Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Kiowa County communities come together to support 12-year-old

The communities of Mullinville and Greensburg in Kiowa County came together Labor Day to support one of their own. Twelve-year-old Brogan Tweedy, of Greensburg, was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia on July 31 after a routine visit to the eye doctor resulted in a visit to a specialist in Wichita the next day.

That doctor ordered an MRI and the doctor who read the results informed the family that Brogan had M0 acute myeloid leukemia.

Brogan, who will turn 13 on Oct. 16, has been in Wichita since that day, getting treatment for the rare form of leukemia that, according to his doctors, hasn’t been recorded in 20 years. It is so rare it is being documented in two medical journals in hopes of helping others.

(Read more: Leavenworth Times)

Pittsburg may soon get rentable scooters

If approved by the city commission at its next meeting, Pittsburg residents and visitors will soon have access to a fleet of electric scooters that riders can easily rent using a mobile app on their phones for $1 per 15 minutes.

The scooters will be owned and serviced by the company VeoRide. Deputy City Manager Jay Byers said similar mobile app operated scooter companies such as Bird and Lime might be reluctant to come to Pittsburg because they generally offer their services in larger cities.

“We tend to be on the smaller side of the market,” Byers said, “and VeoRide was the company that was first willing to come to Pittsburg, and they came to us and asked us if they could put scooters in play, and we said sure, but we have to pass the ordinance first.”

(Read more: News – The Ottawa Herald)

Osawatomie hires interim city manager

A former city administrator for the city of Lansing for 16 years has been selected to serve as interim city manager until the city of Osawatomie can find outgoing manager Don Cawby’s successor.

The City Council voted unanimously Thursday, Sept. 12, to hire Michael Smith as interim city manager. Smith served as city administrator of Lansing from 1999 until his retirement in 2015. Prior to that post, Smith served Lansing for two decades as the community’s police chief.

Smith is the current mayor of Lansing and also is president of the Kansas Mayors Association.

(Read more: The Miami County Republic)

WSJ ANALYSIS: When Negotiated Underwriters Flip Municipal Bonds, Local Governments Pay the Price

When the West Contra Costa Unified School District in California needed money to repair and upgrade deteriorating classrooms, it hired [a “negotiated” underwriter] to sell $191 million of municipal bonds.

As far as school officials knew, the March 2016 sale went off flawlessly, enabling the district to refinance older debt and tackle tasks such as removing asbestos and upgrading science labs.

However, within a day of the initial sale, the original buyers sold, or “flipped,” $35 million of the district’s bonds for a profit of $306,000, a Wall Street Journal analysis of trading in the bonds found.

Within 10 trading days, the post-offering trading had generated $1.24 million of market-adjusted profits. [The “negotiated” underwriter] participated in some of that trading, buying back bonds and reselling them.

Newly issued municipal bonds, which are marketed as long-term investments, aren’t supposed to trade like that. The post-offering buying and selling suggests West Contra Costa’s bonds—sold in what is called a negotiated offering—were initially underpriced. That means the district will pay more in interest over the life of the bonds than it would if the bonds had been priced closer to what subsequent investors paid.

“That’s money being left on the table that costs taxpayers and rate payers and governments,” said Patrick Clancy, who recently retired after 30 years as a financial adviser to local governments issuing bonds. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to go.”

Some Kansas cities and schools still use an Underwriter as their “financial advisor”! Here’s how to find out if you do [in 3 EASY STEPS]

Although it’s widely considered a “best practice” to use an independent advisor (i.e., not an underwriter-broker/dealer) when issuing municipal bonds, some local governments still use an underwriter as their advisor!

Key reasons to NOT use an underwriter/broker-dealer as your advisor:

Underwriters sometimes don’t take competitive bids, and dictate the interest rate in a “negotiated” bond sale!
Underwriters have other clients (bond buyers) who want a high interest rate (the opposite of what you want!)
Underwriters have an incentive to put higher interest rates on your bonds so they can more easily sell them
If an underwriter takes competitive bids, federal law prohibits them from bidding, so your pool of bidders may be significantly smaller

For all these reasons (and others), it’s often considered a best practice to use an independent advisor (i.e., not an underwriter-broker/dealer) when issuing municipal bonds.

Here’s how to find out if your Financial Advisor is independent — or a broker-dealer.

Click here to go to the MSRB website to check the qualifications of your Municipal Advisor.
Type in the name of your advisor
When the name pops up, look at it’s “Registrant Type”

If the Registrant Type is “Municipal Advisor“, that means the advisor is independent and putting your community’s interests first!

