The Reno County Commission Republican primary candidates are visiting the KWBW Morning Show to talk to Nick Gosnell about their campaigns. Below is a transcript of Cris Corey's answers from July 25, 2022.
Nick Gosnell:
Good morning, Cris, how are you?
Cris Corey:
Good morning, Nick. I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.
Nick Gosnell:
You bet. So talk to us about who you are and where you came from and why you want to be a Reno County commissioner.
Cris Corey:
Okay. Well, Nick I was born and raised here in Reno County, in Hutchinson. Let's see. I've just, this community means a lot to me and this county means a lot to me. I've always had great pride in this county. My wife and I moved back here in 2005. I've owned a small business here for the past 17 years here in Hutchinson. I've got a small family. Well, I guess a young family, I've got two boys and a girl and they are, what are they now? They are now five, seven and almost 12. So anyhow, I guess I'm very vested or I know I'm extremely vested in this community being a small business owner and having raising kids in this, in this community, I want what's best for the community, cause that obviously is what's best for my business, my family, my friends, and ultimately all of us. So I just, I wanted to get involved at a much grander scale and in this county commissioner position it gives me that opportunity.
Nick Gosnell:
Sure. So what should county government do and what should the private sector or nonprofit organizations or churches or so on, do based on what you've seen so far, what should county government do? What should they stick to, as far as the scope of county government.
Cris Corey:
As far as the scope of county government? I think we need to actually be more inclusive with the city commissions and that's all city commissions across our county. A little more collaboration, kind of a shared vision for Reno County as a whole. Of course, Hutchinson makes up 60% of that county. So we definitely need their involvement, but involvement from all the other small communities in our, in our county. And like I said, a shared vision I think would go a long way. And again that's through talking, through collaboration. And I think with all that, getting all people on board that can move us forward as a county.
Nick Gosnell:
Okay. So explain how you understand the role of the county administrator.
Cris Corey:
Oh, the county administrator. Yeah.
Nick Gosnell:
What does he do?
Cris Corey:
Let's see. Well, Randy Partington, he is, from what I've seen and what I've heard from the current commissioners and from attending all of the meetings here for the past year or so, he's a treasure. I mean, he is doing great things there. His reports back to the county are very concise, are very educational. He does his due diligence in bringing things before the commissioners. And he basically, he manages everything with the county and then brings it back to the commissioners, the commissioners you know, either get more information for him or he usually has enough for them to make their decisions based off of what he brings back. Cause he, he's just, he's very good at what he does and we're very pleased to have him.
Nick Gosnell:
All right. So as I understood Ron sellers to say, he believes that the county commission's job is to oversee the county administrator and be sure that that person's effective in their job, but it's the county administrator's job to oversee the day to day operation of the departments. Is that how you understand it to be?
Cris Corey:
Yes, that is my understanding of how that works. I do take it a step further and will because I like to meet with people I like to see and to meet with the people that are affected daily by the things we do or don't do within the county and where those funds go, where our taxpayer dollars go. I want to see how that works and talk with the people. And again, it's all about communication and collaboration.
Nick Gosnell:
Chris, a lot of departments in the county are controlled, not necessarily by county officials, but by state statute, particularly those where the official at the top of the department is also elected like the county sheriff, right. And the county clerk and the county treasurer and the register of deeds. And just on down the line, there are several of those departments that are like that. However, they still have to talk to you about the budget and talk to the county administrator and so on. How do you interact with them with, with those department heads that sometimes the answer to, well, why can't we do this is because state statute says we can't.
Cris Corey:
Right.
Nick Gosnell:
So what, what's an answer to that when you go to talk to those department heads that are their own elected officials, that are accountable to the people.
Cris Corey:
That's a good question. But I honestly look at them no different than anybody else within the county. I sit down, have a conversation try to see what, you know, what their issue is or what our issue is you know, with them or why we're actually talking. And again, just having that conversation and seeing what matters to them, what's needed. And if there's some state statute and we can't get around it, we can't get around it, you know, or maybe we can find a way to do so, but I, I don't know, I'll take that as it comes.
