Remarks by Jim Howell
146 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 6
- Play at 21:41
“Commissioner Howell. Thank you, Chairman. So I'm just trying to remember, wasn't there another title for this savings from Senate Bill 367? It wasn't just the evidence-based practice account. There was another fund title. What was that previously? I think this is a subcategory of what they had actually set aside.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 22:09
“Maybe that's what it's called. But the balance got very high. It got 35. It was actually much higher. It was like 85. Yeah, it was big. Yeah, it was like nearly $100 million. And then the state made efforts to sweep those funds numerous times. Huge debate, put the money back and take the money out. The governor tried to take the money. Then the legislators were forced to put the money back, and on it goes. That's not this fund directly. This is a subaccount, I believe, of that larger fund.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 22:43
“Okay. So I guess my point would be this is a policy choice of understand 367 created a savings account. There was essentially money that had been spent that was being saved because we have a theoretically more efficient, more effective system, which was based on the genesis of 367 was to do community-based programming in place of like YRC2 beds. That was generally what it was trying to do. Yes. And there was so much money in that account. We were making arguments for more community-based programming because there's entire communities that had none. And we had a fair amount here in Sedgwick…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 24:53
“And the entire state's going to go down to 400,000?”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 25:13
“I think there's a fund available for that. That's why. Yes. We argued House Bill 2329. It was based on the idea it would cap that larger fund, not this fund.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 25:35
“The governor has 60 days left, and this whole thing can change. We're having robust discussions about drastic changes to the state of Kansas. With 60 days left in the current administration, which is likely, I would think there's going to be significant changes potentially in who's leading and the decisions that are being made. These are radical decisions that I think should be suspended until we have a stable administration. It's not stable. And I don't know how much of this is going to stay exactly as it was presented just now, but this is a very discouraging discussion at the very end of…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 26:37
“These meetings on YouTube, are they available for us to watch? They should be. Some of the meetings they had, they were not. And I had trouble getting access to them. So I know there may be public meetings, but if they're not recording them for us to look at, you know, I don't even know necessarily they're going to happen until I find out later on. Yeah. Do they allow public comment at those meetings?”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 27:03
“I would like to see the county not just – I appreciate your involvement on the board level, but I think the county should take a position, and we should be heard. We need to attend those meetings. We need to actually speak up and explain to them what they're contemplating is devastating. This is horrible. And at the end of the day – We have a challenging population. It's going to require some effective programming that's going to cost taxpayers a little bit of money. We continue to get cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. These ideas were based in some part a little bit on the idea that this is…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 29:57
“The people that were on that committee, I don't want to name names in this question, but the people on that committee, were they advocating for this conclusion or were they advocating for more status quo? The people that I might know here that may be on that committee.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 30:22
“That is, again, that's completely made up. The $13 million versus $15 million is, frankly, a policy choice. They've got way more money than that in this fund available. This portion of that fund that's been allocated is a decision that someone made that has access to the total fund. But this idea we have a financial distress, we've got to do something radical. It's just made up. That's just not real. And I think we need to be bold on our conversation here, guys. We need to speak to this as a commission. This is going to devastate our community. And by the way, there's a cost to this. Because…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 33:17
“Did anybody on this committee ask the question, what do you think is going to happen to these kids? What's the answer?”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 33:28
“I don't know if this is maybe the right time to bring this up, but I implore us to do something about this. We have got to speak up.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 35:28
“Not to get too political here, but I would like to see these governor's candidates, if they see this, they ought to speak up and say, what's their position on this? I'd like to know. I think our community has a right to know. What do they think about this?”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 29:31
“Commissioner House, go ahead. Thank you. And Vicki, I just wanted to say, you have a group behind you. I don't know if you would be willing to introduce them or have them introduce themselves. Yes. For the students especially, though, I'd like to know what school they go to and what grade they're in.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 29:52
“If they're willing, they'd be great. Okay.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 30:42
“Well, Vicki, thank you for your leadership. And I was going to say from the best district out of the five, but now I have to share that with the chairman. I am proud of you all. Thank you for what you do. To have a job is a wonderful experience. To be able to work amongst another team of other people and to have that experience is wonderful. search has always done a great job i think they've been here every year every year i've been a commissioner we've celebrated the accomplishments of that program so countless students have come through that program and had experiences relevant experiences…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 43:47
“Thank you. Commissioner Howell. Thank you. Thank you, Greg. Just for the record, I did not tell you to show up and say any of what you just said today. Is that correct? Because I might be accused of that later on.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 44:11
“A couple questions for you. I guess I don't quite understand the business relationship, but you and Steve are partners in the ownership and management of this airfield. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. There have been some concerns by some people who are claiming that they need to leave Cook. was they were worried about the longevity of the airfield being continued to operate as an airfield, that somehow that might change in the future. What would you say to that concern?”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 45:25
“Can you talk about the security around their existing hangar? Because there were some concerns about security. I've been by there. I've seen the building. I'm wondering about their concern about it's not, you know, the public can just wander onto their... Their operational space, what would you say about that?”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 46:32
“In terms of access to takeoff and their airspace being controlled or whatever, is there any differences in how they would operate out of Jabara versus operate out of Cook?”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 47:27
“I wish I had time for more questions. I think we'll stop there, but thank you for coming today. I have a concern about what we did last week, and I just let my colleagues know I was going to bring this up during OTHER, and I probably will still do that today. I've got a question for our counselor. I'll ask him some questions regarding the MOU when we get to OTHER today. So if you want to hang out for that long, I do plan to have that conversation with the counselor today. Thank you so much.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 51:17
“Yeah, sure, absolutely. I appreciate the previous comments. It just makes me wonder, again, when they first came in, they said three to five years. And I understand that was their plan all along. But that was before some things have changed. And I'm just wondering, operationally, I'm still thinking about the comment that was made last week by the colonel about we're leaving Cook no matter what. And I just come back and I wonder, what would be the... the rationale for that concrete, hard decision, then no matter what, they are not going to stay, because it is arguably an efficient solution to…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 52:35
“I'm struggling with that one. I don't understand the thought behind it. There has to be some logical reason why he would say that. I don't know what that is. One more thing is I know that when they first came to Cook, and I think we talked about this, there was some resistance by the people who flew the planes. They thought this isn't a good place to operate out of. But their opinion has changed somewhat, and I think that they actually kind of like being there, and they really think it's a great location. I don't think, and I'm not going to try to cause division on Wilmer's Highway Patrol. I…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 54:55
“Let me rephrase the question. The people who operate the airplanes out there, they're not the ones against urging this change. They operate well.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026
- Play at 55:06
“I'll just state for the record that I did try to come out and actually walk through the buildings, and I was shut out and told I was not welcome. They closed the doors and told me I was not allowed to be on the property and to do anything in their area. So I want the record to be shown. They're not letting people like me see what's going on. They want me not to be there and not to talk to the pilots and not see the airplanes and not be on their property. And I find that to be very, very concerning.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 14, 2026