Tuesday August 5, 2008 Election Day

Tomorrow is primary election day in Johnson County. There are three things on the ballot that need our attention.

First Johnson County has a tax increase on the ballot. This is for paying off the addition to the jail in Gardner, repairing the juvenile facilities and adding and updating rehab programs. The way this tax is structured, it is forever it doesn't sunset. Also, you probably have heard that the Olathe and Overland Park city councils have backed this tax. They stand to gain estimated $2 million dollars per year from it. That they can spend on what they want. I am sure that some of you know that my position is that they don't need the tax. They need to be more responsible stewards of our tax dollars. So my vote will be no.
The next major ballot issue is that of Johnson County District Attorney. The current DA, Phill Kline, whom was the Attorney General for Kansas until the fraud Morrison was elected then resigned because of bad morals, has decided to run. The Kansas City Star always writes negative stories about Mr. Kline, these stories are misleading. Phill Kline is a good stand up guy. Someone that you can trust to get the job done correctly. Steve Howe is the gentleman running against Phill Kline. Mr. Howe is from what I can tell, I have seen him speak and shook his hand, seems to be a good guy, also. What has always bothered me about him is that Mr. Kline didn't think enough of his work to allow him to stay on as and Asst. DA. Mr. Howe worked for Mr. Morrison, this bothers me. Mr. Morrison is a party switcher. That drives me nuts. This is a baby-boomer affliction, that I know my dad hasn't caught, thank goodness. Anyway, Mr. Howe though, not a bad guy was thought of highly enough by Mr. Morrison (party switcher, bad morals) to work for him for 18 years. Mr. Howe has a campaign commercial out that says he is not a career politician like his opponent and that Senators Roberts and Brownback have endorsed him. While the endorsements are true, they were made before Kline decided to run. Mr. Kline is a politician same as Mr. Howe. The only reason Mr. Kline seems more political is that the Kansas City Star, which I unusually call the Communist Star, doesn't like how he does things. Which makes what he does seem politically motivated. Putting criminals in jail is not political, its the law.
Which brings us to the last major race. Johnson County Sheriff. While Sheriff Denning has done a great job over the years combating crime, we need some young blood. We need someone who has trained with the best and someone who can move the Sheriffs department into the 21st century. Don't get me wrong here they are about as technological as Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, when it comes to fighting crime. A younger and better trained Sheriff would be someone who can help keep moving the department forward. The gentleman I speak of is Ken Smith. He has been a policeman and has attended the FBI academy. Not only has he worked the mean streets of Kansas City, he has helped the federal government fight crime. With new and young blood in the position of Sheriff we take away and ingrained sense that the Sheriff is going to go along with whatever the county commissioners and county manager want.
I hope this has been a little informative. I hope you all make it to vote tomorrow. It is our civic duty as Americans to vote. Polls are open 7 am to 7pm. The link below will take you to the county web site and you can plug your name and birthday in and find out where you go vote.

https://voter.jocoelection.org/(0z1tkn45wnuitgmwzgofzg55)/Search.aspx

Have great week!
Bill CK