Local Leadership
I am grateful to serve our community.
We are in a pivotal season for Sedgwick County. We need leadership to help improve our position economically while working to bridge the divide relationally. This community is our home. I want to do all that I can to make sure we are improving and fostering the best quality of life for everyone in Sedgwick County.
Common Sense Podcast
In my view, the most important levels of government are found closest to home at the local level. Where services that impact our lives happen every day. City government, county government, and particularly, our local school boards have enormous influence on the health and prosperity of our community. And one of the most important figures working to help shape the largest school district in the entire state is Diane Albert, USD 259 Board of Education President. Diane and I talk about the generational impact Wichita Public Schools is working to have on our community.
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Change for the Better
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Issues
Staffing Stability for Sedgwick County Government
With nearly 3,000 employees across 46 departments, the work being done by our employees is vital to the quality of life we experience in the community. Upon my arrival on the Commission, we were experiencing significant staffing shortages – particularly in public safety and public health. Aggressive and strategic adjustments in compensation plans returned increased employee morale and staffing stability. Today, we have staffing levels above 90% and our performance goals are all being accomplished. Strategic workforce investments have provided more effective and efficient services to the 525k people of Sedgwick County.
Homelessness, Foster Care and Behavioral Health
Every policy decision must find a connecting link to healthier families. Our community has made significant progress in several large scale community challenges. In homelessness, we continue to develop a long-term community plan with a focus on shelter, services, and affordable housing. We have worked collaboratively to reduce the negative impacts of a foster care system that is failing our most vulnerable kids. We have also invested into a new COMCARE CRISIS center that will increase services such as mobile mental health, 988 suicide line, medical detox beds as well as other strategic initiatives to help meet the growing needs of our community.
Development of the Northwest Expressway
Connecting K-96 to Kellogg through west Sedgwick County has been a discussion for 30+ years. This would spur incredible economic development, but the conversation had stalled as had cooperation amongst key stakeholders. I have worked to re-engage the project with KDOT, Maize, Goddard and the City of Wichita as well as helping to reestablish the NW Expressway Coalition. We now have more momentum in the project than what has been seen in over a decade.
Property Tax Reform
Increasing property taxes has become a painful challenge for many families and businesses. With nearly 50% of our county revenues being generated through property taxes, we aim to reduce the county’s dependency on this revenue source and provide relief to our community. In each of my budgets, we have found ways to reduce the property tax mill levy while also stabilizing core county services. As my #1 priority in 2025 and 2026, we will continue to reduce property tax burden through a series of strategic reforms and initiatives.
Modernizing Local Government
The cost of government continues to increase, and reform is needed to counteract the increasing costs. As we look across the county and our 20 city partners, I will advance plans to eliminate redundancies via more shared services, strategic partnerships, and functional department consolidations. It is time to modernize the local government model and in doing so we will find reduced costs and improved efficiencies. I will continue leading the conversation and building collaborative relationships.
“The government closest to the people, serves its people best”
– Thomas Jefferson
Success is Local
Success requires leadership that listens to the pulse of the community. Local government needs to be shaped by civility and collaboration in order to maximize the potential of our people.
As a business owner & pastor, I am excited to communicate our vision for Sedgwick County and demonstrate a plan that enhances quality of life in our community. These conversations will be focused on our economy, quality of life investment and the appropriate function of our local government.
Work in the Community
Here are a few ways we give back to our community with links for you to join in!
Love Schools
The heart of this organization is to pair local businesses with local schools in order to meet strategic needs and supply resources.
Foster Care Advocate
I have worked with selective organizations to help raise awareness of the foster care crisis in our community.
Firm Foundation Ministries
This organization provides transitional housing and reintegration skills training for individuals leaving correctional facilities.
The Mattress hub
We have strategically partnered with local schools and organizations to donate beds to children in need.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to join these discussions and help shape reforms in our foster care system. Interesting blogpost on the impact of poverty and neglect in removing a child from a home.
Wichita is GROUND ZERO for this discussion. ⬇️⬇️
“These families, who are already doing their best to care for their children, may be making really difficult decisions between things like paying their electric bill to keep their home warm and safe in the winter, purchasing a weather-appropriate coat for their child, or buying groceries.
