Johnson County Community College

Mike Kiegerl calls precinct leaders in house district for JCCC race. Tells Hodge on Sat., April 2: “You have my full support”

Monday, April 4th at 6:08AM EST

Click here to read this in a Web-friendly Email.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Mike Kiegerl on Saturday, April 2: ”You have my full support”

Olathe’s Mike Kiegerl arranges for his campaign volunteers to call precinct leaders in his Kansas House District in support of Benjamin Hodge’s candidacy for JCCC Board

Hodge thanks Representative Mike Kiegerl for support

Dear {FIRST_NAME},

I’d like to express my gratitude to State Representative Mike Kiegerl (pictured above), who recently organized a project in his Kansas House District to help my campaign for the JCCC board.

Kiegerl represents the 43rd Kansas House District, pictured below (lower left, purple area). The district includes Gardner, Spring Hill, and parts of Olathe.

Mike Kiegerl’s campaign staff called precinct leaders within the district, asking for support for my campaign in the election tomorrow, April 5.

I’d like to express my thanks to Representative Kiegerl and his staff, for their support.Remember to vote Tuesday, April 5.
——————–
Thank you for your time, as always.

Sincerely,
Benjamin Hodge

Kansas Representative, 2006-’08

Trustee, Johnson County Community College, 2005-’09

Kansas Republican Party delegate, 2009-’10

Voicemail: 913-259-4236

contact@benjaminhodge.com

www.benjaminhodge.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hodge.benjamin

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/benjaminhodgeks

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/benjaminhodge

Radio host Darla Jaye on Saturday, April 2, about JCCC candidate Ben Hodge: “He is the right candidate for the board”

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Sunday, April 3rd at 5:14AM EST

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The election is this Tuesday, April 5. To find your voting location by entering your name and birth date, click here to use the Johnson County Election Office’s search engine.

My most recent Email (Click here to read the message in an Email-friendly format.)

Darla Jaye

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Darla Jaye said this today, about JCCC Board candidate Benjamin Hodge:

“He is the right candidate for the board”

Hodge thanks radio host Darla Jaye for her strong support

Dear {FIRST_NAME},

In weeks past, Darla Jaye has called voters on my behalf of my campaign. Today, I received the pleasant news that Darla Jaye again publicly stated her support with these words about my campaign: ”He is the right candidate for the board.”

This support from Darla Jaye came one day after Republican leader Tim Golba announced his support of Benjamin Hodge for the JCCC Board.

I offer my sincere thanks to Darla Jaye for her strong support of my candidacy.

——————–

Thank you for your time, as always.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Hodge

Kansas Representative, 2006-’08

Trustee, Johnson County Community College, 2005-’09

Kansas Republican Party delegate, 2009-’10

Voicemail: 913-259-4236

contact@benjaminhodge.com

www.benjaminhodge.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hodge.benjamin

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/benjaminhodgeks

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/benjaminhodge

Kansas conservative leader Tim Golba endorses Benjamin Hodge for JCCC Board

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Friday, April 1st at 12:17AM EST

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Tim Golba is a past President of Kansans for Life, and he is pro-life when KFL is sometimes not all that much pro-life. I’m very honored to receive his support for the Johnson County Community College Board.

This is my message today to voters, announcing the endorsement of Tim Golba:

I’m honored to announce the endorsement of Tim Golba, a man respected across the entire state of Kansas for his consistent support of good-government, pro-life, and Republican causes. There is no person who is more reliable on these issues than Tim Golba. I thank him for his support.

Tim Golba issued the following statement in support of Benjamin Hodge for the JCCC Board:

“I strongly endorse Benjamin Hodge for the JCCC Board of Trustees. Benjamin Hodge is not only pro-life, but he also has a proven record of supporting many good-government, fiscal conservative issues. Hodge puts principle before party, and his record is time-tested.”
- Tim Golba, Republican Political Activist

Here’s a link to the announcement in a Web-friendly version.

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Category: good government, johnson county community college, kansans for life, kfl, pro-life

JCCC Board increases tuition, refusing to cut enormous legal and administration costs

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Thursday, March 31st at 1:52AM EST

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From the GardnerEDGE: ”The cost will increase by $6 for Kansas residents and $16 for out-of-state residents.”

