May - 2007

AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE BEGINS ITS WORK

The Johnson County Affordable Housing Task Force began an anticipated year-long task in a comprehensive study and review of making more Johnson County housing more affordable to more people in the future.

The task force, which was created by Johnson County Commission Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh, celebrated its official kick-off on Wednesday, May 2, with a morning breakfast at the Ritz Charles, 9000 West 137th Street, Overland Park.

The event attracted more than 50 committee members representing a wide range of stakeholders from throughout the community, including representatives from cities, home builders, bankers and financial experts, nonprofit organizations, realtors, chambers of commerce, and federal agencies.

“Judging by today’s attendance, affordable housing is on a lot of people’s minds,” Surbaugh said in her welcoming remarks.

“It’s my pleasure to be able to convene this task force to study and to make recommendations on how Johnson County—as a recognized Community of Choice in this nation—can appropriately address the need for housing that is attainable; that is achievable across multiple jurisdictions; and that is affordable for our residents.”

Surbaugh said affordable housing was ranked as a top priority at a Leadership Summit, called by her in March 2006 to allow city and county officials to discuss and identify common issues and concerns.

She said the growing need for more available and more affordable housing has not gone away and has escalated at an increasing rate over the past few years, leaving growing pockets of families in Johnson County who cannot attain the American dream of home ownership.

According to the Chairman, the affordable housing issue is a multi-jurisdictional problem requiring multi-jurisdictional solutions.

“County Government cannot achieve any significant change without help from other stakeholders in this community —both from the public and private sectors,” Surbaugh said. “Obviously, we will need an investment in this effort from the cities in Johnson County, where the vast majority of housing and housing projects are located.”

Co-chairmen of the steering committee for the Affordable Housing Task Force are Gary Anderson, a former First District County Commissioner and a member of the board of directors of United Community Services (US) of Johnson County, and Paul Robben of Robben Development and chairman of the Housing Choices Coalition.

In his remarks, Anderson anticipated a menu of options will be required in addressing the affordable housing challenge with different solutions required for different groups of Johnson County households, such as for citizens with fixed incomes and first-time homeowners.

“Nobody has a single answer,” he said. “It’s not ‘one size fits all’ in this issue.”

Robben agreed, noting that Johnson County has lost its edge in the metropolitan housing market because of rising housing prices coupled with increasing transportation costs. Since 1999, the county has experienced a 46 percent decline in the number of single-family building permits being issued for new housing.

According to Robben, Johnson County household incomes have been relatively stagnant since 1995 while housing values have increased more than 60 percent. Anderson described the situation as a “middle-class squeeze” with more and more households having to use more than half of their income to pay for housing costs alone.

Transportation and commuting costs also have increased with rising fuel costs and have impacted affordable housing efforts since more than 106,000 workers commute into Johnson County to work since many of them cannot afford to live in the county.

Robben said Kansas City working families now spend an average of $906 per month on transportation and only $625 a month on housing. Increased fuel costs will result in more and more workers opting not to commute to Johnson County to work and looking for jobs closer to their homes. The trend would affect the future availability of workers needed by Johnson County employers, both large and small, throughout the business/industry community.

The Affordable Housing Task Force has formed four subcommittees to study and review existing and future affordable housing needs along with developing possible solutions.

The subcommittees and their chairs include:

• Affordable Housing Models – Carol Smith, associate director of US;
• Financing Models – Anderson;
• Regulatory Models – Mike Scanlon, administrator for the city of Mission; and,
• Proposed Action Plan – Robben and Dave Holtwick, senior vice president of governmental affairs for the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City.

The subcommittees are expected to convene meetings in the months ahead to further study issues, concerns, and solutions in their assigned tasks in shaping a future action plan.

“My goal is to have a final report and recommendations from this task force ready for presentation by March 2008, which gives us a little less than one full year. Because of this aggressive timeline, I think that using the subcommittee structure will be important to achieve any success,” Surbaugh said.

