Monday, Jun. 08, 2009

Mike, Michael just get job done right

If you’ve never heard of Mike Press or Michael Wilkes, don’t feel too bad.

Neither one makes the news that often, and that usually is the way they like it. The Mike and Michael Show never will be confused with the Mike and Mike in the Morning show of ESPN radio fame.

In offices separated by Santa Fe in downtown Olathe, each quietly has built a reputation as a high-quality manager and administrator—Wilkes as Olathe’s city manager and Press as manager of Johnson County.

Wilkes most recently made the news for being the first Olathe city manager in recent memory to serve for 10 years, while Press recently made more news by retiring. That act surpassed almost anything he did in 32 years of high-quality service as a county employee, the last nine as county manager.

Each has had the luxury of managing through times of abundance and recently through more challenging economic times. They maneuvered their respective governments through the good times without shows of extravagance or excessive spending and the bad times with as little pain as possible to employees and taxpayers.

Serving quietly, efficiently and without controversy may not sound like a resume-builder. However, each has built a reputation that compares favorably with former Overland Park City Manager Don Pipes, long considered the gold standard in the county. One only need look to the other side of the state line and the acrimony that often flares up between the Kansas City mayor and city manager’s office to appreciate the mostly unseen Press and Wilkes.

Although neither manager is a likely YouTube candidate, when it comes to good, effective, behind-the-scenes government in Olathe and Johnson County, silence is golden.

Submit an ad