MAY - 2008

Commissioners seek applicants to serve on five advisory boards

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners is accepting applications from interested residents who would like to be considered for appointments to five advisory boards of county government.

The Board of Zoning Appeals and the South-Central Consolidated Zoning Board each have one vacant seat as representatives from the Sixth District. Both appointments will be made by Commissioner John Toplikar.

The other vacancies include:

• Third District representative to the Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board. The appointment will be made by Commissioner David Lindstrom;
  
• Fourth District representative to the Housing and Community Development Committee. The appointment will be made by Commissioner Ed Eilert; and,
  
• Chairman’s representative of a building code official to the Contractors Licensing Review Board with the appointment being made by Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh.

Johnson County residents interested in being considered for appointment to the advisory boards should submit their cover letter and current resume or curriculum vitae to the Board’s office at the following address:

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Attn: Appointments Clerk
County Administration Building, Suite 3300
111 South Cherry Street
Olathe, Kansas 66061-3486

Applications are available on the Board’s website at http://bocc.jocogov.org. For more information, residents should contact the Office of the Board of County Commissioners at (913) 715-0430.

back to top

Preliminary public hearing planned on May 12 about FY 2009 Budget

A preliminary budget hearing is scheduled at 7 p.m. Monday, May 12, for public discussion of the proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget for Johnson County Government.

The public meeting will take place in the Hearing Room of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners on the third floor of the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe.

Members of the Board of County Commissioners, county management, department and agency representatives, and staff from the Budget and Financial Planning Department will discuss the budget process, present an overview of the current FY 2008 budget totaling $735.3 million, and respond to questions.

“Residents are encouraged to attend this public hearing to learn more about the 2008 Budget and give input about county services and programs for the 2009 budget,” Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh said. “All citizens are always invited to be an active part of the county’s annual budget process.”

The proposed FY 2009 budget will be presented by County Manager Michael B. Press on June 4 and June 5.

The presentations will occur during afternoon sessions of the Board as a Committee of a Whole. No action will be taken by the Board.

A final public hearing on the new proposed budget, with changes and modifications supported by the Board of County Commissioners, will occur at 7 p.m. Monday, July 28, in the Board’s hearing room.

The Board is tentatively scheduled to adopt the new budget on August 14. By state law, the county must complete the FY 2009 budget by August 25.

back to top

Election Office needs more workers for 2008 elections

Johnson County citizens like to vote. That fact keeps the Johnson County Election Office busy in normal election years and very, very busy in preparing for the upcoming 2008 Presidential Elections. That fact also means the Election Office needs more election workers on hand to man the polls and to assist voters.

While Election Commissioner Brian Newby fully expects the office to secure the 1,800 election workers needed for the August 5th Primary Elections and November 4th General Elections, the office is seeking at least 250-300 additional election workers to ensure adequate staffing at voting sites.

“We’re always recruiting,” Newby said. “Our county growth issues are measured in depth and breadth, so as more people come to Johnson County and the populated area sprawls, our need to expand and staff polling locations grows as well.”

According to the election commissioner, the problem is a growing nationwide concern as election officials are finding it harder and harder to recruit poll workers. The county now has more than 338,000 registered voters.

The Election Office estimates the county will have approximately 361,400 registered voters for the 2008 General Elections that will decide 2,109 elected positions at federal, state, county, and other local levels along with special ballot questions.

Registration for the August primary elections ends July 21. Voters have until October 20 to register to vote in the November general elections.

“Traditionally, voter turnout in a presidential election year averages about 75 percent,” Newby said. “We expect more than 270,000 voters in Johnson County will cast ballots in November.”

Johnson County has 285 polling places in 603 voting districts in 443 precincts. The Election Office has up to 1,881 touch-screen voting machines for use at both elections.

For presidential elections, each voting place in Johnson County requires a minimum of one supervising judge and four election workers.

Although the general goal is to have at least 1,800 workers on hand for the 2008 voting, the Election Office is always looking for new people and extra poll workers for backup use, if needed.