Membership of the task force remains open to anyone with an interest in the affordable housing issue, including interested citizens of Johnson County.

Johnson County residents interested in being a member of the Affordable Housing Task Force 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.

Findings of 2004 Johnson County Housing Market and Needs Analysis

The issue of affordable housing in Johnson County was detailed in the 2004 Johnson County Housing Market and Needs Analysis.

According to the study, with each passing year affordable housing is less and less available to more and more citizens and potential residents of Johnson County. The number of people seeking affordable housing was estimated at between 39,221 and 44,354 in 2003. The ranks were expected to swell to between 45,966 and 52,621 by 2010. By the year 2015, an estimated 50,867 to 59,427 households wanting to live in single-family homes in Johnson County will not be able to afford to buy a house.

Key points in the study indicated:

• Soaring housing prices in Johnson County have risen faster relative to income, forcing the poor, middle and working class people to live farther and farther from their work and social environment.
• Many workers cannot live in Johnson County or near the communities they serve because their incomes make renting or owning a home unaffordable.
• Young people are often unable to live in the communities in which they grew up.
• Rising property values also have increased tax bills and placed added burden on senior citizens, single-adult households, and others who live on limited and fixed incomes.

The current housing market is clearly not meeting the need for affordable housing.

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public hearing scheduled for May 14 about FY 2008 Proposed Budget

A preliminary budget hearing is scheduled at 7 p.m. Monday, May 14, to allow for public discussion and citizen comments in preparation of the Proposed FY 2008 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 county’s Budget and Financial Reporting Department will be on hand to discuss the budget process, present an overview of the current FY 2007 Budget totaling $767.2 million, and respond to questions.

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

The proposed budget for next year will be presented by County Manager Michael B. Press on June 6 and June 7.

A final public hearing on the new budget, with changes and modifications supported by the Board of County Commissioners, will occur at 7 p.m. Monday, July 30, in the Board’s hearing room.

The Board is scheduled to adopt the new budget on August 16. By state law, the county must complete the FY 2008 Budget by August 25.

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District Court Trustee’s Office reports large increase in child-support collections

The Johnson County District Court Trustee’s Office is celebrating a lot of early successes in 2007 in collecting payments for court-ordered child support.

The office, which serves Johnson County’s Tenth Judicial District of Kansas, is responsible for enforcement and collection of all Johnson County child-support orders along with any other support orders from other courts in Kansas or other states.

In the first four months of 2007, the collections of child-support payments are collecting a lot of interest.

“I continued to be amazed at how our collections continue to go up,” District Court Trustee Melinda Whitman said. “This staff is phenomenal. Our staff works as a team and keeps our mission of enforcing support orders for the children in focus at all times.”

Through the end of April, the District Court Trustee’s Office collected more than $28.6 million in child support payments, an increase of slightly more than $2.1 million from the same period a year ago. In March, child-support collections totaled almost $7.6 million, a record amount for a single month. The following month, payments were more than $7.3 million, an increase of almost $1.3 million from April 2006.

If the collection pace continues for the remainder of 2007, the office will easily top $80 million in child-support payments, a record amount in the 35-year history of the office.

Whitman also credits the increased child-support collections to criminal prosecution to enforce child-support orders; use of other collection methods, such as garnishments, to collect payments; and informational/educational programs to encourage parents to pay their child support in a timely manner.

The office staff also includes four hearing officers who review and oversee current cases or modify support payments, if needed.

“I think that people tend to pay better if they feel they can get their support orders modified without spending a lot of money getting to court,” Whitman said.

The District Court Trustee’s Office was the first of its kind established in the state in 1972. In 2006, the office collected more than $79.4 million and was handling 15,319 cases at the end of the year. At the end of April, the caseload had increased to 15,486.

The office is located in the Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Olathe.

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County honors Gov. John Anderson

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners had an early birthday celebration on Thursday, May 3, for former Kansas Governor John Anderson Jr. of Olathe.

The Olathe native will celebrate his 90th birthday on Tuesday, May 8.

