1. Government
Inter-Governmental
Supports an expansion of the Johnson/Wyandotte Counties’ Council of Mayors so as to include the Chairperson of the Johnson County Commission as the Commission’s representative.
Local Government
A. Supports strengthening and reorganizing Johnson County Government by implementing Home Rule and separating administrative and policy-making functions. The seven commissioners should exercise the policy function; and, a professional county administrator, the administrative.
B. Supports cooperative measures among cities to reduce the impact of fragmentation, including a range of actions from informal cooperation to city-city consolidation and transfer of functions to the county.
C. Supports metropolitan cooperation and coordination among local governments in resolving metropolitan problems, including participation in and support of the work product of Mid-America Regional Council, use of interstate compacts, and informal agreements.
D. Supports consolidation of police agencies and city courts.
E. Supports consolidation of fire districts into one urban district and one rural district with County Commission established performance standards for service and training of personnel and appointment of fire district boards.
F. Supports the charter form of government for Johnson County.
G. Supports the combining the offices of Management and Budget and of Finance into one department headed by a County Controller who reports directly to the County Commission or the County Administrator.
H. Supports the appointment of a full-time, professionally qualified Internal Auditor who reports directly to the County Commission.
I. Supports of timely, understandable and completed budget and financial data of the programs of the County.
J. Supports a county budget system and process which: combines elements of program and performance budgeting; plans and then sets priorities for services and expenditures; includes a separate, capital improvements budget; includes both formal and informal public outreach at the advisory board level and at the County Commission level; increases revenue through operational efficiency, non-duplication of services and user fees, and a broad-based county tax mix with primary emphasis on non-ad valorem tax sources; and invests the county’s idle funds through a competitive process.
K. Supports independent, County-appointed Boards for: Mental Health, Development Supports, Library, Airport Commission and Johnson County Parks and Recreation District; each with its own policy-making and programming functions and authority to appoint an Executive Director. The County Commission should approve administrative and financial policies and provide centralized administrative support to the Boards where cost effective.
L. Supports strong metropolitan area cultural facilities and greater utilization of existing facilities with an emphasis on quality public programming. Supports a Johnson County archive repository.
M. Supports no further construction of jails in the County until other alternatives have been exhausted; alternative sentencing for offenders of less serious crimes; equal programs for all jail inmates in accordance with individual needs; improved coordination, cooperation and communication among criminal justice agencies; and development of a volunteer program to ease the workload of professional, corrections staff.
N. Supports increased and improved juvenile offender and separate, children in need of care (CINC) facilities, services and programming with adequate budgets and staffing. Supports school and community programs for at-risk students.
O. Supports construction of a new Johnson County courthouse.
International Relations
The League supports a defined mechanism which represents and incorporates the interests of local governments affected by international trade agreements including at a minimum compliance with local environmental, health, safety and employment laws, and strict oversight regardless of the national affiliation of the service provider. Should local governmental services be privatized or subject to foreign ownership, the service providers should be subject to U.S. legal jurisdiction.
2. Natural Resources
Land Use
A. County-wide Land Use Plan and Governing Structure (At May 2012 Annual Meeting, members approved a recommendation to combine the following position with Land Use: Arterial Road System as part of a future study on mass transportation.)
- The League supports county-wide land use planning to include parks, road systems, flood control and low-income housing.
- The League supports a representative volunteer Planning Commission, professional planning staff and cooperation between the cities and the county toward long-range planning.
B. Sunflower Army Ammunition Site
The League supports the redevelopment of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Site so that it protects human health and the environment during the cleanup and in the future.
C. Arterial Road System (At May 2012 Annual Meeting, members approved a recommendation to combine the following position with Land Use: County-wide Land Use Plan and Governing Structure as part of a future study on mass transportation.)
- The League supports a county-wide arterial road system.
- The League supports an ongoing engineering survey of major roads in Johnson County to provide an arterial road system which is flexible enough to handle the growing traffic. Such a system should include: clearly defined administrative responsibilities, adequate financing and a county-assisted road system.