Newby said extra numbers are needed to fill last-minute vacancies caused by sickness, family emergencies or other issues that might prevent assigned workers from fulfilling their duties.

The general duties of election workers include assisting the supervising judge and sharing responsibility for the operation of the polling site.

Election workers greet voters, assist at the registration book and card encoder machine, and accompany each voter to a voting machine. They also verify voter receipt information, collect voter cards, and issue “I Voted” stickers to voters as they leave.

The requirements to be an election worker are not complicated. There are only four qualifications, including:

• Be a resident of Johnson County;
  
• Be registered to vote at their current address;
  
• Be able to complete three hours of training; and,
  
• Be available to work a complete election day.
  

Election workers are paid $15 for completion of their training session, which is being scheduled in early July. On each election day that they work, election workers receive $110 and supervising judges are paid $135.

The Student Election Worker Program again will offer hands-on opportunities to Johnson County high school students to learn about elections before they are old enough to vote. The program is based on a Kansas law which allows a maximum of one student between the ages of 16 and 18 to be an election worker at each polling place.

Participating students, like election workers, are paid for training and their work on election day.

The day for an election worker is long. Normally, election day polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but the November 4th Presidential Election polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. All election workers will report to their assigned work session at least one hour before the opening of their assigned voting site.

Following the closing of polls on both election days, all election workers will assist the supervising judge in closing down the poll site after the voting ends at 7 p.m.

Interested individuals are asked to complete the “Election Worker Response Form.” Students may apply by completing the “Student Election Worker Form.” Either completed form can be mailed or faxed to the Johnson County Election Office, 2101 East Kansas City Road, Olathe, KS 66061. The fax number is (913) 791-1753.

More information is available by calling the Election Office at (913) 782-3441 or visiting its website at www.jocoelection.org/workers/for_workers.htm.

back to top

County Planning Department employee receives ‘Member of the Year Award’

The Johnson County Planning, Codes, and Development Department has bragging rights when it comes to “Member of the Year Award” recipients by the Heart off America Chapter of the International Code Council.

A department employee has received the award for the second straight year. The 2008 recipient is Janie Gordon, a resident of Olathe. A Johnson County employee since July 2001, she serves as the department’s permit administrator.

Gordon received the award for her untiring work and dedication to professional building code enforcement and her promotion of the image of building code professionals throughout Kansas. She also was re-elected the chapter’s secretary for her fourth term of service.

“I’m not surprised at all. Janie is a great ambassador for our department as well as for our codes division and she’s always thoroughly professional in all that she does,” Dean Palos, director of the department, said.

The award was presented to her on May 1 during the organization’s 2008 annual business meeting in Wichita.

The “Member of the Year Award” is the highest level of recognition for chapter and public service offered by the Heart of America Chapter of the ICC, which is the professional association representing Kansas building officials, building inspectors, plan reviewers, and permit technicians.

Jerry Mallory, building official for the department, was the first recipient of the chapter’s award in 2007.

back to top

Office of Financial Management receives 20th consecutive award for financial reporting

The Johnson County Office of Financial Management has kept its string intact in being the annual recipient of a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.

It has received 20 national honors in as many years from the GFOA.

The 20th award was ceremonially presented Thursday, May 8, to Thomas Franzen, director of the department, by Annabeth Surbaugh, chairman of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, during the Board’s weekly business session.

The honor is in recognition of the office’s comprehensive annual financial report for 2006.

“This award is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting,” Franzen said.

He said attainment of the award represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management, noting that only three other of the 105 counties in Kansas received the award. The award was presented to only 37 municipal governments, such as cities, counties, school districts and universities, and water districts, in the state. Additionally, only 500 counties nationwide received the award.

The county’s 2006 comprehensive annual financial report, or CAFR, was judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

Franzen said his staff plans to submit the FY 2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report in June to GFOA in pursuit of a 21st consecutive award.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 16,000 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

back to top