What do we mean by “Lighting the Way?” We choose to maximize our impact as a leader in our region, state and even nation, for the benefit of the community and our peers.  By lighting the way, we bring along others with us and make their journeys easier. We are so pleased to shine the spotlight on what we accomplished…side-by-side with this community…in 2023.

In looking back at 2023, we reflect with gratitude on serving this amazing community for another year. We light up when we continue to receive such high satisfaction marks in our annual community survey, and it is our mission to continue to make Johnson County one of the best counties to live, work and raise a family.

2023 began with the swearing in of our Board of County Commissioners, with a new Chair at the helm. A few months later, the BOCC voted on four priorities for 2023 and 2024, focusing on:

• Working on safe, stable and attainable housing solutions for those who are experiencing homelessness, who are in vulnerable populations or who are justice involved.
• Supporting the growth and economic development occurring in the northwest corner of our county.
• Providing a healthy and safe community through the lens of sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Investing in a resilient workforce so we can deliver exceptional programs and services.

We hope you spend time viewing our digital annual report where we share some of the year’s success stories in the implementation of these priorities. Progress like this takes strong and visionary policymakers working in partnership with a talented, innovative and dedicated workforce. We are proud to have both and together, along with community partners, made major progress in implementing the BOCC’s priorities in 2023.

A few successes you will read about:

• Successfully launching one pilot program to encourage more landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers for cost-burdened renters, and another for an eviction mediation process to provide an alternative to evictions.
• Implementation of a comprehensive salary and benefits study and update to our pay tables in order to retain and recruit the workforce needed to best serve our community.
• Creating a Sustainability Coalition and a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coalition made up of community members.
• Completing a Comprehensive Plan update for northwest Johnson County for land use related to housing density.

Throughout the annual report we also share success stories, awards, achievements and examples of continuous improvement. These all contribute to a year of “Lighting the Way” for our community to bring you along with us on the path towards a vibrant, healthy and collaborative community.