photo by: Mackenzie Clark

Douglas County Commissioner Mike Gaughan, right, listens on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 as Interim County Administrator Sarah Plinsky (not pictured) describes during the commission's meeting how the county has been supportive of families, as an organization, in the time that she's worked there. The meeting marked Gaughan's last as a commissioner, as he opted not to run for re-election. At left in the photo is County Commissioner Nancy Thellman.

It’s a bit odd that Douglas County Commissioner Mike Gaughan is always running late, because his track record in office shows that he’s kept his focus on the future.

Chronic tardiness was the impetus behind the gift that fellow commissioners affectionately gave Gaughan at his last meeting on Wednesday: a clock, in thanks for his near decade of service to the community.

As that service came to an end, Gaughan, 40, sat down with the Journal-World to talk about some of the highlights through his appointment and two elected four-year terms.

Putting together the puzzle

Gaughan was selected for the commission’s first district seat in April 2009, when local Democratic precinct committee members picked him to fill the seat that his predecessor, Charles Jones, vacated.

Amid the Great Recession, the 31-year-old Gaughan was working as a special assistant to then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. He spent his days in Topeka, working with state agencies to trim their budgets to survive the current fiscal year.

photo by: Journal-World File Photo

In this April 2009 file photo, Mike Gaughan, foreground center, hears that he was chosen to replace Douglas County Commissioner Charles Jones, who announced his resignation the month prior.

“That dovetailed right into my service on the County Commission,” Gaughan said. “I found myself in a position where I would be in Topeka during the day, looking at the cuts that the state was going to be making, and on Wednesday nights, I’d be coming home and serving on the commission that was trying to deal with that.”

Then came more budget cuts under former Gov. Sam Brownback — and hours of Gaughan’s time spent poring over county budgets, line by line.

“It just became a passion of mine, trying to put the puzzle together that met the needs of the community, and, for years, just really trying to insulate the county from what was going on in Topeka,” he said, in spite of the tight link he noted between the state- and county-level governments.

That enthusiasm, Commission Chair Nancy Thellman told Gaughan during Wednesday’s meeting, will be missed when budget time comes around this year.

“Sometimes that’s the only thing that pulled me through, just seeing you smile through budget and knowing that we’d get to the end,” she said.

Battling for behavioral health

Cuts to the budget in what was then the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services devastated the state’s mental health system in 2009. Local cuts, as well, made it difficult for Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center to serve the community, Gaughan said.

But the county’s work to help fill that gap has been one of his proudest achievements, Gaughan said. He wrote in a parting message on the county’s website that spending on mental health was about $1.8 million for the 2009 budget year; it’s now approaching $10 million annually.

The county’s Behavioral Health Court, designed to address the needs of those with mental illness who are charged with crimes, launched in January 2017 after a great deal of planning and collaboration between many local leaders and organizations.

“The interdisciplinary nature of that work, all the different partners you have to have at the table, was one issue, and the funding was a second issue,” Gaughan said, “and we had to figure out a way to tackle both of them.”

He said these are issues that affect everybody, including his own family.

“So it became a personal mission of mine to kind of see the (planned behavioral health crisis intervention center) come to fruition; to see that the county was in a position to take a leadership role in coordinating the partners in the community,” Gaughan said.

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

Douglas County Commissioner Mike Gaughan listens on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 as Interim County Administrator Sarah Plinsky (not pictured) thanks him on behalf of county staff. The meeting marked Gaughan’s last as a commissioner, as he opted not to run for re-election.

Laying the groundwork for the future

Interim County Administrator Sarah Plinsky told Gaughan during Wednesday’s meeting that she appreciated his dedication to initiatives that may not be flashy or make headlines, but that help the organization function better.

Gaughan said certain administrative tasks — such as a salary study and overhaul of the pay structure that the county completed — will help the county be a competitive employer for those drawn to public service, despite its position sandwiched between Johnson and Shawnee counties as well as facing the University of Kansas, city of Lawrence and the local school district.

“Just like every other employer in town, we’re hoping to recruit and retain talented, smart people,” he said.

He also noted the inevitability that Craig Weinaug, who served as county administrator for more than 26 years, would eventually retire. Gaughan wanted to make sure the county would be in a position to move forward when Weinaug’s experience and knowledge left the courthouse — which it did, with his December retirement.

“It’s just the kind of thing that I felt like we had to do to be able to be prepared for a future where turnover was going to happen, top to bottom,” Gaughan said of the salary study.

On a more publicly visible level, initiatives such as the Behavioral Health Court, a reinvestment fund to promote sustainability and the opening of Dwayne Peaslee Technical Training Center have been key future-focused projects in Gaughan’s years on the commission.

He said these things are necessary in order for the county to best serve a growing community — Douglas is Kansas’ fifth largest county, and its fastest-growing, he pointed out.

Returning to private life

Gaughan announced in May 2018 that he would not run for re-election, citing his desire to spend more time with his wife, Julia, and son, Kiernan, who turned 11 on Saturday. Both were “all in favor” of his decision, he said.

Gaughan will also focus on his job as a principal at GPS Impact, where he consults on campaigns and elections. He said although he’s enjoyed the last 10 years of service, he has no plans to run for office again — though he wouldn’t mind helping out around budget time.

Gaughan recalled how a tiny Kiernan, who was just a year old when his father first joined the commission, used to sometimes crawl into his lap during meetings. Plinsky mentioned that one of her first impressions when she started working with the county was seeing Kiernan around the courthouse.

“I think what that immediately told me is this is an organization that supports families, and it’s an organization that supports community service and public service when it’s not convenient and when it’s not easy, and that isn’t done everywhere,” she said.

Gaughan said he’s extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve in public office as a parent of a young child, and he thinks government as a whole needs to look at ways to make it feasible for more parents to do the same.

“How do you get working-age people into public service, into elected office? People that are in the middle of their working life and have that perspective to offer?” Gaughan said. “I think that’s a really interesting challenge for us to take on as a democracy.”

Last meeting

Former County Commissioner Jim Flory, who served from January 2009 until he chose not to seek a third term in the 2016 election, attended Wednesday’s meeting and spoke in public comment. Flory said he’d had the pleasure of serving with Gaughan for most of his term.

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

Former Douglas County Commissioner Jim Flory speaks during public comment to thank outgoing Commissioner Mike Gaughan for his service to the county, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 at the Douglas County Courthouse. Flory first joined the commission in January 2009, shortly before Gaughan was first appointed to the first district seat in April 2009.

“I’m just so proud of what you’ve done and what you’ve accomplished,” Flory said. He noted a contrast between the national political scene and the commission: “Sitting here and watching the functional government is such a pleasure.”

Commissioner Michelle Derusseau told Gaughan that she appreciated how he keeps an open mind and doesn’t go into issues with a preconceived plan of action.

“That’s very refreshing in politics these days,” she said. “You’re not trying to get anything out of it; you’ve just always been interested in doing what’s best for our community.”

Gaughan said most things the county does are “just to build the foundation for the community.”

“That’s what we do, and (the county doesn’t) grab the headlines like some of the stuff that might happen at City Hall,” he said. “We stay focused on the basics — public health, public safety — and that suited me. It was a good portfolio to work from.”