Submitted by Lisa Schlegel
It is late September. The November election in which I am running for Treasurer is fast approaching. But right now I am helping my dad prepare for wheat planting season. After my mother and I load grain into the drill, I walk to get a drink from the same hillside spring my dad drank from when he was a child 50 years ago and I find myself wondering, how can county citizens begin to get to know me? After all, I am asking you to elect me as your Treasurer on November 8. As I sip water from this spring that runs cold and clear from deep underground, I realize that this September moment captures my deep connection to the land of Kansas, its resources, and the citizens using those resources. That love of place and people is the first thing I want you to know about me. As I wrote in my June editorial, I feel it is a poignant time in our history, a time when we need caring leaders with courage to make tough decisions, use common sense, and move thoughtfully onward.
What else do I want you to know? I want you to know my interest in being a civil servant did not start on June 1 when I threw my hat in the ring for Treasurer. That interest had its beginnings over a decade ago when I pursued Organizational Leadership as part of my college studies. All the volunteer and leisure activities I have participated in since then, in addition to jobs in higher education, office administration, libraries, and the banking industry have deepened my interest in being civically involved.
I began studying Leadership as a freshman at FHSU over a decade ago, because I wanted to make the world better. How, I did not know. I enjoyed getting out in the community, doing things such as working with Habitat for Humanity, then speaking about my team’s project, and I enjoyed learning how things get accomplished at a city-wide level. I knew majoring in Leadership would prepare me to interact in local or national government someday. During my undergraduate education, I was in the top 2% of students at FHSU in the College of Business and Leadership, and was nominated for the Torch Award, FHSU’s highest award for graduating seniors, in 2008. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Leadership Studies, and my Master’s degree from KU, where I graduated with Honors, in 2011. During both my time as a student and as a working professional, I have always worked to promote interests of volunteer communities during my free time. While at KU, I participated in the award-winning Environs Club, working to promote locally grown foods in Lawrence, KS, and to protect and conserve the Wakarusa Wetlands. The Douglas County Food Policy Council commended my club for our organization of the first “local foods” section in Lawrence’s biggest grocery store. When I worked at the Hays Public Library I did research and then set up a well-received display to inform citizens how water from the Ogallala Aquifer was being utilized by Kansans, and how we could be more responsible stewards of its waters.
Along the way, I learned that making the world better meant making myself better, making my family stronger, and my city more united. It meant supporting the friends, colleagues and students in my life in their efforts to be happy individuals. How do I do that? Any way I can, often in small ways, always because I enjoy it. Whether I’m educating the public about water conservation, teaching yoga, shingling a roof, changing oil in my grandma’s car, or making a lesson plan, I do it with excellence because it is what I want to being doing. When I decided to run for Treasurer, many years of varied experience all came together and I knew this was the next step for me to take to do good work for my community.
What does this have to do with being Treasurer, you ask?
An outstanding Treasurer must understand the always changing Kansas statutes as they apply to the taxation process. An outstanding treasurer must interface effectively with other government officials and taxpayers as well as manage a staff of various specialists, while working to implement those statutes in a way that advocates for constituents. In other words, a good Treasurer must be a quick learner, a good people person, a skilled supervisor and able to attend to detail. My leadership degree taught me how to keep an eye on the big picture while attending to the details and provided training in effective interaction with all sectors of the community. As a former college professor, I have excellent bookkeeping and organizational skills, and successful supervisory experience. If elected Ellis County Treasurer, I aim to provide sound judgement and fiscal responsibility. There will be new things to learn, but I am an excellent learner, as evidenced by my professional record, and I look forward to the professional training sessions all treasurers attend regularly. It is my goal to work in the spirit of togetherness to make the best decisions we can to improve and unify Ellis County. I will perform the duties of Treasurer in the same way I have performed all the many duties during my 13 years of work experience: with excellence and integrity.
I love Ellis County and I want to be a part of making our county strong for the future. We need strong families that work together and leaders that care for those working families that make our county what it is. We need to decide what our priorities are, get creative, and take advantage of the fact that we have the option to vote in new people when the old ways of doing things need to evolve. In running for Treasurer, I know my talents can serve our county. But on top of knowing how to navigate within communities to make meaningful change occur through my experience in several volunteer programs, I have “hard skills” that will serve the office of Treasurer well. I also possess “soft skills” that include being outgoing, friendly, enthusiastic, and level-headed, and I will do my best to get along well with all county employees to provide excellent service to county citizens.
As part of a farming family that has also worked different supplemental jobs, I grew up learning the value of hard work, frugality, common sense, and excellence in all I do. I have managed my money well and feel confident in investing and budgeting Ellis County’s money responsibly. I have always enjoyed travel to foreign places, but I know Ellis County is the place I want to be, and I aim to show people the beauties of our place so they can appreciate it like I do, and as a result, be good stewards of the place we all call home. I think I am not alone in wanting government officials who care for the health and longevity of our community and who appreciate and understand its nuances.
My leadership and supervisory experience have made me comfortable navigating different community systems statewide, working with a large variety of people, and looking for commonalities we can build upon. So much of getting good work done is how one gets along with others. We need an environment where commissioners, employees, and citizens can come together to make smart, innovative choices. Many people who have interacted with Ann in her role of Treasurer have encouraged me to run in opposition this election because they have found her challenging to work with in ways that hinder the smooth implementation of Treasury issues in this county. In many ways her three years of experience are a three-year track record of missed opportunities and missed good will. I can assure you that if elected Treasurer, I will not alienate those I work with, and as a result, our county will be stronger.
Like most people in Ellis County, I want to live the best life I can, do right by people, land and resources, and my family. I want to make the world better for having been here, and do my part in uniting us all in one goal: to make our county strong. I need your help to do it, starting on election Tuesday. We are all critically important. With humility and a great sense of responsibility I ask for your vote on November 8.
Lisa Schlegel is the Republican candidate for the office of Ellis County Treasurer.