Nick Gosnell:
Sure. So given the truth in taxation law that passed in the recent years in the legislature, the county can't just keep the mill levy flat and count on increased valuations to help them keep up with inflation, because now there there's additional reporting to the voters about if the valuation for the whole county goes up, then the amount of tax dollars collected goes up, right. It's what's called the revenue neutral rate. And I've tried to explain that six ways to Sunday on this morning show, but what do you think about the idea of trying to stick to the same number of dollars and where do you think that maybe it's you just try to keep the mill levy flat and allow inflation to let all boats rise? Where do you fall on that?
Cris Corey:
Okay, that's again, great question. But and I've said this over and over again, but there are three things that we can do as county commissioners. One that's raise taxes, two that's cut services, or three grow the tax base, you know, raising taxes, not popular, not something I want to do. Cut services, again, same thing, not popular, something I'm not looking to do, but that third one, growing the tax base, that is something I am looking to do. And I think that's something. And I know that's something that most people least at the county level, county commission level, city commission levels, the chamber here that's what they're looking to do. And they're, they've got a lot of great things in place and things are coming down down the pipeline for us, but we've gotta grow the tax base and that comes with the economic growth and development. And that is the biggest thing on my platform.
Nick Gosnell:
Okay. So I'm gonna ask a follow up on that then. What to you is the the best way for government to stick their hands in when it comes to economic development? Is it incentives for large employers? Is it small business helping small businesses get created, grow and thrive? Is it both and what do you think about that?
Cris Corey:
I think it's both. You gotta have both, you know, we've gotta have our you know, our small businesses here in town. I'm a huge proponent for Main Street. But I know it's all, it's about incentives. It's about helping people get to that position where they can have a thriving business. And it is also bringing in large, large businesses as well, if they make sense for our county. But you know, again, that grows the tax base, but we've gotta have things in place to do that. And I think with what the county's currently doing with their ARPA funds and the three buckets of money that they have is, is imperative in doing that. You've got childcare, huge. You have to have childcare. So when people are bringing their families, small families in to work for these different businesses, they've gotta have childcare so they can be at work. The other thing they have to have of course is the housing, which is another one of the buckets. You know, if you don't have a place to live that's, that's kind of tough. So desirable housing, childcare, and then the third one of course, is the economic growth that we're talking about. And you have to have all these together in order to move this forward and to have that economic growth.
Nick Gosnell:
So I, I guess it's hard, because I asked this of...forgive me for harping too much on the economic growth piece, but government can only do so much with that at the county level. The state has done legislation to allow them to do a whole lot more at the state level. That's how the Panasonic plant ended up in DeSoto. But, in the limited scope of what the county can do, what do you necessarily see as the most important thing?
Cris Corey:
For economic growth? Yeah. From the county, well currently, yeah, it's those, those ARPA funds that we're putting into economic growth and housing and childcare and again, you cannot have one without the other. And I think we've got the money in the right places. Now, you can go back and forth on how much each individual bucket gets. You know, and that's what they're dealing with right now. And that's, that's not an easy choice, because there's so many organizations that are vying for the same money and they're all, they all have value obviously, but we have got to do or commissioners have to do with their due diligence and to put those in order of most important, most vital to our county. And that's what they're doing. That's what they haven't done.
Nick Gosnell:
Okay. So I I allowed Randy to talk a little bit about endorsements. You have a relatively high profile one that came out last week. Okay. Ron Sellers actually put on Facebook that he was gonna support you in your campaign for county commissioner. Are there, is there anybody else that maybe has said, you know, what, I wanna support you that, that you think the public should know?
Cris Corey:
Well the ones that are, that are public that are out there are out there on my Facebook page and are there for all to see. You know, I do have well, thankfully I'm grateful that I do have a lot of a lot of support, a lot of support from the business community small business, large business. But as far as individuals you know, Ron, he's a big one. He, you know, I've spoken with Ron quite a bit as I realized his seat, you know, he wasn't running or for reelection. And that's, you know, that's kind of why I'm here. Cause, he's obviously my district, when I heard that was open, you know, I talked to him more about it, you know, what, what do we do at the county level and started going to meetings and that has really opened my eyes because I didn't want to go anywhere just to balance a budget, you know, just to sit there and run numbers. I wanted to have impact on this community. I want to move this community and county forward. And we've got again, a lot of great things going for us right now and a lot of great people and great places doing just that. I just want to be part of that and hopefully give the input that I have to move us forward and to be a big part of helping realize our potential.