On Thursday, Commission Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh presented Anderson a Certificate of Recognition for his longtime public service and in celebration of his milestone birthday.

“It took awhile to get along this far,” Anderson said of becoming a nonagenarian. “I’m kind of surprised myself. If I make it to 100, I’ll come back.”

The presentation of the certificate was made during the Board’s weekly business meeting in the hearing room on the third floor of the Johnson County Administration Building in downtown Olathe.

“Johnson County has been blessed with a lot of great leaders,” Surbaugh said. “Governor Anderson is a stellar example.”

Born near Olathe in 1917, Anderson’s public service career involved all three levels of government – local, state, and federal. After being educated by both Kansas State University and the University of Kansas where he received a law degree in 1944, he began his career as a public servant by joining the staff of U.S. District Court Judge Walter Huxman.  Continuing with the judicial branch, Anderson was elected as Johnson County Attorney in 1947, serving six years.

In 1953, he was elected to the Kansas State Senate in 1953, serving three years. He was appointed Kansas Attorney General in 1956 and served until 1961.

Anderson was elected the 36th governor of Kansas in 1960 and was re-elected 1962. He was the first governor to occupy the new executive mansion, Cedar Crest.

During his tenure as the state’s chief executive, Governor Anderson used his diverse government experiences to help reform and restructure several institutions, including: the state’s pardon and parole systems; creation of a combined state medical and psychiatric hospital; restructuring of the state’s public school system into unified districts and increasing of the state’s per-pupil expenditure allowance; sanctioning of fair employment practices standards; advancements in highway construction; and improvements in the public welfare system.

After leaving the Governor’s Office on January 11, 1965, Anderson served as the attorney for both the Kansas Turnpike Authority and the State Board of Healing Arts. He retired in 1972.

In 2006, Congress approved a federal resolution to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 110 North Chestnut Street in downtown Olathe as the “Governor John Anderson Jr. Post Office Building.”

The section of K-10 Highway in Johnson County also has been named in his honor.

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‘Doc’ Wollen reappointed to Park Commission

Dr. Marvin “Doc” Wollen of Olathe was reappointed Thursday, May 3, to a new term as the Fifth District representative on the Johnson County Park and Recreation Commission.

His reappointment was approved unanimously Thursday by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners. Wollen was nominated by Fifth District Commissioner Doug Wood.

He has been a member of the Park and Recreation Commission since January 1, 1990, serving as chairman in 2005 and 1999, and currently is the board’s secretary. His new term will end January 31, 2010.

Wollen, who has played Santa Claus for the Olathe School District, nonprofit organizations, and for various businesses for more than 45 years, retired in mid-2004 after more than 48 years of practicing optometry in Olathe.

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County First Responders assist in recovery efforts at Greensburg

Throughout the week, teams of Johnson County first responders have been deploying to Kiowa County as part of statewide efforts to assist in disaster recovery for the devastated City of Greensburg and other areas in central and eastern Kansas damaged by recent tornadoes and flooding.

As of this date, 55 city and county first responders representing law enforcement, fire service, planning and development, emergency medical services, and emergency management have either deployed to Greensburg
or are currently en route. Two others have been augmenting staffing at the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Topeka.

Additionally, at least 50 more persons are preparing for future deployments primarily in the areas of law enforcement, emergency medical services and mental health. Fire department rapid water rescue resources have also been put on alert for possible pre-staging in areas where major flooding may be anticipated. There may also be a call for CERT – Community Emergency Response Teams – to be activated. CERT members wishing to volunteer for deployment must make their requests through their City CERT Coordinator, who will pass it to the State EOC where final CERT composition will be determined. As with all response resources, it is imperative that no one self-deploy to the area without a state assigned mission or proper authorization.

Citizens desiring to volunteer their services may contact their local Red Cross office (on-line at www.redcross.org) or the local Salvation Army Corps office (on-line at www.salvationarmyusa.org). More information regarding volunteering and donations is available on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ website at www.governor.ks.gov/DisasterRelief.htm.

