Clerk's race features four-term incumbent Krohne, challenger Harms

The County Clerk’s office is an intricate and diverse department that deals continuously with almost every part of Platte County’s local government. In addition to handling all of the accounts payable for each department and acting as the official and permanent record keeper of county business including contracts, agreements, and minutes of meetings, the Clerk’s office also handles all licensing of businesses in the county, helps set yearly levies for all jurisdictions, and swears in all notaries, board members, and sheriff’s deputies.

Current County Clerk Sandra Krohne has led the department for the past 16 years, but will be facing a challenger in Republican Joan Harms this November. Both candidates similarly emphasize their ability to run the office in a professional manner and be as efficient as possible with county resources, but their backgrounds may give a better picture of their candidacies.

Krohne has spent a total of 23 years in the office, 16 as the elected County Clerk, as she worked under former County Clerk Doris Gerner for seven years before Gerner recommended she run for the position upon Gerner’s retirement.

“I considered it an honor that such a respected person would think that highly of my abilities to handle this complex office,” Krohne said. “I was successful, and have been re-elected to three more terms. I contribute my success to hard work, treating people with kindness, respect and dignity, and doing the best possible job for the people I serve.”

Krohne

During her sixteen years of service Krohne says she has implemented many changes to cut costs and bring in revenue. She played a role in passing a ballot measure to bring county liquor licensing structure in line with state licensing. This resulted in bringing approximately $50,000.00 more dollars into the county’s general revenue fund.

“I was also instrumental in bringing document imaging to the county which saves the departments and the public valuable time. It saves the County money and makes our county greener by saving on ink and paper usage” Krohne said. “Also, in 2006 when budgets were cut, I lost a full time staff member. I was able to further streamline the functions in my office to be able to do more with less people.”

While Krohne has experience in the Clerk’s office, Harms believes her experience in the corporate world along with owning a small business make her the ideal candidate for the job.

“I am a business person. I am not a politician. The Clerk's office is a business office. I bring 21st century business experience and business education to the hiring table,” Harms said.

Harms

It was after she spent time advocating in Washington D.C. and Jefferson City for different groups that she decided she could use her skills at the local level. She says there are some basic things she’d like to do to improve the Clerk’s office.

“I would audit the work flow processes within this office, investigate avenues to add new services for Platte County taxpayers, and seek to bring additional value streams into the county,” Harms said.

Both have interesting insights to the positive progress made in Platte County over the last decade including Krohne’s optimistic look at the job county leaders have done and Harms’ look into the new diverse business additions offsetting the loss of aviation jobs in the area.

“We have had County Commissioners who have had a great vision and have planned well for this growth. We have had some of the greatest minds on various boards who have come together to offer expertise and ideas to guide us in a positive direction. Our officeholders and department heads have been extremely diligent in keeping costs down while continuing to offer the best product we can for the people we serve,” Krohne said.

“Diversified businesses recently planted have helped to solidify the disappearing aviation job market. In the recent past, new housing developments have increased the population. With this growth, our median family income in 2009 has increased around 25%,” Harms said.

While Krohne says her 23 years of experience in the office allow her to know where to find answers and deal with the complexities of county government, Harms believes Platte County voters want new blood and pointedly referred to her opponent.

“It is not enough for politicians to give good customer service or to state that they love their jobs. Elected officials are workers for the taxpayer. We should be out ahead of the expected, reaching and implementing new changes to improve Platte County,” Harms said.

“Even though the political environment is strained, people recognize that on the local level, it's not about politics. It's about doing a good job, having the knowledge to handle the many functions in our offices, and continuing to take care of the people we serve,” Krohne said.

Young Trojan runners are setting the tone

With Coach Jason Parr in his first season leading the Park Hill girls cross country team, you knew there would be a change in attitude and pace for the Trojans runners. You also knew with the top runners all freshmen and sophomores they would be a young team. The Trojans have laid substantial building blocks for the future this season and are hoping their young team is one to reckon with in coming years. It was on display last weekend as the Trojans placed third place in the conference meet, falling just short of second as a team by a combined two minutes with their top runner, Kim Rau, placing fourth individually.

