Pishny believes his strength is in listening

July 24--Editor's note: This is the second of three stories profiling the three candidates seeking to represent District 1 on the Finney County Commission.

Hiring a new associate for his business earlier this year gave longtime Garden City financial advisor Lon Pishny some peace of mind about seeking public office, something people have encouraged him to do several times in the past.

"I feel very strongly about giving back to the community where we've made our living, raised our family," Pishny said.

Pishny will face off against David Crase and Charles Sinclair in the Aug. 5Finney County Commission Republican primary, seeking to replace incumbent Commissioner Roman Halbur, who is not seeking re-election. With no Democratic candidates in the race, the winner of the primary will be unopposed in November's general election.

While the desire to serve has been strong, Pishny felt he couldn't make the necessary time commitment until this past January when a new associate, Roger Ratliff, came on board at Pishny Financial Services.

"It helped me make that decision. I gained a sense of peace about doing it and being away from the office a little bit," he said.

Pishny has owned and operated Pishny Financial Services since 1994 and been a financial advisor for more than 30 years.

In the past, he worked for New England Life Insurance Co., as trust officer for Fidelity State Bank, and was development fund director for the Fort Hays State University Endowment Association in the late 1970s. Pishny earned both a bachelor's and master's degree from FHSU.

"What I bring to the table, I believe, is the skill of listening," he said. "I've developed that over the years, and I don't think I could have said that when I was in my 30s. I didn't probably listen as well then as I do today."

Pishny said another thing he brings to the table is the experience of being both a business owner and taxpayer.

As a financial counselor/advisor, listening to clients is an important skill for the success of the business, a trait Pishny believes will also be important as a commissioner.

"In our practice, we're listening not only to financial concerns, but personal and family concerns, trying to help people," Pishny said. "Whether it's a financial or non-financial issue, absolutely, listening is critical."

One of the big decisions for the county this year was getting voter approval to extend a quarter-cent sales tax to pay for building a new building to house court services, community corrections and youth services in one building next to the juvenile detention center. Voters authorized up to $6.25 million for the project, which is anticipated to begin construction sometime next year.

Pishny said while he wasn't in on the initial deliberations about the facility, he thinks a couple of positive aspects are consolidation of some services in one location and the use of sales tax as a funding mechanism instead of property taxes.

"I think we always have to be mindful of consolidation, whether it's consolidating governments or consolidating services, to be as efficient and effective with tax dollars as we can, for what I consider to be the owners of that entity, in this case the taxpayers," he said.

Pishny would have had more difficulty with the proposed project if it had burdened property owners with more taxes.

"I'm not necessarily favoring more taxes of any kind, but I felt (sales tax) was one way to have other participants involved," he said, noting that the facility's services will be used by people in the area, not just Finney County and Garden City residents.

Pishny agreed that whoever is elected will have an opportunity to make sure the project's costs stay in line with available funds.

Regarding the county's proposed 2015 county budget, Pishny understands the county was looking for places to reduce the budget to avoid a mill levy increase, but disagreed with the 10 percent across-the-board cuts made to funding requested by several outside agencies.

"I'm not necessarily a fan -- and this is not meant to be critical -- of across-the-board cuts," he said. "I think that penalizes some agencies that have smaller budgets to a greater extent than those that have a larger budget. I'm not necessarily in favor of taking the axe and just 10 percent cutting everybody."

When it comes to budgeting, the starting point for Pishny will be to first determine the funding needs for departments the county is statutorily responsible for, and then weigh how other agencies or organizations requesting money fit in the county's required mission.

"I think that's where it all starts, and then if there's funding that can be made available to other services and so forth, then let's try to do that," he said.

But Pishny said he's realistic in understanding that 80 to 85 percent of the budget consists of salaries and benefits.

"To me, it almost starts with the basic question, is this the mission of the county? Is this what the county's business should be on behalf of taxpayers, before we even get into the nittygritty of what are the dollars and cents," he said. "I hope to maybe have a little more focus on that mission question as future budgets are put together."

Pishny said the county's role in economic development should be in assisting with infrastructure and making sure regulations help businesses thrive rather than being intrusive.

He agrees with a comment state Rep. Russ Jennings made at a candidate forum earlier this month that government needs to provide support, but it often needs to get out of the way.

In general, Pishny wants to make sure Finney County is the best place for businesses to thrive and be successful, and the best place for families to live and have peace of mind.

"It's not all government's responsibility, but government has a role to play in bringing things together," he said.

When asked why he is the best choice of the three candidates, Pishny said from the standpoint of successful business ownership the past 20 years, and being a financial advisor for more than 30 years, he believes he is the most qualified candidate.

Pishny also points to being active in various community organizations through the years including the United Way, Chamber of Commerce and others.

"The fact that my wife, Janyth, and I have been in the community since 1981, we have a passion not only for Finney County but southwest Kansas and making sure it's the leader, if you will," he said. "I think we have a role to play here to be in a leadership position, whether it's economic development, whether it be rail travel, whether it be air travel, whatever the issues might be."

Pishny and his wife have two grown children, Brendon Pishny and Jalonna Bowie, and six grandchildren.

Community service activities have included memberships on the Western Kansas Council on Estate Planning and Giving, FHSU Foundation board of trustees, St. Catherine Hospital Development Foundation board of directors, FHSU Alumni Association and Garden City and Hays Area Chambers of Commerce.

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