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Chairman Mike Kelly and three re-elected commissioners sworn into office

Chairman Mike Kelly chaired his first business session with the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, Jan. 12.

The chairman, along with Commissioners Becky Fast, Janeé Hanzlick and Michael Ashcraft, took the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony on Monday, Jan. 9 in the board’s hearing room.

The re-elected commissioners to new four-year terms are as follows:

• Becky Fast, begins her second four-year term representing the First District.
• Janeé Hanzlick, begins her second four-year term representing the Fourth District.
• Michael Ashcraft, begins his fourth four-year term representing the Fifth District.

Kelly, former mayor of Roland Park took office following Chairman Ed Eilert's retirement after 16 years on the board, including 12 as chairman.

A video of the swearing-in ceremony and photo recap of the event are available on jocogov.org.

2022 Leadership in Action winners announced

County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson announced the 2022 recipients of the Leadership in Action award during the manager's memo portion of the Board of County Commissioners meeting.

A total of 28 employees will be recognized throughout the year for their achievements.

Find a full list of LIA winners on InsideJoCo. Keep an eye out for videos featuring the 2022 recipients in future editions of the JoCo In the Know newsletter.

In case you missed it, learn more about the 2021 award winners in this recap. 

BOCC recap

In addition to the items above, the Board of County Commissioners meeting included the following:

• The BOCC authorized Johnson County Mental Health Center to sign an Assessment Services Agreement with the Olathe Medical Center and add 1.0 FTE Clinician position to provide level of care assessment services that will be funded by Olathe Medical Center.

In her weekly management report, County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson announced three Johnson County programs were recently recognized for sustainability and climate resilience at the Mid-America Regional Council’s “Resilient Success Stories: True Life Stories from the Kansas City Region.” A video of the award-winning programs from Stormwater Management, Wastewater, and Park and Recreation District can be viewed at https://youtu.be/lYIUOrjVOQ0.

More information on these and other items from today’s meeting is available at boccmeetings.jocogov.org.

County offices to be closed Monday, Jan. 16 for MLK Day 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is coming up on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023.

In observance of the holiday, Johnson County Government offices will be closed. MLK Day is a fixed holiday for county employees. 

The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners proclaimed Jan. 16, 2023, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Johnson County.

Chairman Kelly presented a proclamation to Jim Terrones, vice president of the Overland Park, Leawood and Olathe Units of the NAACP. 

A major figure in the Civil Rights Movement, MLK dedicated his life to the nonviolent struggle for equal justice. The MLK holiday is always near his birthday, Jan. 15, 1929. 

Learn more about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights legacy and ways you can observe this year’s holiday. 

L-R: Jim Terrones, Vice President, NAACP of Overland Park, Leawood and Olathe, and Chairman Mike Kelly.

Changes to closed captioning in Zoom meetings

Zoom recently updated its software related to Closed Captioning in meetings and webinars and you may have noticed a new message “A participant has enabled Closed Captioning [Who can see this transcript]?” when you joined a meeting or webinar.

This change caused some confusion, therefore DTI has disabled captions by default for existing and new county Zoom accounts.

If you need to enable captions for meetings that you host, please see the article How to enable or disable Zoom Captions in the Knowledgebase.

Please contact DTI Support at 913-715-1700 or via ServiceRequest@jocogov.org if you have any questions.

Donate blood during National Blood Donor Month

January is National Blood Donor Month and the need for blood donations remains urgent. Just one pint of blood saves three lives.

Johnson County Government together with Community Blood Center will host a blood drive from 8 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023 at the Johnson County Government Sunset Building, 11811 S. Sunset Dr., Room 1055 in Olathe.

Sign up for an appointment online. Use group code KCUH.

For questions or to register, call Cara Anderson, blood drive coordinator at 913-477-8441 or email cara.anderson@jocogov.org.

Details on other blood drives throughout the year can be found here.

Save on medications with Tria Health

Tria Health provides one-on-one, confidential telephonic counseling with a pharmacist to make sure your medications are working as intended and you can afford them.

Tria Health’s pharmacists are your personal medication experts and will work with you and your doctor(s) to make sure your conditions are properly controlled without the risk of medication-related problems. 

Learn who can participate, what the pharmacists can help you with and how to get started, here.

Reminder for Guidance Resources webinar: Emotional Eating: The Connection Between Mood and Food

Reminder that registration closes Jan. 20. Anyone interested in learning about healthy eating and losing weight can join a live webinar on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 2 p.m.

Learn more here including how to sign up to attend and earn wellness points!