Meet the new director of Human Resources         

William (Will) Coy will join Johnson County Government on November 28 as the Director of Human Resources. Will spent most of his career with the U.S. Department of the Army where he served in the military and worked in human resources, including holding other leadership positions outside of the organization, for more than 20 years. He has a passion for public service.

Lili Tran resigned as Director of Human Resources in August 2021. Deputy County Manager, Maury Thompson has served as the interim director for the last 14 months. We thank him for serving in that role.

Visit Inside JoCo to learn more about Will Coy. 

Powerwalk with Penny through Public Works

Thanks to the staff with Public Works and Facilities who, along with County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson, took employees on a virtual Powerwalk with Penny around and into some Buses and Big Rigs.

We heard from various staff and got a close up look at Transit vehicles, Public Works equipment and even into the Fleet Services building.

We learned a lot about this area of county government that works hard to clear icy and snowy roads, provide public transit, help eliminate noxious weeds and so much more.

If you missed the Powerwalk with Penny, the video is available here.

Johnson County Election Office notifies residents of polling locations and rolls out "Know Before You Go" campaign

Earlier this week, Johnson County voters began to receive postcards, like the one on the right, in their mailboxes. The postcards include important information about Election Day voting locations.

Information cards were sent to households instead of each individual voter in the household.

The Election Office will send specific notification cards to each registered voter who will vote at one of the few polling sites that changed from the Aug. 2 election.

In an effort to be prepared for the upcoming general election, The Election Office encourages voters to look at their sample ballot before going to a polling site.

The ballot in Johnson County is 19-inches long. There are 27 judicial retention questions on every JoCo ballot. Sample ballots can be found online at https://jocoelection.org/voterview.  

Voters should consider all options for casting their ballot such as voting early by mail, in person at an advance voting location or on Election Day at their assigned polling place. Voting by mail requires the submission of an advance ballot request application. Mail ballots can be returned by mail, at a ballot drop box, to any advance voting location before Election Day or any Election Day polling location on Election Day.

Visit Inside JoCo for more on what to "Know Before You Go."

WEX Members: Check your FSA Balance Today!

Participants enrolled in a Medical Reimbursement Account need to be aware of the funds in their account. 

Only $570 will be eligible to roll over to your account in 2023. Any balance over $570 at the end of 2022 will be forfeited and will not roll over to your account in 2023. 

Learn more about what you can do and should do here.

Earn the Tobacco Incentive any time!

To earn the Tobacco Incentive and receive $40 off of your monthly medical contributions in 2024, submit your tobacco status in Oracle, Employee SSHR, Tobacco Declaration for you and your spouse, if covered under your medical plan. 

If you declare you and/or your spouse ARE tobacco users, you can still earn the tobacco incentive by completing one of the tobacco cessation programs. 

Learn more about how to declare tobacco and how to earn the tobacco incentive here.

October 2022 NCSAM Week 2- Using Strong Passwords  

Continuing our journey for Cyber Security Awareness Month for October, this week we want to focus on the importance of using strong passwords that are unique to each website or application. 

Have you ever heard of credential stuffing? If not, it's when users reuse the same username and password combination across various systems and websites making it easier for Cybercriminals to compromise accounts. 

When a data breach occurs, the stolen credentials for a user are exposed and may be used by Cybercriminals to try to get unauthorized access to other systems such as websites for retirement, financial, email, etc. Refer to more information about password security at our Safety & Security Spotlight. 

Learn more about Using Strong Passwords, and start the new security awareness training module: Level up your Cybersecurity.  It's four minutes long, so no excuse to miss it. ​​​​​​​This monthly course is due by October 31st. 

Johnson County Mental Health Center hosts Youth Leadership Summit to create positive change in schools and communities   

JCMHC hosted their 16th annual Youth Leadership Summit on Tuesday at the Olathe Community Center. Over 100 students participated from middle and high schools across all six Johnson County school districts. Tuesday’s Youth Leadership Summit was the largest since 2019.

The goal of Youth Leadership Summit is to motivate and train student leaders to make a difference in their schools, their communities, and the lives of their peers. Students who attend learn about leadership and advocacy skills and alcohol, tobacco and substance use prevention strategies.

Each school’s team developed an action plan they’ll be able to implement in their school or community to promote health behaviors among their peers.

Help beautify our community during 2022 Plogtober competition  

The Mid-America Regional Council encourages you to participate in Plogtober, a plogging competition in Kansas City this October.

But what is plogging, and why do it? "Plogging" is the art of picking up litter while running, with the goal of beautifying our community through exercise.

You can sign up to clean a specific park on Sunday, Oct. 16 (eight of which are in Johnson County), or an area of your choice on the day of your choice in October.

Entry is free, and you can register as an individual or a team. Please register by Friday, Oct. 14.

Learn more about the Plogtober competition on InsideJoCo and sign up to participate through the KC Plogtober website.

BOCC proclamation

The Board of County Commissioners issued a proclamation in recognition of the 2022 Johnson County United Way campaign from Oct. 17 to Nov. 4.

Brent Christensen, FMA, and Aaron Witt, JCW, campaign chairs, accepted the proclamation.

From L-R: Aaron Witt, JCW, campaign chair, Dustin Wolfe, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships, United Way Greater KC, Chris Rosson, President & CEO, United Way Greater KC, Brent Christensen, FMA, campaign chair and Chairman Ed Eilert.  

BOCC recap   

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

• Approved an early 2022 start date for the following personnel and capital requests approved in the 2023 budget: 1.0 FTE Sheriff’s Office administrative assistant, a study for the New Human Services Building Capital Improvement Project, Fleet Maintenance Building expansion, Crime Lab HVAC modifications and Johnson County Mental Health Center’s The Recovery Place building modifications.

• The BOCC approved its official meeting calendar for 2023. Information about the calendar is attached here.

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