It was just three weeks ago when Park Hill competed in the Rim Rock Classic in Lawrence, one of the largest races of the year, and came away with a first place finish in their division. Although Parr circled the race at the beginning of the season, he believes it was something that helped the girls build momentum and confidence.

“I think what really got the girls’ attention was winning the Rim Rock Classic Blue Division,” Parr said. “I reminded our girls that if we can run like this at one of the toughest courses in the Midwest then expect great opportunity later on.”

The Trojans have been fairly consistent with finishes in the top half of their races all season. Their top runners have remained a steady group of athletes including Rau, Brooke Bischof, Chelsey Lewis, Maggie Lanham and Joanna Grauberger along with Paige Carey, Maddie Bischof and Maddie Hemphill rounding out the varsity team. Rau has been the team’s top placer in each race and seen significant success as a freshman.

“Kim is a very quiet competitor. She just focuses on what she has to do and she does it,” Parr said of Rau. “She is one of the most talented distance runners I have ever seen.”

The Trojan runners have plenty of praise to go around though, as Parr also said he believes he has one of the most talented teams the school has ever had. With a team of freshmen and sophomores, there appear to be some promising days ahead for the program. One thing Parr realizes with such a young group, leadership is important.

“It’s really hard for them to understand what leadership is at this point. I think when a coach has this young of a group it is hard for any of them to determine who is going to be the leader,” Parr said.

With the district meet coming up this weekend and a state meet qualification on the line, there’s no mistaking that challenges are still ahead.

“I’m empowering each and every runner on our team to take control of their own destiny,” Parr said of his team message. “I reminded our girls that if average racing is all you are going to do then expect to be average runners and get average results.”

Park Hill Soccer storming through conference play

The Park Hill boys soccer team knew they wouldn’t sneak up on teams this year like they did last year on the way to their third place finish at state, but they’ve cruised to a 13-2-1 record so far this year with their most recent string of victories coming in Park Hill South’s Panther Classic last week as they won three straight to take the title for the second year in a row. Park Hill will now face a competitive week of non-conference games before finishing out the second half of their conference season before looking to district play.

To open the tournament, Park Hill shutout Platte County 6-0 with three goals from David Zdvorak along with scores from Cole Walker, Ray Lee, and Joel Gordon. The Trojans advanced to the title game against Park Hill South after a Zdvorak goal in overtime led to a 1-0 win over a resilient Smithville team. Walker’s two goals led Park Hill to a 2-0 win in the championship over the Panthers.

While the Trojans return nearly their entire lineup from last year, they admit they haven’t been able to turn themselves from a good team into a great team, but find it’s within their grasp.

“We create a lot of opportunities, but we have trouble finishing them sometimes,” Coach Dustin Sollars said. “We’re getting production from the people we thought we would, but the numbers could be a lot better.”

Being able to control the ball and see opportunities on the offensive end of the field is a strength the Trojans have, but it won’t take too long to notice a physical and aggressive team on the defensive end as well. Frustrating to opponents, it has a way of getting into their heads while forcing other teams into making unforced errors.

“We’re a physical bunch. A lot of time it looks more physical than it really is on the field,” Sollars said. “We play fast and hard. Sometimes a tackle looks hard, but that’s just the way it goes.”

 With a new conference schedule this year, the Trojans find themselves at the top of conference leader board going 5-0 so far and outscoring their opponents 20-3. Their sights set on another run into the playoffs, the Trojans hope their upcoming games against the likes of Rockhurst and a pair of St. Louis teams gives them more competition than their conference schedule provides which will better prepare them for some of the tough matches they’ll likely face in district play.