Should “failure” to do these things be considered neglect? Poverty creates these situations, but inability to pay bills, purchase clothes, put enough food on the table or gas in the car, and meet all the other necessities of a family, is not the same as being unwilling or refusing to do so. When we consider the distinction between ability and willingness critically, more questions arise. Should we be removing a child from a home where everything is being done to care for their child, but the family is still unable to meet all of their needs? What would happen if we provided resources directly to these families rather than providing resources to separate families to care for these children removed from their homes? Could this support keep children in their own homes, rather than putting them through the trauma of removal?”In this month’s featured blog post, Brenna Visocsky (Just Campaign Director) outlines efforts to examine how neglect and poverty are defined in our child welfare system. Currently, in Kansas, neglect has been cited as the reason for removal in 62% of child removals since last July. With 154,000 Kansas children living in homes with a family income less than twice the federal poverty level, should “failure” to provide be considered neglect when poverty is the result of these actions?
Read our blog here: www.kansasappleseed.org/poverty-neglect/ … See MoreSee Less
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Listening to the names of the Police and Sheriff Deputies that have given their lives in service is a humbling and heavy experience. Grateful to these people and their families.
I unashamedly Back the Blue. 💙 … See MoreSee Less
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Tragic. My heart breaks for his family, coaches and teammates. The youth basketball community is a tight group. I know this loss will be deeply felt by a lot of people.REST IN PEACE 💔 A Wichita middle school student who suffered a brain bleed and collapsed during a basketball tournament on March 30 has died. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Shama’ar Jefferson. … See MoreSee Less
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It was a special day at the County Commission with FOUR incredible proclamations — one of which was very personal to me.
End the Stigma Day is part of Mental Health Awareness Month. The proclamation was received by Lovelikeremi Foundation, an organization founded by a mother who lost her daughter in 2022 and has since been determined to bring much needed awareness and resources to young people contemplating suicide.
A mother’s heart is a powerful thing. ❤️
Thanks for letting us show appreciation for your work today. Remington’s story will continue to save lives. … See MoreSee Less
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Last week, I gathered with 1240 people representing nearly 40 churches to discuss issues of homelessness and affordable housing.
I’m deeply encouraged to see the faith community engaged in our biggest community issues.
Multiple times, I was asked to commit my support to a $500k line item in the County’s budget towards the operations of the Multi Agency Center. Each time, I declined, but it’s certainly not because I don’t support the efforts at the MAC. I declined the request for a simple reason ⬇️
That’s not what the MAC Board is asking from the County.
We are very involved in the success of homeless efforts in our community and the newly established MAC Board is asking the County to shape the mental health, substance use and medical components of the campus. If these aspects are not developed and invested into, the long term success of our homeless efforts will be compromised.
We know our role and I am fully supportive of making sure we do it with excellence! I will continue to work alongside my friends at Justice Together to ensure their voices are heard and helping to shape the approach in Sedgwick County. … See MoreSee Less
Religious leaders gather to discuss housing in Sedgwick Co.
www.kwch.com
They want to hold local officials accountable and secure commitments to improving the community.6 CommentsComment on Facebook
Impossible Problems ⬇️
We have an informal list on a board of what we call “impossible problems” — issues that are incredibly complex with no easy solutions.
I look at this board multiple times a day.
This week, I hosted a meeting on one of these issues with the Deputy Secretary of KDADS who graciously drove down from Topeka to join the discussion.
The topic? How do we better serve people that are dual diagnosed as having both an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) AND a mental health condition?
IDD providers specialize in their services, but turn to places like Comcare for mental health.
Comcare specializes in their services, but turn to places like Starkey for IDD work.
Neither are doing both — it’s so specialized and acute — and yet the population of dual diagnosed individuals is growing… as is the cost of care!
Finally, I feel like we have a breakthrough with a few creative options in the works. We can’t turn our heads and ignore the hard stuff. The list on that board isn’t going away… and neither is my excessive pushing and prodding for solutions. 😉 … See MoreSee Less
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Front porch 🏠
Coffee ☕️
Kansas Sunrise ☀️
Enjoy this Spring weather while we have it! … See MoreSee Less
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Who knew that an 18-month old would enjoy trips to get plants and mulch for Mom? 😂
Woodard Mercantile is a staple in the Maize community. Their staff is always helpful and friendly — and the baby ducks and chickens are a HIT with local kids! … See MoreSee Less
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Celebrating the groundbreaking of Park City’s new Senior Center! Here is a portion of my remarks ⬇️
“The service work is certainly critical, but it’s also deeply personal for many of us here today. We must acknowledge that our seniors have spent decades building our communities – raising their families, starting businesses, teaching, volunteering, and leading. They have invested their lives into shaping what we all enjoy today, so it’s only right and just that we now work to honor their investments and that we continue to develop opportunities that best support our aging population.”
Keep WINNING City of Park City, Kansas! … See MoreSee Less
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