A Desert Storm veteran who was awarded a Bronze Star, a former Wichita deputy police chief, an Illinois county official and a human services director are all hoping to be the next Sedgwick County manager.
County commissioners could decide as early as Wednesday who they will hire for the highest non-elected position in county government.
That person will serve in the job long held by former county manager William Buchanan, who retired in June after 24 years. Ron Holt has been acting county manager.
Commissioners and two panels, one of county employees and the other with representatives from the community, interviewed the final four candidates last month. The 2016 adopted budget sets aside $194,753 for the county manager’s compensation.
The county did not host a hearing for the public to meet the candidates nor ask questions, unlike the city of Wichita, which solicited questions from residents and held a public forum for police chief finalists on Monday. The city offered similar public access when it hired City Manager Robert Layton.
Holt said commissioners discussed the position in a public meeting earlier in the year before advertising the job nationwide. He didn’t know whether there was enough interest for a public hearing.
“We didn’t get an outpouring of people wanting to weigh in on that,” Holt said.
Commission Chairman Richard Ranzau said long discussions and interviews were productive and allowed commissioners and staff members to get to know the candidates.
“We discussed a meet-and-greet type of thing with citizens, but in the end, I don’t think anyone thought that we would gain much out of it,” Ranzau said.
Holt and Ranzau said the community panel provided suitable public input. That panel included Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell and representatives from organizations such as the Wichita Independent Business Association, the Wichita Area Builders Association, the Greater Wichita Area Partnership, the Sedgwick County Association of Cities and the Coalition for a Better Wichita.
“I understand the argument (over transparency) both ways, but I think we made an effort to get a lot of feedback,” Ranzau said.
Holt said county staff and commissioners were impressed with all four candidates.
“Now it’s a matter of which one of the four might be best suited for the job,” he said.
The Eagle interviewed three of the finalists. One, Michael Scholes, could not be reached for an interview and was profiled using information from his resume.
Timothy Kaufman
Age: 54
Position: Sedgwick County health and human services director, two years
Past work: County human services positions, 11 years; interim Exploration Place director, one year; Comcare administrator, two years; Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services administrator, seven years; Wichita State human resources position, two years
Why he wants to be county manager: “The idea of being a public servant and doing what I thought was good and important work resonated with me. … I see the county manager role as an interface between the community and the larger county organization. … I’d certainly like to be involved to make sure the departments are meeting the needs of the community.”
Why he’s qualified: “I’ve had an opportunity to look at and work with the vast majority of the county. … I think I have a good understanding of what we’re doing at the county and how we’re doing it. … I think that I’ve developed the ability to understand programs and services and recognize quality public services and help managers and department heads be successful.”
Notable accomplishment: “(I worked) with all of the stakeholders to help Comcare implement their community crisis center. … It will meet the needs of people in behavioral crises. It’s been a long process, and I’ve been working the rest of the department to implement it. … It’s fascinating work, and it’s an opportunity to see the impact of the work that (pyschiatrists and pyschologists) do and, by extension, the work that I did.”
As county manager: “One of the things that would be most interesting and most different from what I’ve done so far is to work with the commission on how they want to work in the community with regard to economic development. (It) would be an exciting opportunity to do something new. ... (I’m interested in) anything we can do to help young people be successful in education and employment.”
Michael Scholes
Age: 49
Most recent position: Chief of staff for North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in Kosovo, one year
Past work: U.S. Northern Command director of operations for a joint task force tasked with responding to a weapon of mass destruction attack, one year; brigade commander for almost 3,500 troops in the Georgia Army National Guard, two years; Joint Force director responsible for Georgia’s response to flooding and the 2010 Haitian earthquake, two years; Georgia counterdrug coordinator with various agencies, three years; Georgia National Guard battalion commander organizing the state’s Hurricane Katrina emergency relief operations in New Orleans and preparing troops to deploy to Iraq in 2005 and 2006, one year; Georgia National Guard military support director, four years; 12 years of leadership positions in the U.S. Army, including as a platoon leader during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq
Why he would be a fit for the job: “I am an active duty serviceman who has held a myriad of management and senior executive leadership positions. ... I would be a tremendous benefit for (Sedgwick County government) in this capacity. The military has molded me into a mature decision-maker and crisis manager, able to react to any situation.”