Park Hill stumbles into district play hoping to rebound

Park Hill’s first half last week against Lee’s Summit West was one to forget for the Trojans as a 31-0 score at halftime featured unsatisfactory results on all sides of the ball on the way to a 38-14 loss. With Lee’s Summit West out-sizing the Trojans on the line, Park Hill was already at a disadvantage in regards to their traditional power football approach, but poor special teams play gave the Titans early opportunities which they took advantage of. Park Hill (4-3) will begin district play this Friday against another tough opponent in Staley (6-1).

While the first half left a sour taste in Park Hill’s mouth, there was a simple message Coach Greg Reynolds had for his team going into the third quarter: get better.

“We have to win the second half,” Reynolds said. “It’s not likely we’ll win the game, but we have to get better in the second half to get ready for districts.”

When it would be easy for most teams to fold and allow the game to turn into an embarrassment, Park Hill came out with a humble approach in the second half. In one of the only offensive highlights of the game, Nate Wilson hit De’Aris Flint for a 44-yard reception to put the Trojans at the one yard line before Jordan Wang ran in Park Hill’s first touchdown. The seven play, six minute drive was followed on their next drive by an eight play drive ending with a two-yard Chris Heustis touchdown.

Control of the game could be shown through the amount of plays ran and rushing yards the Titans were able to post which kept Park Hill’s defense on the field for long amounts of time. Their 282 yards rushing outgained the Trojans’ 128 yards rushing and 72 yards passing combined.

“I’m pleased that our kids played hard all the way through,” Reynolds said of the second half.

This week’s game against Staley could possibly be a deciding game in who will take a tough District 16 title. Last week Park Hill South played Staley close, but Staley pulled out a 19-10 victory.

Fall Roundup: October 4-8

Park Hill Volleyball
Park Hill Volleyball had a tough last week going winless in three games to Lee's Summit North (25-9, 25-15), Lee's Summit West (25-15, 25-14), and Truman (25-18, 25-17). Alyssa Moran and Lindsey Grace led Park Hill in kills against Lee's Summit West with six and five respectively. Moran added on seven against Truman while Halley Knudson led the defense with ten digs. This week they'll play Kearney and North Kansas City. Park Hill is 12-13-1 on the season with district play on the horizon.

Park Hill Girls Golf
The sectional state golf tournament at Paradise Point produced two state qualifiers for Park Hill last week. Bailey Warlen led the Trojans with a 93 followed by Stephanie Atkinson's 94. Park Hill finished fourth in the eight team field with a score of 395. Warlen and Atkinson will compete in the state tournament at Sedalia Country Club on October 18th and 19th.

Park Hill Softball
For the second year in a row, the Park Hill Softball team came into district play as a lower seed, but peaked at an opportune time to reach the championship game. A convincing 13-4 win against number five seed Staley sent Park Hill into a semifinal matchup with top seeded Kearney. The Trojans eeked out a close 3-2 victory to set them up for a chance at the district title last weekend against second seeded Liberty. Unfortunately for Park Hill, that's where they ran out of steam as Liberty went on to take the title by shutting out the Trojans 9-0. Park Hill finishes the season just a shade under .500 at 13-14.

Park Hill Girls Tennis
Park Hill played some dominating tennis last week while winning the team portion of the District 16 title earlier in the week, then going on to have their top players win the individual singles and doubles portion over the weekend. Park Hill's Suzanne Barth defeated Kearney's Kayla Dysart in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 to lead Park Hill over Kearney 5-0 in the district semifinals. In the title match, it was Barth again winning 6-1, 6-1 against St. Joe Central's Logan Taylor to propel the Trojans to a 5-0 team victory to clinch another district title. In the individual portion, Barth won 6-0, 6-1 again to claim the individual title while teammate Ashleigh Bos placed third. Kate Skorija and Brooke Barnard won in consecutive sets 6-4 and 6-7 to win the doubles title. Barth along with the duo of Skorija and Barnard competed in the sectional round at Park Hill on Tuesday evening. Details on whether they advanced to the state tournament next week.