MEMBER NEWS

JOHNSON COUNTY CELEBRATES APRIL AS NATIONAL COUNTY GOVERNMENT MONTH

OLATHE -- It’s been said that citizens only care about their local government when the water stops flowing out of their faucet, they hit a pothole, or their garbage doesn’t get picked up. Other than that, they are unengaged and willfully unaware of what counties do on their behalf.

So let’s take a page from Mr. Capra and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and imagine what one day in the life of an average Johnson County resident would be like if some critical county services went away. This is not a budgetary scare story, just some food for thought:

•  In the morning, you’ll be using water to bathe or cook with. It may not be treated or healthy to drink.
  
• You probably also used the toilet. All that waste has to go somewhere; hope it’s not the same place as the drinking water came from.
• While driving to work, the roads may or may not be marked appropriately. You’ll hit several potholes and hope people stop at the intersection of two main arterial roads where there are no signs or lights.
• You make it home and your spouse is in bed with some kind of flu bug. So are the kids, and most of their friends at school are sick with this strange virus. You suddenly feel sick to your stomach. Then again, it could be the water you drank this morning.
• Finally, the weather outside is still, the clouds are dark, and the sky has a green cast. Should you take shelter?   Too bad there is nothing to warn you. Where is the best place for shelter, and what do you need to take with you? Uh, oh – where’s Fido?!

Granted, these are exaggerations, but it underscores that every person in Johnson County, on any given day, is a beneficiary of county services. The water we drink, the roads we drive on, the flu immunization you receive, all are part of what the 105 counties do for 2.8 million Kansans.

Counties do a lot of things right, and even though they do their best to tell their positive stories, folks don’t always want to listen to what’s working well.

That’s why we are making an extra effort the month of April to celebrate National County Government Month. Johnson County will be tweeting, blogging and posting FaceBook information on county services.
In times such as these, it seems there may not be much to celebrate. But fundamentally, counties deliver the services that keep our society civilized, and it’s worth taking a little time to pause, reflect and be a little grateful of where we live, and what makes it so livable.

To follow the activities, visit Johnson County’s website at www.jocogov.org. There, you can sign up for blog, Twitter and FaceBook notifications. Information will be posted on Johnson County’s National County Government Month page, which you can easily access from the home page.

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