Barbara Albright is a Republican running for Bourbon County Commissioner (2nd district)  in the upcoming election. Here are a few interview questions with her answers.

1. Please tell readers a little bit about yourself and your background.

I am Barbara Albright, a life-long resident of Bourbon County. My educational preparation includes Fort Scott High School, Fort Scott Community College, and my focus in teaching & learning/administration was from Pittsburg State University. My 35-year career in public education included numerous positions: school secretary, first grade teacher, middle school teacher, middle school assistant principal, and middle school principal. My husband Ron Albright and I are parents to three adult children and six grandchildren. I am a salesperson in the family real estate agency, belong to several local civic and community organizations, and attend Diamond Community Church.

 2. Why are you running for office?

 In addition to fulfilling my desire to serve the public, as Bourbon County Commissioner of District 2, I will bring the right mix of energy, ideas and understanding to an important position that can greatly benefit us all.

 3. What do you feel is the single most important issue facing the county?

To provide services for the people of Bourbon County, it is important to be aware of property taxes, our primary source of revenue. Increasing our county’s tax-base becomes the issue at hand. Economic development and growth within our county/city would bring additional employment opportunities, increased population, and more homeowners – all factors in the collection of additional property taxes.

 4. Why do you think you are a better choice for voters than the incumbent? (If you are the incumbent, why do you think you are a better choice than others who are running?)

As a commissioner I will strive for transparency in local government, improved city-county relationship, economic development opportunities, and the more efficient use of our taxpayer dollars. You can count on my energy to find creative solutions to complicated issues. This is a role I will take on with the necessary vigor and commitment to make a positive difference.

 5. What is the single most important skill you would bring to the office?

My twenty-one years of administrative experience, coupled with my positive approach in working with people, will be demonstrated in my collaborative leadership style when facing the needs and future of Bourbon County.

  6. If elected, what would your top priority be during your first 90 days?

My commissioner preparation and commitment actually began the day I filed to have my name placed on the primary ballot. Next, I began reading, asking questions, and attending commission meetings. As for the first 90 days, I would definitely welcome additional training to better serve my district and county, i.e. Kansas Association of Counties provides learning opportunities for county leaders. Additional preparation would include bringing a clear and concise understanding of the 2013 budget, thus ensuring more efficient use of taxpayer dollars as financial decisions are considered.

 7. Health insurance is one of the fastest growing expenses the county is facing. What are some ways you’d recommend the county deal with this issue?

Currently the county employees have health insurance benefits through the state plan; the large pool of participants makes the state plan desirable by offering three different companies and numerous plans meeting the needs of the employee/employee’s family. When analyzing salaries of county workers, it is apparent the health benefit is a factor in hiring and maintaining effective, dedicated county employees. Please note, health insurance benefits are an expenditure that must be looked at closely each year as circumstances change. In 2014, we could see major changes with health insurance requiring further analysis and consideration. Promoting opportunities for each county employee to receive a thorough informative explanation on the different health insurance options/plans, i.e. HSA (Health Savings Account), prior to plan selection at enrollment, could result in a cost savings to both the employee and the county.

A Candidate Forum will be held on July 31 in the Theater of the Ellis Fine Arts Center on the Campus of Fort Scott Community College.  Forum begins at 6 pm. Doors open at 5:30.  The Public is encouraged to attend.  This event is sponsored by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.

Be sure to vote on August 7!

 

 

 

Bob Jackson is a Democrat running for Sheriff in the upcoming election. Here are a few interview questions with his answers.

1. Please tell readers a little bit about yourself and your background.

I am a native of Fort Scott and have chosen to live and make my career here. I have four children, three sons, one daughter and one step-son. I have approximately 30 years of law enforcement experience all which I have served here in this community. My career started with the Fort Scott Police Department and after four short months of retiring from the Police Dept, I hired on with the Bourbon County Sheriff Department where I am currently serving as a road Deputy.

2. Why are you running for office?

There are numerous changes the Sheriff Office needs in order to become an effective agency for our community. I understand the changes that need to be made and I am willing to make those changes. I care about our community and my desire is to serve this community to the best of my ability.

3. What do you feel is the single most important issue facing the county?

My personal feeling is that crime is the single most important issue that the county faces. As economic times get harder, the crime rate goes up

4. Why do you think you are a better choice for voters than the incumbent? (If you are the incumbent, why do you think you are a better choice than others who are running?)

