Month: March 2017
Leader succeeded in business, voluntary efforts
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Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
I was saddened when I received a telephone call letting me know that Pat Sedlock had died Thursday, March 16. Pat had a very impressive record of business and voluntary contributions.
Pat once told me that she came to Kansas City sort of by accident. Her father was a construction worker who followed projects. The family came to Kansas City and their car broke down. They decided to stay here.
Pat was born in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. She attended Argentine High School and worked two jobs—in a dental office and as a carhop at Allen’s Drive-In. It was at Allen’s that she met her husband-to-be—Phil Sedlock. Pat recalled that Phil was “a good tipper.” Pat was a longtime volunteer with the March of Dimes organization. The fact that Phil was a polio victim inspired Pat to be involved. Pat and her husband owned and operated Sedlock Tow service and a service station on Central Avenue.
I recall the 1970s when Pat was part of group that met for morning coffee at the Colonial Cafeteria in the Wyandotte Plaza Shopping Center. The group would discuss community issues including politics. One of the members of this group was the Rev. Ron Holland, the father of our present mayor, Mark Holland. Ron Holland was pastor of Grandview United Methodist Church.
Pat was appointed to the Kansas City, Kansas, School Board following her volunteer efforts encouraging the public to accept the 1977 federal desegregation decision. She ran for mayor in 1979 against incumbent Jack Reardon. Although she lost, she did get a commitment from Mayor Reardon to study the form of city government. In 1982, after a year-long study, voters approved a change in city government from a patronage-riddled commissioner system to one with a professional administrator and council members from districts. I served on that study committee; the chairman of the committee was Dr. O. L. Plucker, the superintendent of the Kansas City, Kansas, School District. The change in the form of government was a necessary first step that led to city-county government consolidation in 1997.
Pat founded a commercial real estate agency. Her daughter, Cherise Marie Sedlock, follows in that profession. Pat was a longtime member of Business West, serving on its board of directors. She received the Joe Maderak Award for Outstanding Community Service in 2015.
The funeral service for Patricia Louise Sedlock will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 1, at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, 1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kan. Lunch will follow the service.
Persons may express condolences by visiting the Internet site www.marybutlermeyers.com.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.
Kansas lawmakers consider new regulations after water slide death
by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service
A Kansas legislative committee is considering tighter amusement park regulations following the death of a lawmaker’s son last year on the Verrückt water slide in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Aug. 7, 2016, death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, son of Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe, prompted Rep. John Barker to look into the state’s regulations for amusement park rides. Barker is an Abilene Republican who chairs the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, which had a hearing Thursday on new regulations proposed in House Bill 2389.
“It’s the nature of the tragedy,” Barker said. “A young child gets killed at an amusement park, that’s concerning to everyone.”
Barker and other lawmakers didn’t like what they found when they compared Kansas regulations to those in other states.
“We don’t have much of anything right now,” said Rep. John Whitmer, a Wichita Republican. “Kansas is really under-regulated in this industry.”
HB 2389 would set standards for insurance, ride inspections and injury reports and would require annual inspections for stationary rides like the Verrückt. These checks would be performed by inspectors paid by the insurance companies, not the ride owners.
Current state law requires annual inspections for stationary rides, but the ride owners can hire private inspectors.
Whitmer, who has experience in the industry, said legislators face a balancing act when considering new regulations so they don’t put Kansas ride operators at a competitive disadvantage. He wants to see regulations put in place but said he can’t support the bill in its current form.
The bill likely will undergo changes as debate moves forward. The bill requires ride inspections from a licensed engineer or someone with five years of inspection experience. Whitmer said he’ll clarify what types of engineers could perform the inspections.
“If I’m a train engineer, I’m not qualified to inspect a carnival ride,” he said.
The bill also would require a qualified inspection every time a mobile ride is moved and assembled. That sounds like too much to Zachary Wilson, owner of Fun Services of Kansas City, a company that rents mobile rides.
“Are we going to have a qualified inspector on the clock at midnight for a 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. party? That seems a little burdensome,” he said.
Wilson would like to see the bill amended to allow inspections by people with industry safety training and certifications. He said they could be more knowledgeable than engineers.
“Then you put somebody in there that’s familiar with the rides,” Wilson said. “You’re much better off.”
Barker said he doesn’t know if the new regulations could have prevented the death of Caleb Schwab, but he hopes the changes will prevent future injuries.
Barker has worried about the safety of rides when taking his grandson to the county fair, and he believes the changes the bill requires can calm those fears.
“I don’t know if they were inspected or not. After we pass this legislation, I will know that it’s been inspected,” he said.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
See more at http://kcur.org/post/kansas-lawmakers-consider-new-regulations-after-water-slide-death.