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Category: johnson county community college, overland park

Kansas City Star profiles Hodge, other candidates: “JCCC candidates focus on transparency, revenue”

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Monday, March 28th at 5:34AM EST

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What do you know? A fair article from The Kansas City Star.

Outgoing trustees say if Hodge is elected he’s likely to shake things up on a board that they say currently works well together.

But Hodge and another candidate, James Nelson, contend that the board operates too much behind closed doors and isn’t being held accountable for decisions. Both have said they are out to make changes, including more transparency and better treatment of faculty and students.

Some other candidates have said the cohesiveness current board members say exists among the trustees is merely a “rubber stamp,” appealing to the college president.

Here’s the list of candidates and their reasons for seeking a position on the community college board of trustees.

Benjamin Hodge, 30, of Overland Park, wants “to equally represent JCCC students, all employees and taxpayers. Right now I’m concerned that only a small number of employees and a small amount of voters are being represented and frankly the students are not being represented at all,” Hodge said.

Hodge lobbed a number of accusations at the board including “First Amendment rights violations, open meeting laws violations and unethical bidding practices.”

“All of that needs to be reformed,” Hodge said. “My main goal is to simply fulfill the motto of the college, which is learning comes first, and right now learning does not come first, unfortunately.”

He said that while he is a “strong fiscal conservative,” ensuring that people are treated fairly trumps financial matters.

Ben Hodge in Johnson County Sun: End favoritism in schools – Respect all students, all school employees, and all taxpayers

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Wednesday, March 23rd at 5:02PM EST

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To The Johnson County Sun’s credit, one thing the left-wing paper always does is to offer an opportunity for all candidates for major races to write in their own words why they’re running for office. The Sun asks a few questions, and candidates can write almost anything they want, under a certain number of words.

The responses from candidates for Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees were published this week. Mine are below. Read other candidates’ replies here.

JCCC BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Name: Benjamin Hodge

Occupation: Publisher, regional economic conservative news site KansasProgress.com. Columnist at other print and online sources.

Education: Bachelor’s degree, journalism, Kansas State

Political experience: Past Kansas Republican Party delegate, state representative, JCCC board member, county property rights committee chairman, Kansans for State and Local Reform PAC chairman

Why are you running for this position?

To protect the academic freedom of both students and employees. United States Judge Eric Melgren declared that JCCC illegally expelled students. I personally witnessed a business professor being punished for criticizing some Islamic nations.

A respected attorney with the Thomas More Law Center personally observed JCCC suppressing free speech of students who criticize radical Islam.

Also, to make the budget and videotaping of meetings more open to taxpayers.

If significant cutbacks had to be made in the college’s budget, where would you be most likely to cut?

The easiest source of administrative waste is in regard to the numerous scandals. JCCC wasted enormous amounts of tax money after four women accused former President Charles Carlsen of sexual harassment, and Carlsen suddenly resigned. JCCC wasted tons of tax money while losing in federal court, after expelling four nursing students without due process.

Meanwhile, JCCC continues to provide high salaries to the administrators involved.

What will be your primary goals and priorities if elected?

The JCCC motto is “Learning Comes First.” Let’s try doing that.

The administration must treat all employees and all students with respect. That’s not happening.

JCCC must also respect taxpayers, through transparency and through the efficient use of tax dollars.

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Olathe-Gardner Representative Mike Kiegerl endorses Benjamin Hodge for JCCC Board

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Friday, March 18th at 6:35PM EST

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(Click here to read the original Email in a Web-friendly format).

Endorsement: State Representative Mike Kiegerl (R-Olathe) endorses Hodge

I’m pleased to announce the endorsement of State Rep. Mike Kiegerl, a Republican from Olathe. I’m honored by the support of Kiegerl, who has shown great courage while voting in the Legislature.

Kiegerl (pictured above) represents the 43rd Kansas House District (out of 125 districts in total). District 43 is in the southwest corner of Johnson County, representing the rapidly growing areas around Olathe, Spring Hill, and Gardner. (It’s the big purple area in the lower left, below).

Rep. Kiegerl was first elected in 2004 (link to Johnson County Election Office Web site’s archived data). He won re-election with 57% in a three-way race in 2006, with 54% in a three-way race in 2008, and with a 71% margin in a two-way race in 2010.