First- Sheriff Gray has failed to act on his first campaign promises and he will continue to do so if re-elected. Second- He lost interest in being the Sheriff and has indicated such by neglecting the Sheriff Department and shows no loyalty to his staff. Thirdly- His lack of commitment to this community has been shown by having no residential ties and has placed himself on the job market and has recently done so prior to this election campaign.

5. What is the single most important skill you would bring to the office?

My 30 years of law enforcement experience and my heart-desire to serve and give back to this community.

6. If elected, what would your top priority be during your first 90 days?

Adding more manpower- Currently we do not have the adequate number of road deputies to serve this community effectively. Equipment- our equipment is out dated, of the cheapest grade, and fails to work most of the time. Inadequate equipment jeopardizes the lives of our deputies and the public.

7. Health insurance is one of the fastest growing expenses the county is facing. What are some ways you’d recommend the county deal with this issue?

I agree that health insurance is a growing expense our county is facing. However, my knowledge in this area is limited for a proper recommendation. I realize as Sheriff this is something I will need to be familiar with and gain better understanding.

A Candidate Forum will be held on July 31 in the Theater of the Ellis Fine Arts Center on the Campus of Fort Scott Community College. Forum begins at 6 pm. Doors open at 5:30. The Public is encouraged to attend. This event is sponsored by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.

Be sure to vote on August 7!

Kenny Clark is a Republican running for Bourbon County 2nd District Commissioner in the upcoming election. Here are a few interview questions with his answers.

1. Please tell readers a little bit about yourself and your background.

My name is Kenny Clark, Jr. I moved to Bourbon County in 1970 from Chanute, Kansas and graduated from Fort Scott High School in 1974.  I worked construction jobs and started working for the Kansas Department of Transportation in 1977.  I married Debbie Dawson in February 1979.  we have 1 son, Kenny Clark, III.  I retired from KDOT in September of 2011.  We have lived on our farm south of Fort Scott for 29 years.

2. Why are you running for office?

I believe my experience with KDOT will help with the issues of our county roads and I have dealt with keeping cost down & within a budget to save our taxpayers money.

3. What do you feel is the single most important issue facing the county?

Keeping within a budget and trying to decide how to distribute the money throughout the county, so that it is beneficial to the taxpayers.

4. Why do you think you are a better choice for voters than the incumbent? (If you are the incumbent, why do you think you are a better choice than others who are running?)

I believe I am the better canidate as I have experience with road construction and multi-million dollar contracts, as a project manager.  My dutys included keeping the public informed on the progress and to see if they had any issues that needed to be addressed.

5. What is the single most important skill you would bring to the office?

My 35 year of experience in road construction with K.D.O.T  I started in Oct 1977 in the maintence department, after about a year & half I transfered to the construction side of K.D.O.T.  Early years was to survey, test and inspection.  Later years I was project manager, dealing with contractors, contract dollars and the general public, trying to keep them informed and to deal with any issues they might have.

6. If elected, what would your top priority be during your first 90 days?

If elected my top priority is to look at the budget and try to help the people of Bourbon County with the concerns of how our tax dollars are being spent.

7. Health insurance is one of the fastest growing expenses the county is facing. What are some ways you’d recommend the county deal with this issue?

Health insurance is not only a issue of Bourbon County but an issue of our Country.  We need to look at the plan in effect and see if there is some way to reduce the cost without losing benefit coverage.

With this said I would like to thank those who have read or listened to my opinions & comments.

A Candidate Forum will be held on July 31 in the Theater of the Ellis Fine Arts Center on the Campus of Fort Scott Community College.  Forum begins at 6 pm. Doors open at 5:30.  The Public is encouraged to attend.  This event is sponsored by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.

Be sure to vote on August 7!

Clyde Killion is a Democrat running for Bourbon County 2nd District Commissioner in the upcoming election. Here are a few interview questions with his answers.

1. Please tell readers a little bit about yourself and your background.

Hello my name is Clyde Killion.  I have been a resident of  Bourbon County all but 4 yrs of my 68 yrs when working elsewhere.  I have worked at many different jobs.  From Bruce Marble and Granite to working on a ranch to coal mining to working for the county from 1991 to 2009.  11 yrs of which was spent as Road Supervisor.

