. I urge everyone to understand the prevalence of internet crimes against children. I implore our community to recognize the rise of human trafficking and the adverse affects on our community and region. These underpinnings of abuse in our society and the harm that latent, un-addressed, un-resolved or un-reported abuse has on the lives of future adults makes for a compelling case for this new facility that brings to bear all the agencies and professionals that work tirelessly to protect and nurture our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.
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Kellogg & I-235 Interchange -- Your County Dollars at Work!
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You may have seen the work from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) near the Kellogg and I-235 interchange, as the first phase of this three year project is underway. Sedgwick County stepped up to be a partner with KDOT in Phase I, so we can leverage the support of the state dollars to get this massive project underway. Our $11.6 million investment, 100 percent of the local match, is another demonstration of Sedgwick County’s investment in infrastructure in the Wichita area. The total cost for this project is projected to exceed $103 million which includes all local, state, and federal funds.
Buildings have been demolished on the north side of Kellogg and the on-ramps from West Street to Kellogg are closed. To follow the progress of this major road construction project, visit
www.235kelloggcentral.com.
Sedgwick County has helped with several U.S. 54 (Kellogg) interchange improvements in the past, including $10 million in 2002 for interchanges at Kellogg and Tyler and Kellogg and Maize. While these projects do not fall into Sedgwick County’s road network responsibility, the County believes that these are significant economic drivers for our community – they make it easier for workers, businesses, and visitors to travel through our community and reduce accidents and congestion.
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Join us for a Commission meeting in District 5!
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Please join us on Monday, April 18 for a special Board of County Commission meeting at the Derby Welcome Center (611 N. Mulberry, Ste. 200). There will be a meet and greet at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting will follow at 6:30 p.m. Come and meet your commissioners and engage in an evening meeting for your convenience.
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Want to know what's going on in Sedgwick County?
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There are several ways you can find out what’s happening at Sedgwick County:
- Our Commission meetings are held weekly on Wednesday mornings at 9:00 a.m. and available on KPTS Channel 8. The meetings are also streamed live on our website, www.sedgwickcounty.org, and you can find an individual agenda item on demand after the meeting has concluded. Our meetings are also available on our YouTube channel (SedgwickCountyKS).
- We have also partnered with the cities of Derby, Bel Aire, Haysville, Park City, and Wichita to provide rebroadcasts of our meetings on their respective Channel 7 stations. Find the specific days/ times on our website.
- You can sign up to have the Commission agenda emailed directly to you and sign up to receive the Commissioners’ newsletters! Visit our website, www.sedgwickcounty.org for more information.
- To get the latest news, you can follow us on Twitter (@SedgwickCounty), like us on Facebook (facebook.com/sedgwickcounty), watch videos at youtube/SedgwickCountyKS, or read our County Announcements on the website!
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Contact Interim Public Information Officer:
Kate Flavin, 316-660-9370
525 N. Main, Ste 343, Wichita, KS 67203
Contact Corporate Communications Manager:
Jill Tinsley, 316-660-9370
525 N. Main, Ste 343, Wichita, KS 67203
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Connect with Sedgwick County
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