Let’s Get Back to Common Sense
Mayor Joe Reardon just posted this on his blog. Read below.
It’s been quite discouraging for us here in Wyandotte County to see the pure partisan politics of Topeka play out with respect to Congressional redistricting.
The latest map to emerge is one that Senator Hensley and others warned us about months ago: To move Wyandotte County out of the 3rd Congressional District and into the 1st Congressional District.
Wyandotte County, more than ever, is intimately connected to the Kansas City Region. Our economy is tied to the region. Our citizens dwell within the region. Our entire County is physically located within and around the 435 corridor, the loop highway that encircles the Kansas City Region.
It makes good common sense to be represented by a member of Congress whose district encompasses the Kansas side of the Kansas City Region. That’s the way it is now as the 3rd Congressional District encompasses all of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties.
However, a move is underfoot to not only remove Wyandotte County from the 3rd District but to place it in the 1st District which primarily represents the most Western stretches of Kansas. Worse than that, the latest map splits Wyandotte County in two, with part of the County remaining in the 3rd and the other part off to the 1st. Such a move would dilute the voice of one of the state’s most populous counties. Instead, this move is a bold faced one to support political desires at the expense of good representation.
It simply defies any good government logic to make such a move. Worse, it feeds into the skepticism so many people have about government operating not for the people but for the politicians. It is my hope that the Kansas Legislature will use logic and common sense and keep Wyandotte County in the 3rd Congressional District.
Opinion: Karin Brownlee’s Court-Packing Scheme
Fair and balanced.
That’s how Kansas House Republicans might describe a workers’ compensation reform bill they gave preliminary approval to on Friday. But here’s how the Topeka Capitol Journal described House Bill 2531 which changes the process for selecting administrative law judges for disputed Kansas workers’ compensation and unemployment cases:
“The bill, championed by Kansas Labor Secretary Karin Brownlee, would hand to business interests control of picking members of a new board that would assume responsibility for judicial appointments. Business groups would be guaranteed six seats on the board, while labor would have one seat.”
Legislation like HB 2531 hurts communities like ours the most.
This stacks the deck against workers who are injured on the job. Thank you to all of our Representatives who stood with Kansas workers and have opposed this bill, unfortunately not all Reps are like ours and are more interested in valuing their big business campaign contributors over the hard working families in our State.
Karin Brownlee and business groups will choose SIX of the new seven-member panel that picks judges for work comp and UI cases. The Kansas AFL-CIO would pick the seventh.
Brownlee and House Republicans are trying to blow up a process that has resulted in truly impartial judges that both employees and employers can trust.
You are probably outraged, and you should be.
So, before the final House vote on this bill, Kansas workers need you to make your voice heard.
Take a moment to share this with your friends on your social networks and take action to stand with many of the member of our communities who are likely going to be some of the most hurt by this bill.
Twitter (copy & paste the following into a tweet): RT @workingkansans: Help Stop Karin Brownlee’s Court-Packing Scheme! Take A Stand Now! http://bit.ly/zzdCGy #ksleg #kslabor
Facebok (click here to like and share)
KOSE Takes Action Against the Department of Administration’s Proposed Voluntary Retirement Incentive
KOSE Takes Action Against the Department of Administration’s Proposed Voluntary Retirement Incentive
State Willfully Ignores Statute and Memorandum of Agreement
In response to the Department of Administration’s rollout of a Voluntary Retirement Incentive, today the Kansas Organization of State Employees filed three different actions to ensure the proper requirements of meet and confer are met before the program is effective for KOSE-covered employees. The State is required, by Kansas statute and by contract, to meet and confer with the Union over any changes to conditions of employment, such as salaries, hours of work, retirement benefits, and insurance benefits. The State previously scheduled a meet and confer session with the Union regarding the Voluntary Retirement Incentive, with the State and the Union agreeing to meet on August 10, 2011. Despite the scheduled meet and confer session, the State proceeded to announce the program on August 2, 2011 without any notice or communication to the Union.
To address the State’s violation of Kansas statute, KOSE filed a Prohibited Practice Charge with the Kansas Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) over the Department of Administration’s failure to meet and confer in good faith. To address the State’s violation of its labor agreement with KOSE, KOSE filed a Step III grievance against the Department of Administration for the State’s failure to notify the Union of changes to conditions of employment and the State’s failure to meet and confer as required by the labor agreement. To ensure both the Prohibited Practice Charge and the Step III grievance receive full and fair hearing, KOSE has also filed a petition for injunctive relief in Shawnee County District Court. This petition asks the court to restrain the State from implementing the Voluntary Retirement Incentive for KOSE-covered employees until such time as the Prohibited Practice Charge and the grievance are heard before the appropriate bodies.
“KOSE is not opposed to the concept of a Voluntary Retirement Incentive. However, in implementing this or any program, the Administration must adhere to state statute and to the labor agreement. KOSE’s goal in filing these actions is to insure the State follows the necessary steps under the law and the labor agreement before implementing any program that impacts State workers,” said Jane Carter, KOSE Executive Director.
“KOSE sought to meet and confer with the state several weeks prior to this announcement, and a date for meet and confer had been set. For Secretary Taylor to implement a change to conditions of employment one week prior to meet and confer, with no notice to the Union, is quite disappointing. This disregard for statutory and contractual requirements to meet and confer is troublesome on many levels,” said Carter. “Terms and conditions of employment include wages, hours of work, leave, retirement benefits, insurance benefits, and holidays. If they attempt to do this, I can only imagine what further attempts will be made to chip away at the jobs our members do and the services we provide.”
“KOSE had hoped to discuss our members’ concerns with the State during meet and confer, with the objective of developing a program that could meet the State’s objectives while also ensuring employees, citizens, and KPERS were not negatively impacted,” said Carter. “Disappointingly, the State clearly has the intent to ignore state workers in Kansas.”
PACES Name New Board of Directors
PACES, Wyandotte County’s designated community mental health center serving children, adolescents and their families, has named a new Board of Directors.
Chairing the Board is Paul Victor, entrepreneur and former banker. Members include Mike Belfonte, attorney; Jackie Bennett, LSCSW, social worker, Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School District; Wayne Headrick, parent representative; Cynthia Lane, Ed.D., superintendent, Kansas City, Kansas School District; and Gloria Willis, member, Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education.
Randy Callstrom, PACES executive director, said, “With the leadership and strategic direction of these Board members, we will strengthen our programs and services targeted to benefit kids with emotional and behavioral concerns. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”
PACES provides case management, therapy, a medicine clinic and psychosocial groups through which youth learn and model social skills. For more information, visit www.paceswc.org or call 913-563-6500.
A blog dedicated to highlighting all things in the Dotte (Kansas City, KS).