2. Why are you running for office?

I am running for Commissioner because I have the experience to deal with the issues that come up.  And I would like to see the county spend our tight budget more wisely.  For instance why do we take something that was paid for and sell it off and go into debt and have to pay three times what we were paying.

3. What do you feel is the single most important issue facing the county?

We need to work with the City to bring Jobs to Bourbon County so we can keep our young people here to raise their families to help build our tax base.  If we can bring in good jobs people will move here to fill the jobs.  Which would work to lower our taxes.

4. Why do you think you are a better choice for voters than the incumbent? (If you are the incumbent, why do you think you are a better choice than others who are running?)

I have worked for Bourbon County for 19 yrs.  I have dealt with many of the problems we all encounter.  I was Road supervisor for 11 of the 19 yrs.  I know Bourbon County.  And have been on all the roads in the county.  As supervisor I worked for the Commissioners and their projects.

5. What is the single most important skill you would bring to the office?

I would like to look at ways where we can cut wasteful spending.  Also we are paying some employees extra for just doing their jobs.  Also I would like to be able to give the county workers a raise which they haven’t had in five yrs.  If we can spend more than a half million dollars surely we can find a way to give a raise.

6. If elected, what would your top priority be during your first 90 days?

I know I have the experience to deal with the various situations that come up so 19 yrs experience from mowing to spending 5 yrs on a motor grader to 11 yrs as Road Supervisor.  I feel that I know the county and what works and what doesn’t.

7. Health insurance is one of the fastest growing expenses the county is facing. What are some ways you’d recommend the county deal with this issue?

Health Insurance is one of the most expensive big items of the budget and it’s a hard one to deal with.  The county pays for it’s employee and part of the employee’s family plan.  We have some employees whose well being depend on good health Ins.  So we need to keep it as affordable as possible.  But we may have to require the employees to pay a part of their Ins. in the future.  That’s one option but their may be other options that may come up in discustions later.

Thank you for allowing me to view my thoughts and to tell the readers where I stand on some of the questions.  People are free to call me and ask questions.  If they call my home phone please leave message and I will call you back to answer them.

A Candidate Forum will be held on July 31 in the Theater of the Ellis Fine Arts Center on the Campus of Fort Scott Community College.  Forum begins at 6 pm. Doors open at 5:30.  The Public is encouraged to attend.  This event is sponsored by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.

Be sure to vote on August 7!

Robert Query is a Republican running for 2nd District Commissioner in the upcoming election. Here are a few interview questions with his answers.

 1. Please tell readers a little bit about yourself and your background.

Born and raised in Fort Scott. Auto mechanic, road construction and self employed since 1981. Bourbon county commissioner for 8 years, over the asphalt program the last 3 years of my term and also worked on the 400 highway project.

  2. Why are you running for office?

I am running because the last 8 years we have had business men with no road construction knowledge or background making decisions on road projects wasting tax dollars on road work using the wrong rock and oil, costing more than twice as much because the labor and material is wasted doing the job twice instead of once the right way. These mistakes don’t need to be made which would save taxes. Having 8 years of experience as county commissioner means “NO ON THE JOB TRAINING MISTAKES” where someone new would be learning the job!

 3. What do you feel is the single most important issue facing the county?

Keeping the tax base affordable so the businesses and home owners can afford to stay in Bourbon county.

  4. Why do you think you are a better choice for voters than the incumbent? (If you are the incumbent, why do you think you are a better choice than others who are running?)

Already having 8 years experience on county commission gives me the knowledge to not make the mistakes of a new inexperienced candidate, which saves tax dollars from day 1 in office. Also having road construction experience by owning and operating dozers, dump trucks and other heavy equipment for many years lets me know when road work is done right the first time so it doesn’t have to be redone two or three times. That saves tax dollars which saves the tax payers money since almost one third of your taxes are spent on road and bridge projects.

  5. What is the single most important skill you would bring to the office?

Being a business owner I have had to make decisions based on the income and net profit, and not getting a paycheck handed to me on payday whether there is a profit or not. I have been successful in doing that since 1981.

 6. If elected, what would your top priority be during your first 90 days?

 I would address the concerns of the citizens on issues brought to my attention starting with the road problems and the high taxes.

 7. Health insurance is one of the fastest growing expenses the county is facing. What are some ways you’d recommend the county deal with this issue?

