Sedgwick County Commission split over wide-ranging speeches at end of meetings

Some Sedgwick County Commission meetings end with speeches about sexually transmitted diseases, carbon dioxide or terrorists named Muhammed.

Most end with a lesson in American history from Commissioner Karl Peterjohn, covering events from the Republic of Texas’ founding to Civil War naval battles.

The majority of Sedgwick County commissioners approve of the wide-open nature of the portion of their public meetings called Other, where commissioners can talk about pretty much any issue.

“This is a way for us to communicate with our constituents, let them know we’re concerned about issues that affect them and that we’re doing what we can to fight for them,” Commissioner Richard Ranzau said.

But Commissioners Tim Norton and Dave Unruh say it’s not the most appropriate use of the county’s time and taxpayer dollars, which pay for the meetings to be broadcast on public television.

“A lot of it is just political,” Norton said. “It’s not about community service, public service (or) the good of our local community. It’s really gone in a different direction than that.

“Over the years, it’s become a place to have a little bit of a political platform.”

Origins of Other

Most Sedgwick County Commission votes happen during the regular agenda of the Wednesday morning meetings. More routine items appear on the consent agenda, which normally passes with little discussion.

The meetings end with a legislative issues portion in which commissioners and staff members talk about bills in the state Legislature and what stances the county should take, and a portion called Other.

Norton started the Other portion of the meetings in his first year on the commission. He said he’s always thought it should focus on what the county commissioners are doing for the county, such as noting they attended conferences or met with local partners.

Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Jim Howell said commissioners are allowed to talk about whatever they want.

“We don’t have a rule against subject matter that is allowed to be discussed and not allowed to be discussed,” Howell said.

Over the course of 2015, the Other portion of meetings took up just shy of three hours – 174 minutes – of airtime, according to a review of meetings by The Eagle. That was about 4 percent of the total time of the 36 regular meetings last year.

In nine meetings so far this year, they’ve taken up almost an hour and a half – about 86 minutes. That’s about 7 percent of the county’s airtime.

Sedgwick County pays KPTS for at least two hours of broadcasting and closed captioning meetings on Wednesday mornings.

‘My perspective is important’

Some commissioners now use the Other portion to sometimes voice personal opinions on national and international news.

“As an elected official, I feel like my perspective is important,” Howell said. “The vast majority of this is relevant county business.”

Howell ended the first meeting of the year with a speech against President Obama’s executive actions on gun control. It lasted at least 10 minutes; the KPTS replay fades out because of the length of that meeting.

Howell said that speech was relevant because of the county’s ownership of buildings with various firearms policies.

“You can’t tell me that firearms is not a topic that’s relevant to Sedgwick County government; it is,” he said.

Ranzau said he should be able to talk about international issues such as Agenda 21, a United Nations initiative.

“All those issues affect us one way or the other,” Ranzau said.

Ranzau has used the meetings to voice his opinions on illegal immigrants using benefits from the county’s Women, Infants and Children program. He also has talked about the efforts to recall him and the causes of increased sexually transmitted diseases rates.

“Sometimes, we use it to counter false and misleading information that’s out there,” Ranzau said.

Ranzau used this past Wednesday’s meeting to give a speech about political correctness and tolerance.

“If you happen to be an illegal alien or an immigrant from Syria, then there’s lots of love out there for you,” Ranzau said. “If you believe in Christian values, constitutional principles, core American values and you express those values, there’s not a lot of love and tolerance out there for you.”

But Unruh said some commissioners are drawing faint connections between the county and events abroad.

“You might make the argument that whatever happens anywhere is somehow related to our state and our county and our citizens,” Unruh said. “You can make that connection on almost anything in Washington or Topeka.

“But I think it’s not hard to understand that we need to be talking about our county business, what’s under our control.”

‘Not the best use of our time’

Norton noted that a couple years ago, the county got rid of meetings on the final Wednesday of each month in an effort to save money and airtime.

“If we go over every week with items that are not budgetary or not policy-driven but are just an individual’s ideas and platforms they want to talk about, then that does gobble up resources we were trying hard to save,” Norton said.

Unruh also wants use of the Other portion of the agenda to go back to its original intent.

“Our comments should be reserved to community activities and things that we’re directly involved in,” Unruh said. “I think that’s the original way that that was conceived.

“I really think that straying off into individual personal interests is probably not the best use of our time or our television,” Unruh added.

Each county commission meeting costs $960 to broadcast and $300 to pay for closed captioning. That’s the base rate for a two-hour meeting.

So speeches made in the Other portion can only increase costs if they happen after the two-hour mark. Broadcast fees rise on a quarter-hour basis, and closed-captioning fees increase on a half-hour basis.

Howell’s Jan. 6 speech on gun control and Peterjohn’s Feb. 3 speech on carbon dioxide both broke those quarter-hour barriers. That means the county got charged an additional $120 by KPTS for each speech.

Howell doubts the Other portion is a large drain on county resources.

“It’s not a hugely significant number to, I guess, implement some type of restrictive policy on what can be said,” Howell said.

Peterjohn’s history lessons, ‘warning’

Peterjohn said he initially used the final portion of the agenda to note the daily jail population.

But he began talking about events that have happened on that day in American history, which normally take up a few minutes.

“There’s a lot of interest, I think, in American history and how we got from our origins to where we are today,” Peterjohn said. “I think it’s important for people to understand the heritage they have for our country.”

Peterjohn said the lessons are probably his largest contribution to the Other portion, which occur almost every meeting.

He still stands by his public warning on the threat of Islamic terrorism after the Paris attacks in November. Part of the warning included a slideshow of people named Muhammad who have committed acts of terrorism. Some local Muslims expressed concern about the speech.

The speech started before the two-hour mark and ended about 13 minutes later, meaning it cost the additional $120 for a quarter-hour of broadcasting.

When asked whether that was a wise use of county resources, Peterjohn said “the number one area where we appropriate money for is public safety, so that’s a top priority for me.”

Peterjohn, like Howell and Ranzau, said that speaking his mind at the end of meetings is a matter of free speech.

“Since we’ve had a majority of one of the two major political parties in the United States Senate try and rewrite the First Amendment, I think defending free speech is an imperative,” said Peterjohn, later saying he was referring to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Democrats on campaign finance regulations.

“I would quote George Orwell that telling the truth in a time of universal deceit is considered a revolutionary act,” he said.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 8:19 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County Commission split over wide-ranging speeches at end of meetings."