New leadership for a new year.
Today, Sedgwick County Commissioners elected Richard Ranzau as chair and Karl Peterjohn as chair pro tem for 2015. It was also a first meeting for Jim Howell, the newest commissioner, representing District 5.
Some believe the new leadership represents a new majority for the county.
“Certainly, anytime you get someone new in your organization and new on the commission, you get a new perspective, a new look at things, and that’s always helpful, I think,” Ranzau said.
“Basically, we want to be good stewards to the taxpayer money,” he continues. “We want to evaluate everything that we’re doing. Make sure that it’s effective and efficient. And, we want to hold ourselves accountable, so we’re not wasting taxpayer dollars, and they’re getting a good bang for their buck.”
One program Ranzau had fought for this past year was Judge Riddel Boys Ranch. The program shut down in July due to lack of state funding.
“I think it was a mistake to close it to begin with. I’d like to reopen that, based on the information that I have,” he said.
Ranzau said he believes the program can pay off for the county, which had absorbed costs in recent years. The boys ranch housed about 30 boys before it closed.
The state paid about $126 per boy per day at the ranch. Sedgwick County paid about $200 per boy per day. This summer, county manager Bill Buchanan said the program was not cost-effective.
Howell disagrees. He believes the program can help reduce recidivism and save money.
“They’ve done a great job of keeping kids out of jail,” he said. “Not in absolutely every case they can do it, but in many cases they can. To that extent, if we have an effective program, that can keep kids out of prison — out of incarceration — that actually saves taxpayer money. ”
“So a small investment on the front end actually saves taxpayer money on the backend,” he continued. “Plus, I believe there’s a moral aspect to it.”
The boys ranch is not on any agendas at this point. Howell said he’s trying to catch up with recent decisions by the commission, as he is anxious to serve the county.