If the Registrant Type is “Municipal Advisor/Broker Dealer”, that means the advisor may have the above concerns and conflicts!

At Ranson, we are independent advisors, NOT underwriter-advisors. So we will always put your interests first!
For more information, contact Larry Kleeman or Beth Warren.

Cowley College WCT to host Workforce Employer Summit on Sept. 24 in Wellington

Cowley College Workforce and Community Education is hosting a Workforce Employer Summit that will bring local industry and business partners together to learn how Cowley WCE can help them train incumbent workers and build a future talent pipeline.

The event will take place from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Cowley’s Sumner Campus in Wellington and from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Cowley’s main campus in Arkansas City.

(Read more: Sumner NewsCow)

Family thanks Miami County EMS for road-side delivery

Miami County paramedic Jeff Watts smiled as he held 1-year-old Caroline Ferrero for a second time.

On this occasion — the celebration of her first birthday with pizza and cake Friday, Sept. 6, at the Louisburg fire station — was in more pleasant surroundings than the first time Watts held Caroline.

Stephanie Ferrero gave birth to Caroline on the side of U.S. Highway 69 north of Louisburg on Sept. 6, 2018. Watts held Caroline for the first time after cutting the umbilical cord on that cool and wet night.

(Read more: The Miami County Republic)

Making Sense of Municipal Budgets

When it comes time to begin the development of your jurisdiction’s annual budget, which song immediately pops into your head: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” or “Don’t Cry Out Loud”?

We suspect that the answer to this question will be the same whether asked of staff or elected officials.

For most, the budget process is viewed as an accounting exercise that involves a multitude of spreadsheets, request forms and formulas all leading to a “balanced budget”. Oftentimes, the process seems to be cloaked in mystery because no one is quite sure what happens between the time budget requests are submitted and the point at which a draft budget is presented for review. From our experience as a Finance Director and an Elected Official, it felt like a laborious effort that detracted from our actual job responsibilities andwasted a lot of time and paper. The end result is a final Approved Budget document that is full of numbers and graphs, which often falls short of clearly communicating how resources are being allocated to achieve the goals of the organization and meet the needs of community.

(Read more: CitiesSpeak)

City could drop undefined EMS lawsuit

The Haven Community EMS Board is taking steps to hire a professional accounting firm to handle day-to-day operations of the ambulance service – a move that could prompt the city to end its lawsuit against the cooperative service, according to one source.

Now operating with just half of a board, because the city no longer sends its four representatives to EMS board meetings, the group is moving ahead with constructive action, said Dale Kaufman, chairman of the EMS board.

“We are hoping to meet next week with the accountant,” Kaufman said.

The CPA firm of Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk and Loyd currently handles accounting work for the city of Haven and for the three townships in the EMS group. Now they will be considered for managing EMS accounts, he said.

(Read more: Rural Messenger)

Lenexa’s Complete Streets program recommends adding 139 miles of bike lanes, sharrows and trails in city

A review of Lenexa’s transportation system found that the city is doing well on serving vehicle transportation needs, but it could use some improvements on walkability and bikeability.

These were some of the findings presented to Lenexa city leaders on Tuesday when they got a first look at the results of Complete Streets, a year-long study on the development of a more complete transportation infrastructure in the city.

As a result, the Complete Streets program proposes adding 70 miles of bike lanes and sharrows, or 19% of the city’s 365-mile road network, as well as adding 69 miles of trails to the city’s 43-mile trail network.

Detter Resigns as Andover City Administrator; McCausland Named Successor

After the executive session of last night’s, September 10th, City Council Meeting, Mayor Ben
Lawrence and the members of the City Council accepted City Administrator Mark Detter’s letter of
resignation. Detter, who has been the City Administrator for Andover since March of 2015 has
accepted a new challenge, taking the City Manager position in Valdez, AK. His final day will be
September 20.

(Read more: Andover – News Flash)

Mission Police Department adding specialized unit to focus on analyzing crime trends, solving problems

The Mission Police Department is creating a special unit of two police officers dedicated to solving problems, building cases and analyzing crime trends in the community.

Cap. Dan Madden said the officers, who will likely be hired internally, will receive specialized training as the police department’s first Directed Patrol Unit.

“They’re essentially a problem-solving unit, being able to look at and interpret data, and know where to get it,” Madden said.

Flip a Felon campaign hopes to reduce crime in Kansas

Sedgwick County announced a campaign Thursday aimed at assisting law enforcement with the arrests of wanted persons with felony warrants in Sedgwick County, according to officer Kevin Wheeler.

