photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., is pictured on Sept. 23, 2021.

A mysterious group that has a lot of interest in energy and electricity is sending out postcards praising two incumbent Douglas County commissioners, both supporters of a controversial solar project.

But who is behind that group is largely unknown, and the chair of the group wants to keep it that way.

The group is called Kansans for an Affordable Future, and some voters in Douglas County have received postcards asking residents to “thank” County Commissioners Shannon Reid and Karen Willey. Both commissioners have voted for the Kansas Sky Energy Center project, a controversial solar farm proposal that would place about 8 million square feet of solar panels on about 600 acres of farmland in northern Douglas County. Both are facing opponents who have spoken against the solar project.

The postcards simply listed a Topeka post office box as a point of contact for the organization. The postcard listed an individual by the name of Jacob Miller as its chair. The Journal-World has confirmed that Jacob Miller is a Kansas City, Missouri, attorney and political lobbyist who is a law partner with former U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas Barry Grissom. Miller said Grissom — who was an Obama appointee and served as the state’s chief federal prosecutor from 2010 to 2016 — has no involvement in the Kansans for an Affordable Future group.

Who is involved in the group is a mystery, and one that state election law may allow.

Specifically the Journal-World sought to determine if the group was receiving any financial backing from the renewable energy industry or from companies that are actively pursuing a solar project in Douglas County.

When reached via phone, Miller said he wasn’t going to disclose any information about the group’s financial backers, or about who his fellow board members were in the organization.

“I’m not going to disclose any of that,” Miller said. “I’m not required to disclose any of that.”

That may be accurate under the law. Because those postcards ask residents to “thank” commissioners rather than vote for them, the sender of the postcards is likely exempt from state laws that would require disclosure of their funders, leaders and other such information, one of the state’s top election officials said.

Mark Skoglund, executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, said he wished his group had regulatory authority over such mailings, but current state law exempts them from the type of filings that political action committees must produce. He said that’s despite the fact that most ordinary people are going to see the postcards as being overtly political.

“Obviously any thinking person knows that those sent out right before an election are intended to be election advocacy, but the way the campaign finance act is written, if you don’t use any of the nine magic word phrases, you aren’t engaged in express advocacy,” Skoglund said, referencing phrases such as vote for, please support and other such calls to action. “If you never do . . . you never cross over into being a PAC or anything like that.”

It is clear, however, that Kansans for an Affordable Future is geared towards energy issues. The organization has a basic website. It features a photo of electric transmission lines, and the first issue listed on the site is titled “Affordable Energy.” Social media posts from 2023 show it has been an active campaigner in elections for the Board of Public Utilities in Kansas City, Kansas.

Miller confirmed the group does believe in the importance of renewable energy for a sustainable future, although he said the organization hasn’t developed more specific policies around the topic.

Another of the policies listed on the group’s website is “Transparent Governance.” Specifically, the website states the group believes in regular reporting so that residents have a voice, are well informed, and can easily contact officials.”

When asked whether his refusal to publicly identify the group’s board members and financial backers met that standard of transparency, Miller told a reporter: “It was transparent enough for you to find me.”

The Journal-World used a variety of web searches that involved finding Miller’s phone number on a list of registered government lobbyists in Kansas, and then comparing that information with data listed in the articles of incorporation for Kansans for an Affordable Future, which were on file with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office. That information then was used to find Miller’s position as a partner with the Grissom Miller law firm in Kansas City, Missouri.

When asked whether that process met the transparency expectations of the group, Miller said he had no further comment and needed to end the interview.

As for more information about Miller, he does lobbying work that specializes in labor union issues. He’s listed as a lobbyist for the Working Kansas Alliance, which lists as its partners large labor unions including the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, KNEA, the Construction and Labors union of Kansas City, Kansas, among others. Miller said none of his lobbying work is related to his role with Kansans for an Affordable Future.

Miller said his role with Kansans for an Affordable Future also is unrelated to his law firm. While he filed the articles of incorporation for Kansans for an Affordable Future, he said he did not do so in his capacity as an attorney, and said the group is not a client of his. However, his law firm’s Kansas City, Missouri, address is the one listed in the Secretary of State documents as the address for official mail for the group.

In terms of the postcards that Kansans for an Affordable Future has sent to Douglas County residents, the Journal-World is aware of two. The first was sent just prior to the Aug. 6 primary election. That postcard focused on Reid and her opponent in the Democratic primary, Lawrence City Commissioner Lisa Larsen. One side of the postcard listed a series of issues and then stated whether Reid and Larsen supported the issues. Supporters of Larsen have argued the postcard baldly misrepresented Larsen’s position on many of the issues, and decried its last-minute nature and lack of information about the sender.

More recently, Kansans for an Affordable Future sent a postcard asking residents to thank Willey for her support of numerous issues. That postcard also sparked several questions from readers about its source.

Skoglund, the executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, said such postcards have become common in elections across the state. He said organizations are forming as nonprofits that state a mission of education rather than political advocacy. He said the Governmental Ethics Commission has sought changes in state law that would allow it to have more authority to make determinations that such groups are engaging in political advocacy and must adhere to reporting requirements. However, no such legislation has received a vote in the Kansas Legislature, he said.

Whether Kansans for an Affordable Future is actually exempt from the reporting requirements could be up for question in the future. As the Journal-World was researching the organization, it found the group Facebook page. That page had three posts in October 2023 that specifically stated support for a candidate or asked residents to vote for a specific candidate in the Board of Public Utilities Election in Kansas City, Kansas.

Skoglund said past political advocacy by the group could cause Kansans for an Affordable Future to be listed as a political action committee, which would have obligated the group to make filings related to the postcards it sent in the Douglas County Commission race. However, Skoglund said more investigation would be required to determine whether Kansans for an Affordable Future had taken actions in 2023 that caused its to be classified as a PAC.