D. Park System
The League supports an adequate, accessible, affordable and sustainable countywide park and recreation system.
Solid Waste Management
The League supports long term planning and funding for sustainable and affordable solid waste management systems within the county.
Water Strategies Policy
The League supports protecting the public health and promoting economic development through a cooperative framework by which the legally appropriate water entities provide Johnson County's residents with safe drinking water, wastewater handling and storm water management while safeguarding the environment.
3. Social Policy
Education
The League believes all schools, public and private, should provide a quality education for all students to develop their greatest potential, regardless of circumstances such as income, race, ethnicity, geographical location, or family background.
League supports:
1. A K-12 school funding formula which includes weightings to meet needs of all students
2. Home school students’ requirement to take state assessments mandated for public school students before receiving a high school diploma
3. Home school students’ requirement to take state assessments mandated for public
school students before receiving a high school diploma
4. a. Oversight of charter schools by the local Board of Education with approval from the Kansas State Board of Education
b. Adequate and equitable funding for charter schools that is accomplished without financial harm to traditional public schools
5. Affirmative action programs to recruit qualified, diverse staff
6. Non-partisan local school board elections
7. Due process rights for teachers
8. National standards that provide a uniform body of knowledge and academic skills for all students
9. Use of national standards that provide a uniform body of knowledge and academic skills for all students
10. Inspire Learning, The JCCC Strategic Plan for 2014-17
League opposes:
1. Diverting moneys from other state departments to fund education
2. Granting tax credits to corporations for awarding scholarships to students attending private schools and granting tax credits or vouchers to parents with students enrolled in private and home schools
Child Care
The League supports available, affordable and quality child care for all who need it, especially single parents, and low- and middle-income families.
Elder Care
The League supports cooperation among government agencies and private for-profit and non-profit groups working together to meet the needs of a growing senior population, including enhancing services for senior citizens to remain in their residence of choice for as long as it is safe by augmenting in-home health care and providing accessible and affordable transportation and housing and coordinated services.
Mental Health
The League supports a program of comprehensive mental health services, including but not limited to: inpatient care, partial hospitalization, emergency care, outpatient care, consultation and education, diagnostic procedures, rehabilitation services, and increased funding for improved facilities and services, education of the public about mental illness and services available, and enhanced training for law enforcement and other first responders.
Physical Health
Supports expanded and improved Health Department Services. Services and programs now offered should be supported, continued and/or expanded in the following ways:
A. Health services for adults and minors should continue, including preventive health care, health education, prevention and detection of health problems.
B. Continue inspection services to fully protect citizens.
C. Maintain full-time public health administrator and/or public health physician.
D. Increase visibility in the community.
E. Provide a mill levy for adequate funding, and for selected services impose a sliding scale user fee at the discretion of the Health Department.
F. Emergency Medical Services: Supports high quality adequately funded emergency medical services for Johnson County.
G. In-Hospital Costs: Supports incentives to control these costs through continuation of voluntary efforts.
H. Health Care Planning and Regulations: Supports health care planning and regulation at a level closest to the people.
I. Preventive Care: Supports preventive health cared education within businesses, schools, and the community.
Mass Transit
Supports expansion of public mass transit systems and development of rapid transit systems for the Kansas City Metropolitan area. Supports regional solutions to the problems of mass transit.
Poverty
Supports Johnson County creating a Jobs Plan to reduce unemployment and to create new jobs. Supports providing a broad range of housing in the county as recommended by the Johnson County Affordable Housing Task Force in 2008, and coordinating public transportation with housing and employment.
4. Johnson County Courthouse
Supports the construction of a new county courthouse that: accommodates a rapidly growing population, meets the needs of both civil and criminal cases, assures compliance with state and federal regulations, is designed with separate hallways that separate the public from incarcerated persons and is an environmentally responsible facility.
5. Affordable Housing
The League of Women Voters of Johnson County supports safe, decent*, affordable housing for people at all income levels. The availability of such housing within the county is integral to individual and community well-being.