It was somewhat of a group gripe session at the intergovernmental luncheon held in Manhattan Monday, with most area groups at the meeting having some criticism of state legislation coming out of Topeka.
Manhattan’s Assistant City Manager Kiel Mangus was just one of those voicing concerns. He talked about Senate Bill 42, dealing with information on lobbyists. He says the city’s not totally against that, but the amendments put the burden on cities and local organizations to find out every professional organization that might hire a lobbyist that works for them. Mangus says there are multiple professionals who work for them who represent multiple organizations–and the legwork involved in finding all that out would be in his word, “onerous.”
Changes in K-PERS or the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System are being watched closely by several governmental units, with at least two local groups mentioning it during Monday’s intergovernmental meeting in Manhattan. Mangus says the House Bill having to do with issuing a billion and a half dollar bond isn’t the main concern for city officials. Again amendments on vacation limits, with the city having to pay over a certain cap, was mentioned by Mangus. Manhattan/Ogden USD 383 offficials also expressed concerns about K-PERS changes, with Superintendent Bob Shannon stressing any money from that has to go to retirement and not to other public education expenses.
While that measure will continue to be watched, Mangus told the intergovernmental body he’s hearing a measure regarding moving city and school elections to a fall ballot apparently won’t move forward, at least for this session. The measure was never debated on the House floor, which means it’s no longer a concern this time around.
Riley County Counselor Clancy Holeman updated the group on a sewer related bill that has become a part of a practice known as “bundling.”The bill that would raise the threshold for competitive bids has been bundled with two totally unrelated bills from two other counties–while lowering the proposed $25,000 amount to $2,500…described by Holeman as “a pretty dramatic drop.”
Holeman adds the measure now goes to conference committee.
“The government giveth and the government taketh away.” That’s according to Manhattan/Ogden USD 383 School Board President Leah Fliter. Fliter and Supt. Bob Shannon shared information on a variety of bills the current legislature has passed that are impacting USD 383, with an expected $600,000 loss from the Senate block grant bill recently signed by the Governor. Fliter told KMAN following the meeting there’s growing concern about state government in general, with the legislatures “hostile” attitude toward public education.
Fliter used an example that was pointed out during the Monday meeting, regarding additional financial information that would be needed on the district’s website. While that aspect doesn’t bother Fliter or Shannon, specifications about the font used and number of clicks needed with the mouse for the website is in Fliter’s words “insulting, demeaning, and intrusive.”
Intergovernmental meetings include representatives from the city of Manhattan, Riley County, USD 383, Fort Riley, Flint Hills Regional Council, Kansas State University, and Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce.