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Johnson County and City of Olathe Recognized for Fiber Connectivity Project

A joint initiative between Johnson County and the City of Olathe that utilizes fiber technology to provide high bandwidth connections between government facilities was recognized with a Significant Achievement award at the Public Technology Institute’s (PTI) 2007 Technology Leadership Conference, May 8, 2007 in Denver Colorado.

PTI is a national, non-profit technology research organization created by and for cities and counties. The Technology Leadership Conference brings together local government officials responsible for technology programs from governments across the U.S.

The fiber network provides Johnson County and Olathe with a redundant failsafe network that will also support future disaster recovery centers and provide uninterrupted services for the facilities connected to that portion of the network.

Both governments have realized substantial cost savings through this project. Johnson County estimated a cost of $300,000 to connect just one of the facilities by installing fiber themselves. To purchase a 1 gigabyte pipe from the local telecommunications company for this same facility, the county would spend approximately $6000 per month. This would only accommodate current use, with very little room for growth.

Similarly, Olathe estimates savings of $42,075 per month when compared to use of traditional leased lines from a local telecommunications company to connect the same city facilities. The eventual completion of phases II and III will almost double the projected savings for connectivity of facilities.

“This initiative is an example that other local governments will look to when it comes to the advantages of governments working together to solve problems and create solutions. Everyone in the community benefits from these types of partnerships,” said Alan Shark, Executive Director of PTI when announcing the award.

Johnson County will spend approximately $460,000 by the time the project is completed and will have a complete fiber network between the county buildings within the City of Olathe and will also have fiber connectivity to the two other large cities in the county. Future possibilities include linking Johnson County and cities to other organizations within the greater Kansas City metropolitan area.

Another major result will be the capability for future expansion of services to be delivered over this network. The city and county will be able to deliver video conferencing, streaming video or a host of other applications that require high bandwidth connections. As more applications become IP base, e.g. video surveillance, building monitoring, both organizations are well prepared to deliver these services at little or no additional cost for well into the future.

Johnson County was also awarded on Honorable Mention for the program District Court Trustee My Case Information. The web based application, implemented in February of 2004, provides a secured user interface that allows several user communities to access child support information. The original deployment targeted child support payors and payees, District Court Trustee staff, and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS). For child support payors and payees, the system provides access to their specific case history information, current and historical payment information, arrears data, and emancipation dates. SRS has access to view basic information about cases. District Court Trustee staff use the application as a backup in the rare event that their client server application is unavailable. They also use it for remote access from home. They can view all information in the system using similar interfaces to the client server application. The web application was later made available to the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office and to Johnson County Department of Corrections parole officers. These groups use the application to provide data for criminal case research and to monitor parolees.

The application receives approximately 8099 visits annually, which represents that many questions that can be answered without using DCT resources. Based on the number of website visits, an estimated 900 staff hours per year are saved with this application.

About PTI
The Public Technology Institute is a national member supported organization based in Washington, DC. As the only technology organization created by and for cities and counties, PTI works with a core network of leading local government officials– the PTI membership – to identify opportunities for technology research, share best practices, offer consultancies and pilot demonstrations, promote technology development initiatives, and develop enhanced educational programming. Officials from PTI member governments participate in councils and forums that address specific technology areas. Through a corporate partner program with leading technology companies, and partnerships with federal agencies and other governmental organizations, PTI shares the results of these activities and the expertise of its members with the broader audience of the thousands of cities and counties across the U.S. For additional information see the PTI web site at www.pti.org.

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County flag returns after flying in Iraq

A Johnson County Government flag has come back after a special eight-month mission to Iraq.

In celebration of the county’s recognition of “National Military Appreciation Months,” the county flag was returned Thursday, May 17, during the weekly business session of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.

Major Hadley Turner presented the flag to Commission Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh, who accepted its return on behalf of the county.

“It still has dirt from Iraq on it,” Turner quipped.

