June - 2007

Public safety officer ends career

James Ferren, Johnson County’s first-ever safety officer, has one final long-term safety project in mind.

He’s planning for a safe retirement, completing more than 20 years of service with Johnson County and a safety career spanning 47 years.

His retirement becomes effective on Friday, June 15. A reception in his honor is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, in the cafeteria area in the lower level of the Johnson County Administration Building in downtown Olathe. Remarks will be presented at 4 p.m.

Working out of the Risk Management and Safety Division of the Office of Financial Management, Ferren became a county employee on February 2, 1987, after working as the Division Safety Director for Firestone Steel Products Company for 27 years. He was the county’s first safety officer, succeeding a previous employee who worked as a loss control officer for the county for less than six months.

“When I came to the county, one of the first things I requested was to have the job title changed to safety officer, since loss control is an insurance term,” Ferren said.

The new safety officer quickly realized that in terms of job and employee safety Johnson County had much to do and county employees had much to learn.

“During my first countywide inspection, I said that I could only dream of the day when I could start nick picking on the small violations, rather than the serious ones that faced us all then,” he said.

His job as safety officer, and safety in general for county government, has since greatly improved with more employee training, enforcement procedures, and more awareness about the importance of safety at all times and at all places.

To him, safety never takes a vacation, time off, or a holiday.

“Safety is a 24 hour a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year job for all of us. No matter what we are doing, from playing with the children at home, driving our automobiles, at work, or just enjoying some good times with a family member or friend, we must always be ready for the unexpected,” Ferren said.

In addition to his role as the county safety officer, Ferren has served on executive committees for Public Employee Section and Business and Industry Division of the National Safety Council for 15 years.

He is a past general chairman of The Public Employee Section of the council. The section has more than 1,000 city, county, state and federal entities as members. He also has served on the Board of Directors for the Missouri-Kansas Chapter of the National Safety Council. The chapter office is located in Kansas City.

In 2001, Ferren was named “Safety Professional of the Year” by National Safety Council.

A resident of Olathe, he and his wife, Linda, have been married for 37 years. They have a son, Tim, who lives in Iowa, and a daughter, Tarah, a senior at Kansas State University.

“How she has put up with me so long, only the Good Lord knows,” Ferren said with a laugh. “We had only been married eight months when we moved to Ghana, West Africa, with Firestone, where we lived for seven years. Prior to coming to Johnson County we have lived in seven states and one foreign country, all with Firestone.”

After calling Johnson County home for two decades, the couple plans for one final move to retire in Knoxville, Iowa.

Ferren has no regrets about retirement, but he will miss his co-workers, professional associates, and friends in county government and in the Johnson County community.

“I have always had a passion for safety,” he said. “It has been a great career that I have always enjoyed, but it’s time to retire.”

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2007 Feed the Need Campaign to assist local food pantries

Johnson County is again preparing to feed a growing need in the Johnson County community and needs the help of county employees at all levels from all departments and from Johnson County citizens.

The county government’s 2007 Feed the Need Campaign will officially begin with a kickoff celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, June 21, on the square between the Johnson County Courthouse and Administration Building in downtown Olathe.

The theme for this fund-raising, food-collecting program will be “007: Live and Let Thrive.” The goal has been set at 125 tons of food in either cash or food donations. Each donated dollar is roughly equivalent to four pounds of food.

The celebration will feature fun and food for all ages, including the selling of crafts and flowers, games, live music and performances, drawings for prizes, donation opportunities and other attractions. Organizers also anticipate a splash of success from the popular dunk tank with county officials, such as department heads and county managers, taking turns on the platform above the tank of water.

The campaign will end July 6.

“Every year, it gets bigger and better. We are prepared to make this year the best ever,” Johnson County Election Commissioner Brian Newby said. He is serving as the 2007 Feed the Need campaign chairman.

“Feed the Need is an important fund-raising campaign by Johnson County Government and serves an important role to the Johnson County community. There is a critical need to keep up with increasing requests for food assistance at our local food pantries by citizens and families in need. Unfortunately, it’s a need that’s not going away.”