Please keep Kiegerl in your prayers, or perhaps send him an Email t hrough his Web site to offer him encouragement. About a month ago on Monday, February 14, Kiegerl suffered a minor stroke in Topeka, but he was discharged from the hospital on March 3, and is very much still his lively self.

He wrote in a legislative update, “I was very lucky in my misfortune.” He ended the same newsletter with this quote: Happy is the man who truly can say, “Tomorrow do thy worst for I have lived today!”- Fielding.

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Category: april 5, ben hodge, gardner, jccc, johnson county community college, Mike Kiegerl, olathe, overland park, tuesday

Benjamin Hodge’s letter to the editor in The KC Star, Wednesday, March 16

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Wednesday, March 16th at 8:10PM EST

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Kansas City Star columnist Steve Rose, a guy who consistently lies about and attacks conservatives (it doesn’t matter whether this issue is economic conservatism or pro-life law enforcement), recently dedicated a column to another conservative candidate (James Nelson) and me; we’re running for positions on the local community college board. It’s a race where three candidates can win at-large positions, and so that’s why Rose wrote his absurd article about both of us. Because Nelson and I oppose JCCC’s recent illegal expulsion of four students (a federal judge over-turned JCCC), because Nelson and I oppose the effort by the well-funded”diversity” leaders at JCCC to illegally silence critics of radical Islam, and because we want money to be more efficiently spent, Rose falsely claims that we think the college is a “lump of coal.” This was Rose’s opening line:

While others see a crown jewel in our Johnson County Community College, two trustee candidates, Ben Hodge and his candidate protégé, James Nelson, see a lump of coal.

For the record, Nelson is his own man and own candidate; I did not “draft him,” nor is he my “protege.” This is a classic example — most likely seen in areas all around the country — of Rose being accustomed to, until recent years, having a large amount of influence through the once-highly-read paper started by his father. I don’t think Rose realizes how out of touch his comments and positions are, in the modern era of better news information (almost completely due to the influence of the Internet).

While Rose is most certainly liberal, he’s more pro-establishment than anything else — the guy will say anything to defend his friends, and to lie about his enemies. He treats local government like a deity that shall never be criticized or questioned — that’s a ridiculous, un-American, and anti-press position to take towards government. In Rose’s world, a school — a government body, a government program — is either a “crown jewel” or a “lump of coal.” And that’s just nonsense: let’s recognize the good and acknowledge the bad, so that we can make improvements.

Rose’s old paper (The Johnson County Sun) has little influence these days, and Rose is now a twice-a-week columnist for the McClatchy-owned Kansas City Star, a winner of Planned Parenthood’s “Maggie Award” for its support of George Tiller’s illegal late-term abortions, and the paper’s defense of the successful efforts by the unaccountable Kansas courts and Governor Kathleen Sebelius to block enforcement of Kansas’ law against late-term abortions (in short: every known late-term abortion was performed because of a non-life-threatening “condition”).

Today, The Star published my response, which follows in entirety.

JCCC candidate responds to column

Hodge responds to column

I’m a Republican candidate for the Johnson County Community College Board. I’m writing to Steve Rose’s inaccurate description of my views on education (“They see JCCC as a lump of coal,” March 2).

First, let’s remember Rose’s past inconsistencies. He once described Sam Brownback as a “sham.” Later apologizing, he wrote, “No one is more truthful.” Rose supported liberal Democrat Dennis Moore for an entire decade, until 2010, the same time it was clear that a Republican would win the congressional seat.

I completely support JCCC’s efforts to provide affordable, quality education. I applaud college employees.

What I do not support: the idea that administrators can ignore laws, mistreat people and waste money, as long as it’s for “education.”

JCCC illegally expelled four nursing students. It literally took a federal court to protect and reinstate the students.

Shortly after, board members wasted $125,000 of our tax money on “re-branding experts” and even tried to stop videotaping public meetings.

JCCC punishes students for criticizing radical Islam – blatant First Amendment violations in the name of “diversity.”

Multiple women accused former President Charles Carlsen of sexual harassment. While I believe the women, Rose defends Carlsen. Rose doesn’t tell you that, while Carlsen was college president, the Johnson County Community College Foundation named Rose a “Johnson Countian of the Year.”