One would be to do away with the health insurance for the county commissioners because their job is part time and no other part time jobs get health insurance. That alone would save over 16,000 per year base at 450 per month x 3 commissioners. The other would be to look at what the county could afford even if it meant having the employees pay a percentage of their health insurance to maintain the coverage they have and not reduce it to make it affordable for the county as well as the tax payers.

A Candidate Forum will be held on July 31 in the Theater of the Ellis Fine Arts Center on the Campus of Fort Scott Community College.  Forum begins at 6 pm. Doors open at 5:30.  The Public is encouraged to attend.  This event is sponsored by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.

Be sure to vote on August 7!

Some readers have asked if KSA 19-548 would make the County Treasurer liable for fines for leaving names and addresses off the newspaper publications.

Should any county treasurer neglect or refuse to make and publish the statement provided for in this act, he shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25) for each and every day he shall refuse or neglect to make such publication, to be recovered by an action at law against said treasurer, said action to be brought in the name of the board of county commissioners of the proper county. (KSA 19-548)

The language of this statute appears to refer to the neglect or refusal to make the publication at all. Other statutes appear to address situations where properties were left off of the publication.

Since delinquent properties were published in the paper–even though they were incomplete–this statute probably doesn’t apply.

The only way it could apply would be look at KSA 19-547:

 In addition to the duties required by K.S.A. 79-2101, and amendments thereto, each county treasurer, within 10 days after October 1 of each year, shall cause a statement to be published with respect to unpaid or partially unpaid delinquent personal property tax returns made by the sheriff as of October 1. Such statement shall be published once each week for three consecutive weeks in the official county newspaper or in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 64-101, and amendments thereto. The statement shall show the name of each delinquent or partially delinquent taxpayer, listed alphabetically, appearing on such returns, followed by the taxpayer’s last known address and by the total amount of unpaid taxes, penalties and costs. The cost of such publication shall be paid from the general fund of such county, and $15 shall be added to the tax due as part of the costs of collection, to be collected in the same manner as provided by law for the collection of the delinquent tax. (KSA 19-547)

One might be able to argue that if the publication wasn’t made according to KSA 19-547, it doesn’t count. However, that would probably be a bit of a stretch. Other statute talk about how the even leaving a property off of the publication doesn’t invalidate it.

According to the eMissourian, Paul House of Harvest Ministries and his wife were both sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay over $80,000 in restitution for Social Security fraud.

The sentence means the House’s avoided the expected jail term.

Harvest Ministries owns the old Western buildings down town where the planned to put in a television studio and medical testing facility.

You can read more details in our previous story about Harvest Ministries and the building.

The buildings have enough unpaid taxes that they should be listed on the upcoming tax sale. However, since they were not published in the past, they will have to wait to be sold until they have been published for three years.

 

There is a scholarship  available from the Kansas County Clerk’s and Election Officials’ association. Details from the press release follow:

February 15, 2012

NEWS RELEASE: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION

The Kansas County Cler’s and Election Officials’ Association is taking scholarship applications from those students that are majoring in Journalism, Political Science or Communications. The scholarships are available to High School Seniors or College Freshmen or Sophomores.

The monies from these scholarships are made available by the effort put forth by local Election Officials and Supervising judges of the State of Kansas. Each is asked to call a toll free number and report to the Voter News Service, specified races in the General Election.

The Voters News Service collects and tabulates a single, accurate set of election returns for broadcast and publication throughout the nation and abroad for the Associated Press, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News and United Press International.

Due to joint efforts of the County Clerks, Secretary of State’s Office and the Voters News Service, the Scholarship Committee will be awarding 10 scholarships in the amount of $500.00 each.

Applications may be picked up at your school or at the County Clerk’s Office and all applications must be returned to your local county clerk or mailed to Inge Luntsford, 130 N. Spruce, Kingman, KS 67068, on or before April 3, 2012.

The scholarship winners will be announced at the County Clerk’s and Election Officials’ Association Seminar in May. The County Clerk from the recipient’s county will award them a their local school awards assembly.

The BOCO Review is a new weekly newspaper that will start publishing next month. They have launched their website at www.thebocoreview.com. You can subscribe to the paper from their website. Local residents pay $38.50 for 52 issues of the paper with slightly higher rates for non-local subscriptions. Subscriptions to the online paper can be had for as little as $25 per year.

Roads

The heavy rains have shut down one road in the county that has become impassible due to mud. The Commissioner’s discussed TWorks funds and how to best make use of the funding that is available. There are $270,000 available and Bourbon County has plans for $100,000 of it.

