Scott Fricker, the new presiding county commissioner for Platte County, has already identified a political enemy. His enemy is not a person. It seems his enemy is the COVID-19 response.
First, Fricker went off on the Platte County Health Department for its real estate actions during the pandemic year of 2020 (see front page story as well as letter to the editor on this page.)
Then, at the close of the meeting, Fricker added these comments:
“Speaking of COVID and the health department. . .apparently the White House is declaring that COVID will officially be over in May. Thank God. And now that the end is in sight, it’s time for the Platte County Health Department and Platte County school districts to perform a full review of what they did right and what they did wrong during that three year period, the consequences of which were significant and will be long lasting. Many things were done right,, and many things were done wrong, and this analysis will help us all respond better next time. But one thing we know for sure, we should never shut down our schools or our small business community again. Let’s learn from our mistakes before just moving on.”
During the discussion of the special warranty deed needed to clarify the ownership of the health department property in Platte City (again, you’ll want to read the front page story) and the pushback it was getting from Fricker and fellow commissioner Dagmar Wood, a quiet common sense reminder was offered by Kevin Robinson, Platte County auditor. Robinson reminded that “until this potential property transaction” everyone at the county was unaware that the health department location in Platte City is county-owned property. But Robinson pointed out it has been the health department–and not the county–funding all building improvements and operational costs at the site for decades.
It needed to be said. Kudos to Robinson for saying it.
More on the forthcoming shuffling of offices at Platte County.
As we’ve reported, the plan is that most of the sheriff’s department (excluding jail staff, dispatchers, courthouse security staff) will be moving to the Platte County Resource Center, which is located east of I-29 at the airport exit, about a 10-minute drive from downtown Platte City. The prosecutor’s office will then be taking over the space left behind by the sheriff’s department. The plan also calls for the county collector’s office to be moved from the second floor of the administration building in Platte City down to the first floor, since the collector’s office gets the most traffic from members of the general public. “I’ve been advocating for this move for a long time,” Sheila Palmer, county collector, said Monday at a meeting of county officeholders.
And, in a question that I asked in this column space a couple of weeks ago but had not asked any county commissioners directly, it sounds like the county commission will be getting some office space in the administration building once again, after giving it up to make room for the prosecutor while his space was being remodeled on the third floor of the county courthouse. Commissioners vacated and never came back, which then became a running joke among many members of the public who noticed the county commission’s willingness to stay incognito. It’s like the commissioners didn’t want the public to be able to find them.
“To answer your unasked question, yes, the commissioners are going to move back into our old offices so we can be more accessible to the public,” Scott Fricker, presiding county commissioner, said in a text message to me the day after that previous column had hit the streets.
It’ll be interesting to see if Wood and Vanover are as willing to get assigned an office again as the new presiding commissioner appears to be.
The county commissioners are getting some negative feedback about booting some agency tenants out of the Platte County Resource Center. As reported a couple of weeks ago, the commission has given current occupants 90-days to vacate the premises.
Vanover says most of the agencies knew months ago that there was a possibility this would be happening. “Everyone knew it was a possibility,” Vanover said on Monday. The county says it is assisting agencies in finding new spots to relocate. As for community groups who used the resource center for meeting sites, a policy on allowable groups/activities using county-owned facilities is being developed, it was mentioned at an officeholders meeting later Monday. It was mentioned that some of the past uses will no longer be allowed because those groups/uses wouldn’t have been covered under the county’s insurance.
In a phone call last Thursday, I asked Major Erik Holland to comment on the advantages/any disadvantages he sees in the sheriff department’s upcoming move to the resource center at 11724 NW Plaza Circle, Kansas City. “The advantages for us are mainly that it’s a space issue. We currently have converted closets into offices. This will give us room for current operations and room for potential growth,” he said.
Any disadvantages? “There are some new processes that will have to be figured out. I don’t think any of them will be difficult or overly problematic. For instance, right now a clerk walks next door (to the courthouse) to pick up warrants a couple of times a day. We’ll be figuring out a new transmission method,” he said. “It’s just a matter of logistics and technology will help with that.” He remarked that although the move will put the sheriff’s department farther away from law enforcement partners in Platte City and Weston, it will make them closer to police departments of Parkville, Kansas City, Riverside, and Weatherby Lake.
Holland said there is persistent crime in the KCI Corridor, which contains many hotels. The most frequent crimes are vehicle break-ins at the hotel parking lots, and he expects the KCPD will be happy to have other police vehicles traveling in and out of that area. “It’s not that they’ll be expecting us to assist with that, but they’ll be happy that people will be seeing our patrol vehicles (traveling to and from the new county sheriff headquarters).”
(Never incognito, you can find Foley at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)