Shawnee County breaks from past practice, pays moving expenses for new employee

The Shawnee County Commission broke from past practice Thursday by agreeing to pay moving expenses for Jeremy Myers, the county’s incoming parks operations director.

Commissioners Bob Archer, Bill Riphahn and Kevin Cook voted 3-0 to pay any moving and travel expenses Myers incurs coming to Topeka from Hudsonville, Mich.

The contract involved doesn’t specify a monetary amount. A document in the agenda packet for Thursday’s meeting indicated the county has agreed to pay “the actual reimbursable moving expenses verified by receipts” or “the amount of moving expenses for moving 12,000 pounds of household goods by commercial carrier,” whichever is less.

Cook suggested Thursday’s move might mark the first time the county had agreed to pay a new employee’s moving expenses since he joined the commission in 2013. He said county parks and recreation director John Knight was making arrangements for the county to potentially put in place guidelines it could apply to similar situations.

Archer said he supported Thursday’s move because if the county is going to continue to have a world-class parks and recreation department, it will need to attract people like Myers.