Public health should be a priority
That elections have consequences is being proved again by the Sedgwick County Commission, which week by week strays further from the county’s responsibility to promote and safeguard public health.
It’s now fair to wonder whether the commission even appreciates its statutory role as the county’s board of health, or the obligation the county has to operate both a full-service health department and Comcare, the community mental health agency.
First, in January, the commission majority under new Chairman Richard Ranzau voted to change the legislative agenda’s wording about the county health department to emphasize “the education and management of communicable diseases and disaster preparedness and response” and to disparage federal-level accreditation of health departments.
The same day, commissioners refused to have anything to do with a $580,000 federal grant aimed at preventing obesity, diabetes and heart disease among residents. The Medical Society of Sedgwick County later stepped in to administer the grant – though the commission also reneged on $34,000 of its committed funding for the society’s Project Access, through which physicians donate care to the county’s uninsured. (The society is now trying to raise more money, and facing possible staff cuts.)
But at least in rejecting the full federal grant in January, the commission could be credited with consistency in treating federal funding as untouchable.
On Wednesday the commissioners cherry-picked parts of a $2.2 million grant that met with their approval, excising $327,000 that would have funded smoking cessation and provided resources to schools for sex education. As commissioners dismissed county staff recommendations and chose winners and losers from the mix of federal and state funds, they effectively axed at least two county employees’ jobs.
Commissioner Dave Unruh spoke in favor of yielding to the “professional expertise” of health department staff, while Commissioner Tim Norton argued that the county’s role included talking about “the health implications of sex.” But as of November’s election, they are one vote short of ensuring that community health remains a high priority at the county. That’s tragic.
And as Medical Society president Paul Huser told The Eagle editorial board this week, a community looking to bring in new businesses and jobs has an interest in promoting access to healthy lifestyles.
The commission’s new bulldozing approach extends far beyond health, though. Commissioners now substitute their research and judgment for that of the staff on public works, public safety and other issues, opting for alternatives they come up with seemingly on the fly.
While no one expects the commission to rubber-stamp whatever county staff recommends, the current level of second-guessing and micromanaging is unprecedented. It’s also time-consuming and wasteful – the opposite of the streamlined governance you’d expect conservatives to favor.
For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman
This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Public health should be a priority."