The proclamation recognizes the months of May and June as a time to honor members of the American armed services during a two-month period that includes Loyalty Day, VE Day, Military Spouse Day, Armed Forces Day, and Memorial Day.

“It recognizes those on active duty in all branches of the services, the National Guard and Reserves plus retirees, veterans, and all their families – well over 90 million Americans and more than 230 years of our nation’s history,” Chairman Surbaugh said in presenting the proclamation to Turner.

In return, he presented her the county flag. He received the county flag and city flag from Lenexa, where he lives, in early 2006 when his unit, the 35th Area Support Group based in Lexington, Mo., was deployed to Iraq. The two flags were sent to the unit by the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce.

In Iraq, Turner 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 flags from Johnson County and Lenexa were flown and displayed at various times at the base, in his office, and often on aerial support missions.

“They were mounted in Blackhawks (helicopters) and flown all over Iraq,” Turner said.

Both flags accompanied Turner and the unit when their tour of duty ended in September. He has since returned the city flag to Lenexa. His flag mission was completed Thursday with the return of the county flag.

In addition to the flag, Turner also presented Chairman Surbaugh with a certificate of authenticity that the county flag was flown in Arbil, Baghdad, and Kirkuk, Iraq to symbolize “the sovereign power of the United States of America and the unshakeable resolve to keep our country safe.”

The framed certificate also included a picture of a Blackhawk helicopter, six military paper money certificates, called “plogs,” used in Iraq along with small American and Iraqi flags.

The 2006 deployment to Iraq was Turner’s first mission in Operation Iraqi Freedom. After its return, the unit was “reflaged” as the 35th Division Support Command. Now in his 26th year in the reserves, Turner now serves with the 35th Infantry Division at Leavenworth.

“We’re all connected,” he said with a smile. “If it’s a 35th, we’re generally related somehow.”

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County prepares to send dump trucks, more employees to Greensburg in recovery efforts

Employees and equipment from the Johnson County Department of Public Works and Infrastructure are being sent to Greensburg this weekend to help clear away tornado debris for the rebuilding of the Kansas community.

The county plans to deploy a total of 10 employees from the department. They represent two crews of five employees for separate week-long deployments. The first crew is scheduled to leave Saturday. The departments also will send three dump trucks, a front-end loader, and a pickup truck that will be used in recovery efforts.

On Thursday, May 17, Mike Selves, director of the county’s Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said Johnson County has deployed 64 employees, past, present, and near future, from nine departments to the assist the community in the aftermath of the deadly tornado on May 4.

“This is a phenomenal effort,” Selves told the Johnson County Board of Commissioners Thursday in providing an update on the Johnson County governmental community’s response to assist in the recovery and rebuilding efforts in Greensburg. “Johnson County’s combined effort is significant.”

In addition to the Public Works deployment, the county has sent 31 deputies and seven vehicles from the Sheriff’s Office and seven first responders and an ambulance from Med-Act to Greensburg.

The remainder of the employee volunteers from Johnson County has come from Information Technology Services, Mental Health, Emergency Management, Planning and Development, County Manager’s Office, and the Park and Recreation District Police Department.

“The employees who work for Johnson County Government are among the best in the world, hands down. And they’ve demonstrated that their commitment, their compassion, and their concern aren’t restricted just to Johnson County. They demonstrated that caring effort two years ago in responding to Hurricane Katrina. And, they’re doing that today and in the weeks ahead in responding to Greensburg,” Commission Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh said.

“I’m incredibly proud of these Johnson County men and women who volunteered to leave their homes and families to help our fellow Kansans in need. The county takes great pride in their commitment to the true spirit of public service.”

In the first week after the tornado, Johnson County deployed 22 employees and now has 18 employees in Greensburg. On Thursday, there were 24 employee volunteers preparing to deploy by the weekend and in the near future.