You can learn more about my goals to respect students, taxpayers and all school employees at www.BenjaminHodge.com.

Benjamin Hodge

Overland Park

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Reader to Johnson County Sun: Benjamin Hodge’s conservative voice will bring diversity to liberal school board

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Wednesday, March 16th at 7:38PM EST

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I owe this anonymous Johnson County Sun reader a “thank you” for his/her voice of support for my JCCC candidacy.

In the March 16, 2011, version of “Talk Back” (a call-in portion) in The Johnson County Sun, a readers says this:

Trustees are liberal

I’m glad to see conservative Ben Hodge file to run for the JCCC Board of Trustees. There needs to be more diversity at the college. Most of the current board members appear to be liberal Democrats. At least that’s the way they appear when they are televised on the JCCC Board of Trustee meetings.

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Category: ben hodge, benjamin hodge, diversity, jccc, johnson county community college, johnson county sun, talk back

Kansas editorial site ‘Kaw and Border’ defends Benjamin Hodge after false KC Star column

Posted by Benjamin Hodge (Diary)

Monday, March 14th at 2:22AM EST

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I’d like to highlight this column by the respected regional editorial news site Kaw and Border, ”Steve’s Rose Colored Glasses Regarding JCCC.”

For a brief back-ground. Steve Rose now writes a column for The Kansas City Star. He used to own a paper that his father started, The Johnson County Sun, which is now in its waning days. While Rose is liberal, it’s not his liberalism that’s troublesome, but that he simply lies about people and supports corruption in local government.

I am currently running for Trustee of Johnson County Community College, where I hope to represent voters as one of seven at-large members. Rose recently dedicated one of his typical outlandish columns to two of us — another conservative candidate (inaccurately described as my “protege”) and me. The Star should be soon printing my reply, but I most certainly appreciate outside support like this following article, as well.

Re-printed with permission:

Steve Rose, chief mouthpiece for the Dick Bond-wing of Johnson County politics, has largely been off our radar for the past few months. The largest reason is that due to some kind of contractual issue, his column was removed from the front of the Johnson County Sun and with it, his automatic access to tens of thousands of Johnson County residents who received the Sun in their mailboxes or driveways the past 20+ years.

However, although his “Memo” was removed from the front of the declining Johnson County Sun, it has quietly reappeared on the front page of the neighborhood news section of the declining Kansas City Star, on which he has resumed his weekly opining about various issues impacting Kansas. So far, his columns have been pretty harmless, talking about things such as the 1992 school funding formula, supporting broad-based candidates, and buses. He had largely avoided his all-too-common tactic of making one accurate point but then using that point to build up and attack strawmen, usually in the form of some Johnson County conservative(s) or conservative issue he hates.

That is, until this past week, when in his column “They See a Lump of Coal,” he ripped on one of his favorites, Ben Hodge, former JCCC Trustee and State Rep, and James Nelson, both current candidates for the JCCC Board of Trustees. That race involves 9 candidates, the top three of which will win on April 5.

In his column, Rose uses his old tactic of using a basic accurate point — in this case that most county residents see JCCC as a “crown jewel” — and then creating a strawman by saying Hodge and Nelson would be “dangerous to the health of our cherished Johnson County Community College”, implying that both Hodge and Nelson hate JCCC and would like to tear it down. Rose falsely accuses Hodge of calling JCCC a “corrupt institution”, when in fact Hodge has said no such thing — he has been quite critical of individuals running the college — not the institution itself. Hodge’s and Nelson’s point of view is that the college is a cherished institution that is being harmed by poor leadership.

If anything, what is apparent in Rose’s column is that he is apparently wearing rose-colored glasses regarding the current leadership atJCCC, as he doesn’t even address several recent controversies, instead zeroing in on Hodge and Nelson in a series of weak/thin criticisms with little or no substance.

Now, perhaps one thinks Hodge is too harsh in his word choices, communication style, or his criticisms. Perhaps one even agrees with the direction the college is going with its recent string of controversies, which we will get to in a minute. Fine, vote against him if you want to.

But what struck us about Rose’s piece was how weak it was in his critique of Hodge, even hypocritical at times, without addressing the core of Hodge and Nelson’s campaign points regarding the college. Let’s go through the list:

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