Town Board meetings - Y'all come!

I went to the recent Town Board meeting on April 27. I saw a group of interested and concerned people working together to make the best decisions for the town - that was impressive.

The board members, town manager, town clerk and attorney spend several hours working through the business of running the town, and it would be great if more people took an interest.

- Did you know there is discussion about putting in separate water meters for landscaping? If you are a homeowner in Olathe, you may find this useful to know. And if you have an opinion about this, you should let the Board know.

- Bobbi Sale of the Activities Department was there to tell us how the Corn Fest is shaping up for this year.

- Did you know there is work in progress to put pipes in irrigation ditches to reduce the leaching of selenium into the water system? There was a very interesting report presented at the meeting. I'm sorry I missed the woman's name and organization.

- Did you know the Olathe Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the car show event during Corn Fest this year?

- Did you know that the budget for the town is on target for the 1st quarter of 2009?

- Did you know the Town is pressuring our government leaders to help Olathe put the dormitory into use as it was originally planned?

- Did you know that the organization that used to provide senior meals at the Olathe Community Center has changed, and a new group (Volunteers of America) have taken it over?

You would have learned that and much more by attending Monday's meeting. Maybe you aren't interested in every topic they discuss and decide on, but all of it is important to the life and health of our community.

- Let's get involved in how the town is run, give the board some support and input about what you want that is good for the town.

Anyone interested in how the town is run, and want input on which decisions are made, should go to these meetings; they are very informative yet sparsely attended.

Meet me at the next board meeting - they are held the 2nd & 4th Mondays of each month, 6:30pm at the Town Hall. The board has a "working meeting" prior to that, and the public is welcome there too.

See you there!

Fire! Fire!

Kyle St. Jean, the fire chief for Olathe, is cautioning people to be more careful this season while burning ditches and setting open fires. We've seen and heard of several fires get out of control due to the high winds, which are common later in the day here.

I don't farm and I don't have ditches to burn. But even I've noticed that the wind almost always picks up in the mid to late afternoons, and mornings are usually still.

So I have to wonder why I see people starting their ditch fires and field fires in the afternoons? Hey, I'm no Einstein, but I figured out quickly that if I need to burn trash outside, I don't do it mid-day because the wind often picks up and gets pretty strong. So why do people who have experience in this sort of thing, who ought to know better, try to burn fields and ditches later in the day? Why take that risk, when starting earlier in the day would make it much more safe to do?

Puzzles me! I just keep the hose handy in case my farmer neighbors think mid-day burning is a good idea ...

Just like the old west ...

The front page of the April 22 issue has a priceless photo of a modern day cattle drive down Main Street in Olathe. This may be a big Ho-hum to people who have lived here for a long time, but for this city kid it's exciting stuff.

The photo by Joseph Harold was well done - he got a broad shot of cowboys, cattle and the old fashioned buildings. If there weren't power poles in the picture, you'd swear it was taken in the 1800's instead of 2009.

This is one of the things I treasure about living in Olathe - there are things going on here that you just won't ever see living in a subdivision in a city.

Katie’s Law - Much-needed legislation or civil liberties intrusion?

In the March 25 issue of the Olathe Messenger, Scott Tipton submitted an editorial describing his support and sponsorship of Katie’s Law which would allow the cops to collect DNA from felony arrests of any kind.

On the surface, this looks like a no-brainer. They say with this DNA evidence, they can solve more “cold cases” and avoid following inaccurate leads in investigations, saving time and money. They say that when an innocent person is arrested & their DNA collected, when the person is set free the DNA sample is destroyed. So why would you not want to support such legislation?

Well, how about this: Do you really trust our law enforcement system to properly dispose of innocent people’s DNA samples? I don't - our government loses PEOPLE in the system, how can they be trusted to not lose DNA samples?

- How many government entities do you know of with track records of mismanaged and lost paperwork and evidence? It is a common issue. Are you really OK with having YOUR DNA sample “out there” in a system rife with problems, never knowing if your sample is going to connect you erroneously with someone else’s crime?This happens in real life, not just in CSI re-runs on TV.

Right now the accepted use of DNA samples from people arrested (even if arrested in error!) is to “put criminals behind bars” and free innocent people who were wrongly charged. But you don’t know what will be done with those samples in 20 years. This world is vastly different from the one our grandparents knew; do you really trust our government to safeguard this information and not misuse it? They don't have a good track record so far, and being trustworthy is not a quality I ascribe to law enforcement or our government in general.

I appreciate Mr. Tipton’s impassioned plea to save all the women and girls of the state from brutalization by violent criminals. I'm sure his intentions are honorable. But think carefully before you support yet another erosion of your privacy and civil liberties and put this powerful tool in the hands of our less-than-honorable "justice" system.

Note: The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Olathe Messenger and its publishers.

Olathe mayor calls ordinance issue "minor point"

March 25, 2009 – Interesting difference in opinion about the 3 ordinances whose statutory requirements were not met. On the one hand, we are told via the town attorney that the Colorado Statutes require 2 notices for public hearings be published in a “newspaper of general circulation”, 15 days prior and 8 days prior to the public hearing.

On the other hand, we have the Mayor of Olathe say that the lack of correct notice requirements is a “minor point” and was quoted as saying, “The law doesn’t say when they have to be printed.”

So, who’s correct – the town attorney or the mayor?

This may seem like a minor point; I am sure there was no intent to hide anything, or be secretive. But in these turbulent economic times when it seems our government and economy are in a downward spiral, it is very important for all public officials and public transactions to be open and transparent.

Even in a small town where we think we know everyone, we need to be able to trust the people who are making the rules & enforcing them. Integrity is important. We hold public officials to a higher standard than we do for ourselves, since we entrust them with the money and the means to make changes that affect us and our future.

So it is NOT trivial or a “minor point” when correct procedures are not followed. We need to know we can trust our public officials in the small matters as well as in the large matters. And we need to be assured they pay attention to all the "lttle details" and "minor points".

What do you think?

Note: Opinions posted here are not necessarily those of the Olathe Messenger and its publishers.

Hospital Assessment Findings April 8

From the 3/25 Olathe Messenger:

Citizens Committee to present final findings on hospital assessment on April 6, 2009. Three subcommittees to present to the Board of County Commissioners.

- Final report will be presented at the BOCC meeting at 5pm on April 6 at the BOCC board room, 161 South Townsend.

Questions about the ordinances & effects

Is the town going to refund all those fines and costs they collected on the ordinances they didn't legally publish? Also, what about the builders who incurred extra cost because the building code they didn't legally adopt.

(posted anonymously)

When to plant a garden in Olathe

From Tami B.: I just moved here and am wanting to plant a garden is it too early? Can anyone give me some tips to get started?

Question about mailboxes in Olathe

From Laura: I am writing for my Grandma who live in town and does not do computers. She is elderly and does not get around very well. It is hard for her to walk up to the post office. Why did they take out the post office box? Will they bring it back?

Got questions? We have answers. Maybe not the right ones but ...

A couple of questions were posted earlier and we'd like to address them. Do you have questions about Olathe or living in the area? Let us be a resource for you - post your questions here and we'll answer if we can, or try to point you to other sources.


Shirley Bradbury




NOTE: the opinions and thoughts posted here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Olathe Messenger and its owners/publishers.