The county employees are among more than 220 city/county government workers who have been deployed to the Kiowa County community in the past two weeks. They include personnel from the Olathe Planning Department and Administration Office; Overland Park Administration Office; police departments from the cities of Olathe, Leawood, Lenexa, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, and Shawnee; and fire departments from the cities of Olathe and Leawood along with Johnson County’s Fire District No. 1, Fire District No. 3, and Consolidated Fire District No. 2.

Public works departments from the cities of Gardner, Mission, Overland Park, and Olathe also have been deployed to Greensburg along with a small fleet of dump trucks and other heavy equipment to participate in the clean-up mission.

Eight non-government volunteers also have been deployed. They were members of Olathe’s CERT (Community Emergency Response Team).

On Thursday, the Board of County Commissioners approved $150,000 from General Fund reserves for use in a project account to pay for county expenses incurred as a result of the participation in the Kansas response to the Greensburg tornado.

The project account will pay for any overtime expenses of deployed county employees and other costs that are expected to be reimbursed by the federal government through the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.

The base salaries of the county workers, however, will be paid through each department’s budget while the employees are on authorized deployment away from their normal duties. The federal act does not reimburse base salaries of deployed governmental employees.

Vote to approve the project account was unanimous.

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Members of three advisory boards appointed to new terms

Three current members of separate Johnson County advisory boards were allowed Thursday, May 17, to retain their seats for new terms with nods of approval by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.

The Board approved the reappointments of:

• Doug Sikkel, Overland Park, to the Mental Health Governing Board;
• Charlotte O’Hara, Olathe, to the Heritage Trust Fund Grant Review Board; and,
• William Eggers, Overland Park, to the Commission on Aging.

Sikkel’s term on the Mental Health Governing Board will continue through December 31, 2009. He was first appointed to the board on December 31, 2003.

O’Hara was first appointed to the Heritage Trust Fund Grant Review Board on January 3, 2004. Her new term will end January 3, 2010.

Both Sikkel and O’Hara were nominated for reappointment as Sixth District representatives to their respective boards by Commissioner John Toplikar.

Eggers will serve as a Fifth District representative to the Commission on Aging. His first term on the commission began on September 1, 2003. His new term will run through September 1, 2009. Eggers was nominated for reappointment by Commissioner Doug Wood.

All three reappointments were approved as part of the Board’s weekly consent agenda by a single unanimous vote.

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County mourns death of former assistant election commissioner

Gloria Barnhart, former assistant election commissioner for Johnson County, died early Monday morning, May 21, in her Lenexa home, losing a courageous battle against ovarian cancer. She was 65.

On January 19, she retired from the Johnson County Election Office where she had worked as a full-time employee since March 1992, serving as assistant election commissioner since October 2000. She worked for three election commissioners – Elgia Stevenson, Connie Schmidt, and Brian Newby, the current election commissioner since January 2005.

Annabeth Surbaugh, Chairman of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, led the Johnson County community in mourning the death of the beloved and well-respected assistant election commissioner.

“Johnson County has lost a great public servant with a great heart, a great friend, and a true lady. Gloria Barnhart maintained high principles through firm dedication and unwavering passion for preserving and serving the election process and its vital role in the American democracy,” Chairman Surbaugh said.

“She was the heart and soul of the Election Office for a long, long time. It’s a sad loss for her family and for her Johnson County family.”

Newby agreed.

“It was my honor and privilege to have known Gloria, to have worked with her for the past two years, and to have considered her a close friend,” he said.

“Gloria was a well respected leader, a selfless worker, and simply a class act in all ways. Her dedication to Johnson County elections and to Johnson County voters defined her, and to many, she was the Election Office. Our hearts and prayers are with her family at this time. She will be greatly missed.”

Survivors include Gene, her husband of 43 years; two children, Bret and Anne; and one granddaughter, Taylor.

The memorial funeral service will be 10 a.m. Thursday, May 24, at the Amos Family Funeral Home, 10113 Lenexa Drive, Lenexa (66215). Burial will follow at the Lenexa Cemetery, 90th Street and Pflumm Road.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Kansas City or the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation.

Condolences may be expressed at www.amosfamily.com.

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