JoCo Board of County Commissioners, District 3
Opinion piece, does not represent the majority opinion of the JoCo BOCC
May 11, 2024
A sad state of affairs I must report concerning the Thursday, May 9, 2024 JoCo Board of County Commissioners’ meeting. Alas and alack, Mother’s Day went missing from our county’s proclamations. Ah yes, no time to recognize the value of Motherhood and include it on our Proclamation fame list.
A proclamation is the recognition of a group by the Chairman of the BOCC, Mike Kelly. These groups or individuals are then encouraged to make remarks at the podium which are videoed and broadcasted (and afforded a photo op) providing them a public platform. However, folks who speak during the Public Comments portion of BOCC meetings are not afforded the same courtesy. Their non-public, public comments are banned and censored by the majority of the BOCC from being videoed or broadcasted on the county’s site. Ah, picking and choosing who is heard and seen and who is not.
The 2024 Proclamation list to date:
February 8th, Red Friday for the KC Chiefs
February 22nd, Black History Month
February 29th, Severe Weather Awareness Week
March 7th, Women in Construction Month and Purchasing Month (of which we do a lot)
March 28th, Public Health Week and National County Government Month
April 4th, Seven Days Proclamation
April 18th, National Volunteer Recognition Week
April 25th Autism Acceptance Month
May 2nd, Mental Health Awareness Month and Fentanyl Awareness Day
2023 Proclamations did NOT recognize Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, National Day of Prayer, Flag Day, or even the 4th of July, Christmas or Easter. The following, beginning in May, made the 2023 Proclamation list:
May 11th, Child Care Provider Appreciation Month and Mental Health Awareness Month
May 18th, National EMS Week and Building Safety Month
June 1st, National Gun Violence Awareness Day (Gun Control)
June 8th, Juneteenth Day and Women Veterans
June 15th, Pride Month (LBGTQ+++)
June 22nd, National Association Award, Suicide Prevention
July 27th, Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, Feed the Need Recognition Awards and Distinguished Budget Presentation for the 2023 Budget Document (one of my favorites, maybe an award for raising your property taxes?)
August 17th, National Breastfeeding Month and ETC’s Institutes Leading the Way Award
August 24th, Garmin KC Air Show and NACWA award (National Association of Clean Water Agencies)
August 31st, Emergency Preparedness Month
September 7th, Suicide Prevention Month and Direct Support Professional Appreciation Week
September 14th, National Co-Responder and Crisis Responder Month, Welcoming Week (illegal immigration) and National Recovery Month
October 5th, Disability Employment Awareness Month and Hispanic Heritage Month
October 12th, Substance Abuse Month, United Way, and KanCare Expansion (Medicaid Expansion?)
October 19th, Imagine a Day Without Water and National Day of Friends of Libraries Week
October 26th, National Arts and Humanities Month and Community Planning Month
November 2nd, Veterans Day
November 9th, Diwali (Festival of Lights) and Peg Deaton Award
November 16th, National Injury Prevention Day
December 14th, United Way Award
So, in order to help amend our board’s horrible insult of exclusion (where is the inclusion???) by not acknowledging and honoring Mother’s Day, I recognized Mother’s Day 2024 during my Commissioner Comments. AND here’s another shout out to all mothers this Sunday, May the 12th!!!!
HAPPY MOTHER’S Day!!!!
I enjoy and saddened buy your updates in JoCo at the same time.
Crazy clown world we are in, when “shout” your pronoun and who you sleep with is above Mother’s and Father’s…. which btw, without the biological FACTS none of us would be here.
Keep it up! Some are waking up.
Girl did you ask for a proclamation? They usually give them if you just ask! YOU could be the one to support Johnson County mothers! After you do that, maybe get us some paid family leave, better childcare, lower grocery costs and more access to reproductive care!