The campaign called “Flip-A-Felon” will target specific known individuals who have warrants for
violent crimes and/or felony weapons warrants. This campaign is in collaboration with the
Wichita Police Department, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kansas Department of Corrections. Each agency has provided Crime Stoppers with a list of some of their most wanted persons featured in this campaign.

(Read more: Great Bend Post)

Butler County teachers receive state recognition

Several Butler County educators are among those nominated for the 2020 Kansas Teacher of the Year award.

Nominees were announced Tuesday via a Kansas State Department of Education news release and included recognition of Kansas teachers from four regions spanning the entire state.

Butler County falls in Region 4 with five educators being nominated from local schools: Tiffany Arnold, Augusta Middle School; Denise Johnson, Blackmore Elementary School, El Dorado; Carla Ryan, Remington Middle School, Remington-Whitewater; Shala Willis, Robinson Elementary School, Augusta; Kara Belew, Andover Central High School; and Chase Casteel, Flinthills High School.

(Read more: andoveramerican.com)

With JCPRD partnership gone, Roeland Park looks to private company for pool management services

The Roeland Park City Council is preparing for changes to management of its pool operations following the termination of the long-standing joint operating agreement between the city and Johnson County Park and Recreation District.

The city is looking to Midwest Pool Management to pick up some of the duties handled under the previous agreement with JCPRD. The city and JCPRD held a ceremony this summer marking the city’s assumption of ownership of the facility.

As teardown-rebuild wave continues, Fairway council asks for review of new home approval process

As the wave of teardown-rebuild projects in the city continues, the Fairway City Council has asked its planning commission to take a fresh look at the building code and review process. But one member of the planning commission is raising concerns that changes to the status quo could eliminate important checks on homebuilders.

The council on Monday directed the planning commission to conduct a review of chapter 15 of the building code, which last underwent a major rewrite in 2014. The city has approved a half dozen changes to it since then, but none of them have been major. The document serves as a guideline for development and redevelopment projects in regards to “health, safety and welfare,” said Mayor Melanie Hepperly, and city staff use the document on a daily basis to determine whether building plans meet the city’s standards.

Merriam approves transferring property to Johnson County Library to build Antioch branch on community center campus

Merriam has taken the next steps to transfer ownership of property on the new community center campus to the Johnson County Library as part of the library’s plans to locate the Antioch library branch on site.

The property conveyance agreement approved by the city of Merriam this week outlines the following:

An anticipated timeline for construction and opening

Permission for Merriam to use the property as open space until library construction begins

Shared maintenance and ongoing use of shared infrastructure on site (plaza area between buildings, parking structure, internal access roads)

As population ages, county government needs to prepare for serving more seniors’ needs

Each week we provide a member of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners the opportunity to share an update on what issues are catching their attention. This week, we have a column from 3rd District Commissioner Steve Klika. He’s co-authored the following with Pam Shernuk, vice-chair of the Johnson County Commission on Aging.

Earlier this year the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) identified three strategic priorities for 2019-2020:

1. Complete/advance existing projects approved by voters and the Board of County Commissioners with efficiency and effectiveness.

2. Strengthen and finance the appropriate level of service to meet the needs of the county’s vulnerable populations, pursuing innovative strategies.

3. Develop a creative and innovative vision for a transit plan that is financially sustainable.

For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus on priorities two and three.

Early Shawnee Mission facilities proposal calls for rebuilding Pawnee, Rushton and John Diemer Elementaries

Information presented at the first meeting of the district’s new Facilities Task Force on Tuesday suggested Pawnee, Rushton and John Diemer Elementaries could all be slated for demolition and reconstruction in the coming few years.

The task force is fleshing out a detailed analysis of the district’s current facilities, and developing a plan for what projects could be funded by a new bond issue if it were to be approved by district voters.

At present, the district is considering a possible $177 million bond issue in 2020. An issuance at that level would not require an increase in the tax rate needed to pay off the bonds using local option budget funds. Under Kansas law, such locally raised funds cannot be allocated to “in the classroom” expenses like teacher salaries, and can only be used on capital expenditures like facilities projects.

Mission, Roeland Park push for negotiations on deannexation process along shared border

Mission and Roeland Park are struggling to resolve a conflict over the terms to switch ownership of seven-tenths of an acre along a shared border of the two cities. But out of an effort to value the two cities’ history of working together on other issues, the cities have agreed to revisit negotiations on those terms in the next several days.

The plot of land in question is located on the northeast corner of Johnson Drive and Roe Boulevard. Both cities agree that under a deannexation agreement, Roeland Park would take over half of the financial responsibility for the traffic signal at Johnson and Roe, and Roeland Park would pay for expenses incurred in the deannexation process.