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
Welcome to “Common Sense with Ryan Baty.” In this episode, host Ryan Baty sits down with Joe Woodward, Wichita’s Director of Operations for Stand Together is the recent recipient of the Sedgwick County Commission Chairman’s Award for their impact and a national philanthropic community tackling some of the country’s biggest and most complex problems from the ground up.
If you’re curious about how communities can come together to solve big issues, why Wichita is ground zero for some bold new experiments, or how ordinary people are using creative, principle-driven solutions to build a better future, you won’t want to miss this episode.
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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.
Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Jeanine Phillips and Jill Hodge at the Phillips Fundamental Learning Center to learn more about the work they do for children with dyslexia.
According to the NAEP, 70% of 4th graders in Kansas are not reading at a proficient level — and 1 in 5 students has dyslexia.
This organization helps empower children with dyslexia by teaching them to read, write and spell, while also training adults, parents and teachers on how to more effectively teach these skills to children with dyslexia.
And the results are remarkable!
I enjoy learning about organizations that are meeting needs and filling gaps in our community, and the Fundamental Learning Center is incredibly impressive and needed.
Learn more ➡️ www.funlearn.org … See MoreSee Less
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This is heavy. I’m grateful for those that stand in the gap for us — across all public safety services.
“Go with God, Brother.” ❤️ … See MoreSee Less
END OF WATCH: Phillips County dispatch gives fallen deputy Brandon Gaede his End of Watch call. https://www.kwch.com/2025/07/06/end-watch-final-call-fallen-phillips-county-sheriffs-deputy-brandon-gaede/
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An inch of rain in 20 minutes — and then blue skies with 75 degrees!
Is this July for REAL? 🙌 … See MoreSee Less
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Real Talk ⬇️
There are some difficult realities in the community response to homelessness that we need to acknowledge.
Last year, there were around 1300 unhoused people that found housing through the coordinated care network. 80% of these individuals remained housed. Our community does a good job of helping people that are seeking services — those that have experienced eviction, loss of job, or have simply had a challenging circumstance that caused them to lose housing.
There is also a subset of our population that isn’t willing or capable to engage services. Most of these individuals are experiencing severe mental health disorders, addiction, physical or intellectual disabilities — and we estimate this population to be around 100 people. These are the hardest to engage and this population is growing.
We are using traditional housing services and resources for this hardest to engage population, and it’s simply not working. In the past, we used different stabilization housing models and institutionalization, but these options aren’t available today.
If we are going to have success, we need to acknowledge this challenge and explore different ways to serve this population. They need our help — and so do the neighbors and businesses that are also being impacted. … See MoreSee Less
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What if the best way to impact community crime and violence is empowerment? Hope for the Hood is a group of reformed gang members who are working to revitalize their communities by showing young people a better, more productive life through power, hope, and life-changing testimonies. I'm grateful that organizations like Stand Together help support local organizations doing the work in our community. Listen or watch the full podcast on my website and YouTube Channel! … See MoreSee Less
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Last week I was honored to welcome and encourage 11 new graduates to 911 Emergency Communications.
911 is the front door to all public safety in the community. This Commission and County Management are making significant investments into the 911 model to modernize the department — including separation of call takers and dispatchers, discipline specific dispatching, technology updgrades and more.
We went from a low of 62% staffing in 2021, to fully staffed in 2025. The result? Better safety for our citizens and first responders.
Congratulations to our new staff members and welcome to Sedgwick County Government! … See MoreSee Less
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Local government has a role, yes, but I believe that reform is most powerful when it's community and grassroots led. Great things can happen when people work together to meet needs and find solutions to some of our biggest challenges. I really enjoyed my conversation with Joe Woodward from Stand Together as we talked about bottom-up solutions and the local changemakers doing transformative work. Listen or watch the full podcast on my website and YouTube channel. … See MoreSee Less
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Friends
Family
Fireworks
An American Tradition!
Grateful for this nation. Happy Independence Day!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 … See MoreSee Less
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Watching the City of Maize, Kansas annual fireworks show from north of the city. 🧨
Love the view! Grateful. 🇺🇸 … See MoreSee Less
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