Municipal News & Jobs

Salina City Commissioners Tuesday authorized Mayor Greg Lenkiewicz to execute agreements to pause enforcement of a federal judge’s ruling in November Salina’s sign codes are unconstitutional and authorizing appeal of that ruling to the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals. This centers on an ongoing battle between the Cozy Inn and the city over a mural on the north wall of their building, which the city said is not allowed under city sign codes. The court ruling held Salina’s sign codes were unconstitutional based on murals having to be non-commercial. As part of an agreement entered into between the Cozy Inn and the city, the establishment will be able to complete the mural at the center of this controversy. An agreement entered into by both parties sets out parameters if the city prevails on its appeal, which would include compliance timeliness that could include seeking a variance.
Read more: Ad Astra Radio

The Olathe City Council has appointed a new city manager following current current City Manager Michael Wilkes’ retirement announcement in July. The city council selected Susan Sherman after an extensive nationwide search. She is the first ever female and ninth city manager in Olathe’s history. “I am deeply honored to continue serving the Olathe community in this new capacity. Olathe is an extraordinary community with dedicated public servants, innovative partners, and engaged residents,” Sherman said. “I know our hardworking and passionate team’s commitment to excellence is the backbone of our success. Together, we will continue building a stronger and more vibrant community into the future.”
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

The Royals have released a statement on their search for a new stadium just hours after Leawood said it could not support a stadium at Overland Park’s Aspiria campus. “The Royals have a long history of working to make Greater Kansas City a better place,” a spokesperson said early Tuesday evening. “As such, we are deeply committed to building a stadium environment that prioritizes the health, safety, and traffic concerns of our neighbors. Wherever we build our next generational home, the project will be guided by strong community collaboration. We pledge to create an unsurpassed fan and community experience, one that elevates our region and serves as a place of great regional pride for us all.”
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

Monday’s county commission meeting is where three of Seward’s five commissioners announced their resignations. A single resignation is fairly common, but three at once is exceedingly rare. County Administrator April Warden says that things will run “business as usual,” at least if the seats are filled by the next scheduled commission meeting on Jan. 5.
Read more: KSN-TV

“If it doesn’t get passed, then we would need to look at reducing our expenditures significantly,” Director of Finance Angela Richard said. “We had about a $3 million gap between our revenues and expenditures, we would need to make up for that. That is going to mean significant service cuts, and that could be anything from reducing our level of maintenance on streets, it could mean less fire employees, less police. We’re going to have to figure that out.”
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Fulfilling expectations of a "hawkish cut," the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee cut its key overnight borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point, putting it in a range between 3.5%-3.75%. However, the move carried caution flags about where policy is headed from here and featured "no" votes from three members, which hasn’t happened since September 2019.
Read more: CNBC

The city of Leavenworth and CoreCivic, a Tennessee-based private prison company, have been fighting in court since early this year over whether CoreCivic needed to follow the city’s special use permit process.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

Students involved in the project say it gave them a deeper understanding of the challenges families face and the resilience found in local communities. They conducted interviews, filmed on location in Garden City and worked closely with mentors across several K-State departments.
Read more: KCLY Radio

The city was working without an administrator. “Mr. Leeker’s educational background and career experiences make him an excellent person for the position,” Mayor Burke said. “His forte in local government is an extremely strong asset for the city of Peabody.
Read more: Marion County RECORD

“I don’t agree with it,” Chief Lockhart said of the perception of Lawrence being negative toward the police. “But it doesn’t really matter if I agree with it, if that is what the perception is.”
Read more: LJWorld

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

A draft ordinance by the Lawrence Transparency Project would require more public oversight and put up safeguards on the use of camera integration technology rolled out by the Lawrence Police Department this year. The Lawrence Transparency Project organized following the police department’s adoption of the Axon Fusus program, a new system asking residents and businesses to register their security cameras on a list or integrate them for realtime access by police. The draft ordinance is the group’s input on the program and suggestions on how the city should approach similar technology moving forward. Community members and privacy experts raised concerns about the program when it was rolled out over the summer, arguing it reflected an industry strategy to encourage police departments to purchase more surveillance products.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Governor Laura Kelly announced today that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved the Kansas Office of Broadband Development’s (KOBD) $166.6 million final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The approval represents a significant milestone toward delivering high-speed internet access to the 26,673 eligible households and businesses across Kansas.
Read more: Kansas Department of Commerce

People in one of Kansas’ southernmost counties noticed in 2014 their local hospital was struggling, so they voted to create a sales tax that would direct funds to keep their health care system afloat. In the decade that followed, the Morton County hospital only received about half of the sales tax revenue it was owed, missing out on nearly $2 million. The cities of Morton County received the money instead. The Kansas Department of Revenue, for nine years, sent checks to Elkhart, population 1,726; Rolla, population 356; and Richfield, population 30, and the cities spent that money. David Thompson, the county attorney, told a committee of legislators Tuesday in Topeka the clerical error that led to the misappropriated funds “was just an oversight — an accident.” Rep. Ken Rahjes, a Republican from Agra, called the situation “head-scratching.”
Read more: Garden City Telegram

Learning twice as fast. That is the promise the Newton Board of Education will consider as it decides whether to implement an artificial-intelligence-driven pilot program aimed at improving student learning. The service would be provided by Studient, a company that has rolled out similar pilot programs in public schools in five other states and will soon be present in many more. Newton would be the first school to use the program in Kansas.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Actress Cate Blanchett calls them “everything that is wrong with the human race,” and says they “should be eradicated from the face of the earth.” Comedic actor Ricky Gervais also hates them, per an October story in The Guardian, as do actors Danny DeVito and Hugh Grant. So maybe it’s unsurprising that California, home to the stars, has been at the forefront in regulating leaf blowers. Beverly Hills was reportedly one of the first to ban sales of gas-powered leaf blowers — and that was in 1978. California Gov. Gavin Newsom followed that up with a statewide ban on the sale of new gas-powered blowers in 2021. Hating on leaf blowers has become mainstream in other states as well. According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, over 200 laws and programs have been enacted by cities, states and utilities to guide people away from the loud and polluting gas powered blowers. But here in Kansas and Johnson County, the passion doesn’t run quite as high. Spokespersons at the larger cities reported no impetus for leaf blower bans or targeted restrictions like California’s.
Read more: Johnson County Post