Why move to Sedgwick County: “My focus is on established communities like Sedgwick County, Kansas, that offer opportunities for personal growth and advancement based upon proven demonstrated results. … I have children and family in the Colorado area and would love to make Sedgwick County, Kansas, my new home.”
Thomas Stolz
Age: 57
Position: Director of Wichita and Sedgwick County’s merged codes and building department, three years
Past work: Interim Wichita Transit director, less than a year; deputy police chief in all three major police divisions, 12 years; other Wichita police positions, 18 years
Why he wants to be county manager: “I was born here, I went to school here. Every job I’ve ever had in government is here. I raised all of my kids here. I still have tons of family living here. I care about what happens in this county. … It’s a great opportunity to work with people that I like and serve people that I’ve served my whole life. … This job represents the ultimate challenge for me. It’d be the epitome of working in government.”
Approach to the job: “Managers should be apolitical. … We need to listen to how the commission wants to steer the ship, and then we need to communicate that to the mass public so that when decisions get made which are unpopular, whether it’s staffing or budget, that there’s an understanding why the decision is being made.”
Why he’s qualified: “I know the city system like the back of my hand because I came up in that system. The last three years have allowed me to learn the county system. … I know staff on both sides of the street. I’m good friends with a lot of city council people. I like the county commission. This job has allowed me to get to know developers, builders and contractors who literally build this city. … I’m passionate about partnering with people and communicating with people.”
Priorities for the new manager: “We have to re-establish partnerships with the city of Wichita and other cities in Sedgwick County. Through the budget process and some miscommunication, those have been impacted a bit and we need to repair those. From a county staff perspective, the county has lost a lot of key personnel in the last several months and we have to be cognizant as a county of keeping our talented people. … Losing good people is a problem for any business or government.”
Ryan Waller
Age: 36
Position: Assistant county administrator in Lake County, Ill., four years
Past work: Administrative positions at the Village of Lake Bluff, Ill., five years, and the city of Highland Park, Ill., five years
His interest and approach with county management: “You got to engage the stakeholders, you got to sit down and talk to them. You got to understand what their issues are. You got to listen to the feedback that they have. It’s the interaction with the people, helping people. … No two days are ever the same. The work that we do has a tremendous impact on the people that we serve.”
Why he’s qualified: “I’ve had an opportunity to really work with some of the best and learn from them. The county that I work for now is fairly similar to Sedgwick County. We’re 703,000 residents, where Sedgwick is just a little bit more than 500,000, with the same types of issues that Sedgwick has been facing. (They have a) similar size workforce, similar size budget. I come from an organization that is very similar, so my skills and my experiences here are very easily transferred.”
Significant accomplishment: “(Lake County) has owned this nursing home for 150 years. The facility that is the nursing home is very outdated and needs to be replaced. … We worked on coming up with a solution that pleased everybody. … We’re transitioning to now where the county is not going to own it. … At the end of the third year, (the county) will be completely financially relieved of the responsibility of the nursing home. The private sector is going to be the one building the new facility. … The folks that are living there now have a place to go and it’s going to be in the Lake County marketplace.”
Why work for Sedgwick County: “The thing I was impressed about was how much good that the organization itself is doing. One of the things I’m really excited about is going out and establishing these relationships with the community, whether it’s with the city of Wichita or some of the social service groups that are in the community. … It’s the quality of the people working there; the people working there really have the community’s interests at heart.”
Reach Daniel Salazar at 316-269-6791 or dsalazar@wichitaeagle.com. Follow him on Twitter: @imdanielsalazar.
This story was originally published August 31, 2015 7:41 PM.