By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Lifelong Ellis County resident and independent candidate for the first district seat on the Ellis County Commission John Walz said, after serving on several other boards and commissions over the years, he is ready for the challenges ahead as a county commissioner.
Walz, an independent from Ellis, has worked in a variety of jobs in Ellis County, including owning the Taco House and working in law enforcement for Ellis Police Department, the Fort Hays State Police Department and currently as jail security for Ellis County Sheriff’s Department — a position he would give up if elected.
He faces Democrat Chris Rorabaugh and Republican Butch Schlyer in Tuesday’s general election.
Why are you running for County Commission?
Walz said he has served on similar boards in the past, including the Ellis City Council for 11 years and the Ellis Recreation Commission for 10 years. He is still a member of the Ellis County Historical Society board.
“I enjoy doing it,” Walz said. “I enjoy giving back to the community that has given me so much. I appreciated the job opportunities that have been offered to me here in Ellis County. I feel very fortunate.”
He also said he work on other boards was very similar to working on the commission.
As a member of the city council and the recreation commission, he had to work through the budgeting process as well.
“I’ve enjoyed all the jobs I’ve had, I’ve enjoyed all the boards I’ve been on and I enjoy trying to give back to the community,” Walz said.
Dealing with the budget
Walz identified the potential budget shortfall as one of the biggest issues facing the county.
He said that right now there isn’t a good answer to solve the county’s budget issues and potential for budget deficit.
“First of all, I really don’t want to raise property taxes at all,” Walz said. “It’s possible, in the end no matter who the commissioner is, (property taxes) may get raised some because we have to balance the budget.”
While a cut in services have been brought up as a way to reduce the budget, Walz said he doesn’t know how the residents of Ellis County would react to a cut in services.
“Most of these services are mandated by state statute so they have to be offered, (but) they can be reduced,” Walz said.
He said a reduction or slowdown of services will mean that the county won’t be offering the same quality of services as it has in the past.
“All the offices are already running with less people than what they had previously, so they’ve already cut back a bunch,” Walz said.
He said he wants the commission to reach out to citizens and ask them what services they would be willing to have cut or where they would be OK with seeing reductions.
Are you in favor of a county-wide sales tax?
Walz said that he is in favor of a sales tax that would pay for county services. The previous half-cent sales tax for Ellis County sunset at the end of September. It was approved by voters in 2013 to pay for renovations at the Law Enforcement Center and jail and the building of the Emergency Services Building.
He said while people are always critical of just continuing the sales tax and never allowing it to sunset, this would be a way to help to fund the county and county services.
“We’re so limited on options as a county,” Walz said. “You can keep robbing stuff. What we’ve seen from the state of Kansas, you start taking from all these funds and then you don’t have any savings left for the future.”
He said he believes a sales tax could be one of the key options to improving the fiscal health in Ellis County.
The citizens would have to vote to approve any sales tax.
Employee morale
Walz said he’s also concerned about the morale of the employees of Ellis County. One of the ways the current commission is attempting to save money is by not replacing employees who retire. He said when someone leaves, that extra work is then absorbed by others.
“You’re using less people to do the same amount of work and someone’s going to have to attempt to try to get that amount of work done and that puts a lot more pressure on the people doing it and they’re probably not going to be able to get as much done,” Walz said.
He said this can lead to a decline in job quality and morale and that can cause people to find a different job.
“We want to keep quality people working for the county,” Walz said. “Out in the private sector, these folks would make more money.”
He said if the commission chooses to cut benefits to employees or doesn’t continue to improve the salaries county, employees could leave for other jobs.
“You want to take care of your people that are working for you.”