Area Leaders Gather To Discuss Legislative Issues

About two dozen officials and staff representing city and county governments from Seward, Ford and Finney counties met with seven members of the legislature Monday during a lunch sponsored by the Finney County Commission.
The goal of the get together was to provide a list of issues important to local governments for local legislators to take back to Topeka with them for the next legislative session in January.
Legislators who attended included state Senators Garrett Love and Larry Powell, and representatives Steve Alford, Russ Jennings, Brian Weber, Don Hineman and John Doll.
Ken Strobel, city manager of Dodge City, talked about the Southwest Kansas Coalition, which consists of Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal and focuses on issues that are of common interest to all three cities.
Strobel provided legislators with the group’s 2013 legislative agenda, which outlined several core principles, a few of which included economic development, education, home rule, taxes and immigration.