The commissioners went into Executive session to discuss non-elected personel with Marty. No action was taken.

John Wonderly from Fulton

Asked if they could get a white line on old 69 high way from 54 to the county line.  He also said that there was a big bump in one of the bridges and wondered if it could be fixed. Chairman Coleman said that the cost of adding a line would be very expensive and at this time the county doesn’t have the funds to add lines to that road.

He was also concerned that the Fulton City Attorney (Valorie Lebanc) was requesting more funds for an assistant. He doesn’t understand how she can work for both the county of Bourbon County and the City of Fulton and wanted to make sure that she wasn’t spending time she is being paid for Bourbon County to do work for the Fulton City Court.

He was recently served a summons from the City of Fulton due to farm equipment and trash and said that he would have preferred if someone had just have come to talk to him about it.

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Schweikert

They were concerned about a creek that had sticks and tree limbs clogging it up. The Chairman said that they would probably need to talk to the State of Kansas about it.

There was also concern about the planned walking trail along the Marmaton River. They said that there was land that would come back to them from the vacated railroads and they had heard that the property was going to the trail instead of coming back to them. Mr. Endicott said that he had heard the railroad was going to be using that area again. The Scheweikert’s said they would prefer to have trains using the property rather than a trail because she doesn’t want four wheelers in that area. She was also concerned that the trail would push out the wildlife.

Mr. Endicott said that the Riverfront Authority was running into some problems securing some of the property they need for the trail so he said they didn’t need to be concerned about it for awhile.

 

The commissioners were asked why they requested $5,335.67 from the Treasurer’s bond through KCAMP and not the additional $1,130 that was mentioned in the audit. They said that since the $1,130 wasn’t directly from the period being audited, they didn’t feel they could pursue it based on the audit.

KCAMP has stated that they intend to pursue reimbursement from Susan Quick (County Treasurer).

The county was not clear if collecting on the bond would change the Treasurer’s ability to run for office. However, it appears that it doesn’t.  People running for public office are not required to be bondable to run, but certain positions must be bonded to serve. The county pays the fee for bonds for elected officials. It appears that pretty much anyone will be bondable but the cost may be much greater depending on the risk. It is unclear if the county would be responsible for the bond at any cost or if there there is a limit to the amount the county will pay.

The county attorney came to see the commissioners to ask what they intended to do with the check the received from KCAMP. Susan Quick (County Treasurer) previously asked the commissioners to send the check back to KCAMP. She suggested that the money could be paid from the Treasurer’s office budget or that the Treasurer’s office could attempt to recover the funds from the companies and individuals the underpaid.

Susan Quick (Treasurer) had told the Terri Johnson (County Attorney) that the commissioners had told her that they were required to go after the bond. Terri Johnson said there was no specific statute requiring them to go after the bond, but an argument could be made that they would not be fulfilling their duty to the county if they didn’t pursue it.

Chairman Coleman brought up the fact that Susan Quick said that these were errors from the computer. The commissioners said they wanted to be careful that they aren’t overstepping their bounds in making the claim and they also want to make sure they aren’t picking on an individual. After some discussion, they decided it was within their responsibilities and voted to go ahead and cash the check.

KCAMP told Terri Johnson that it is very rare that a claim against a bond comes in.

Angie Timi requested a speed limit on East Kansas RD because of the high speed of vehicles on that road. She was concerned about how fast people drive down the road and that there would be an accident. The commissioners voted to put in a speed limit sign on that road.

There was some discussion about properties that were annexed by the city, but feel that they have not been provided the promised city services and would like to be de-annexed. Terri Johnson has requested documents from the city showing how the properties were originally annexed to see what options they may have.

Marty found out that TWORKS would pay for the sign that was part of the request for a sign and flashing light over at Uniontown.

Brian Snyder presented a signed petition to close Willow at 135th street to try to keep people from driving out in his fields to go “off roading.”

On March 15th, the Bourbon County Commissioners received a letter and check for $5,335.67 from KCAMP in payment for lost tax interest revenue from the Treasurer’s office.  According to the letter, KCAMP is now requesting payment from the Treasurer for $5,335.67. A copy of the letter can be seen here.

As discussed previously, the law appears to require that a suit be filed to recover money from bonds. The commissioner’s decision to pursue the matter directly from KCAMP allowed them to recover the fund without the cost of of a lawsuit.