Johnson County’s Feed the Need started in 1987 with one county department and the collection of less than one ton of food. Last year, the county collected a record 144 tons of food with a goal set at 120 tons.

The county has been a lead participating organization in the annual metropolitan Feed the Need campaign since 1988. Feed the Need is a regional effort coordinated by the Mid-America Regional Council, the Mid-America Assistance Coalition, and Harvesters International.

All donations collected in the 2007 food drive will benefit 10 eligible food pantries serving eligible Johnson County citizens.

“We all know the importance of the county’s Feed the Need campaign to the hungry in our community,” Newby said. “We traditionally provide about a third of the annual food distributed by the food pantries through this effort.”

The pantries include:

• Blue Valley Multi-Service Center in Overland Park
• De Soto Multi-Service Center
• Spring Hill Multi-Service Center
• North-Central Multi-Service Center in Lenexa
• Gardner-Edgerton Coordinating Council
• Shawnee Community Services
• Catholic Community Services, Mission and Olathe
• Salvation Army and First Christian Church, both in Olathe

Last year, the five pantries, operated by the Johnson County Department of Human Services and Aging, at multi-service centers in Overland Park, Lenexa, De Soto, Gardner, and Spring Hill Park supplied 2,458 households, totaling 7,519 individuals, with approximately 825,000 pounds (412.5 tons) of food. Slightly more than 900 individuals from 346 households were first-time users.

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‘Flag, Freedom & Freedom Fighters’ exhibit on eve of Independence Day

A Johnson County Government flag, recently returned after flying in Iraq, will become a centerpiece for a special exhibit “Flag, Freedom & Freedom Fighters” that will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Monday, July 2, in the Johnson County Administration Building.

Featured speakers for the public ceremony will be U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Third District, and Annabeth Surbaugh, chairman of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners. The event will take in the atrium of the Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe.

The exhibit will be located on two small walls of the atrium near the Cherry Street entrance to the building. It will feature the county flag that was returned to Johnson County Government on May 17 by Army Lt. Colonel Hadley Turner of Lenexa. He received the flag in early 2006 when his unit, the 35th Area Support Group based in Lexington, Mo., was deployed to Iraq.

During his deployment, Turner, then a major, served as the deputy security plans and operations officer for the unit, which was based at Camp Anaconda at the Balad Airbase located approximately 70 kilometers north of Baghdad. The county flag was flown and displayed at various times at the base, in his office, and often on aerial support missions. The unit returned last September.

Lt. Colonel Turner and Johnson County employees who have been deployed in the war since September 11, 2001, have been invited to the event, which will feature the posting of colors by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Honor Guard.

An invitation also has been extended to family members of Johnson County soldiers killed in the War on Terrorism to attend the ceremony as special guests.

Other parts of the “Flag, Freedom & Freedom Fighters” exhibit will include:

• A proclamation, that will be issued Thursday, June 28, by the Board of County Commissioners, honoring Johnson County employee soldiers serving in the War on Terrorism;
• The names of 25 county employees who have been deployed or currently deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan in the War on Terrorism. Six county employees are currently serving in Iraq; one employee has been deployed three times; five have been deployed twice; and one employee has been wounded in combat action; and,

The names of five Johnson County “War Heroes” who have been killed in the war.

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test of countywide warning sirens as scheduled on July 4

The testing of Johnson County’s outdoor warning sirens will continue as usual on July 4th.

Nick Crossley, Assistant Director of Johnson County Emergency Management and Homeland Security, announced Tuesday, June 26, the monthly testing of the countywide emergency warning system will occur as scheduled despite the fact the July date falls on Independence Day. The Outdoor Warning System for Johnson County is tested on the first Wednesday of each month at 11 a.m. (except for December and January).

“It is our plan to conduct the test as usual at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 4th,” he said. “We will follow our normal criteria for holding the test which states that if severe weather is threatening or imminent as determined by the National Weather Service or our office, the test will be postponed to the following Wednesday, July 11th, at 11 a.m.”

More information about the holiday siren test is available by contacting Crossley at the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security at 782-3038.

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