20 July 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT)- A group of Kansas senators have signed off on several of the governor’s new appointments. Former top DEA official Erik Smith is one of the appointments moving forward in his confirmation process.
The Kansas Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee voted unanimously to forward Smith’s confirmation to the full senate on Wednesday. Smith will officially take on his duties as Superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) ahead of the senate’s vote next year.
During the committee meeting, Smith fielded questions from lawmakers about how he plans to addresses personnel issues within the agency.
“Issues of concern at the lowest level of the agency are issues of my concern.”
Erik Smith, KHP Superintendent
The KHP has been racked with lawsuits and accusations of wrongful termination, surrounding the governor’s previous appointment Col. Herman Jones. As of Wednesday, Jones was cleared in a federal lawsuit, where he was accused of creating a hostile work environment and subjecting employees to sexual misconduct.
“This is my philosophy… to be hard on problems and to be soft on people…,” Smith said. “Everyone in the agency needs to know that problems are going to be dealt with… problems are going to be addressed seriously, but it doesn’t have to be the end of someone’s livelihood.”
The Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee signed off on nine of the Governor’s new appointments and ten reappointments. Calvin Reed is one of the new appointments who is taking over as the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).
Reed was appointed by the governor in June, after former KDOT Secretary Julie Lorenz’s exit in November. It was one of several cabinet vacancies, following the democratic governor’s re-election.
“What I am most passionate about is sustainable preservation…making decisions now that minimize long-term costs,” Reed told lawmakers Wednesday.
Lorenz’s successor has spent more than 15 years working at the state agency, and took on a director position in 2019. Since Reed’s appointment, the state agency has continued to make some strides.
On Tuesday, just one day before Reed’s confirmation, the governor announced that the agency has boosted its credit rating from a “AA-“ to an “AA” rating. State officials say it’s the first credit boost, since being downgraded in 2018.
“In fiscal year ’23, KDOT led over $1.4 billion in preservation, modernization and expansion projects… nearly three times what was led in 2019,” Reed said.