Kansas Meadowlark

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius withdraws her appointment of John Carmichael to the Kansas Human Rights Commission. The Journal of the Kansas Senate for May 1 shows this message from Gov. Sebelius to the Kansas Senate:

2074 JOURNAL OF THE SENATE

MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR
May 1, 2008

To the Senate of the State of Kansas:

Submitted herewith to the Senate by me as the Governor of the State of Kansas, pursuant to law.

Kathleen Sebelius
Governor

RE: Withdrawal of Appointment

Commissioner, Kansas Human Rights Commission, Mr. John Carmichael. Pursuant to the authority vested in me by KSA 44-1003, to be effective upon the date of his confirmation by the Senate; John Carmichael was nominated to succeed Errol Williams and was reported favorably on July 26, 2007 by the Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee.

I would like to respectively request that Mr. Carmichael’s name be removed from consideration for appointment to the Kansas Human Rights Commission.

Gov. Sebelius does not provide any reason for her withdrawal of this appointment, nor did she offer much of a justification for his appointment in the Aug 20, 2007 press release.

The reason for this withdrawal is unclear but may have something to do with criticism of Carmichael and his connection to the Wichita Voters for Truth PAC:

* Gov. Sebelius appoints HUGE Democratic donor, John Carmichael, to Chair Kansas Human Rights Commission. Is Carmichael exempt from Kansas Ethics Laws?, Kansas Meadowlark, Feb 29, 2008

* Wichita Voters for Truth” Political Action Committee Ignores Reporting Requirements. Can any Kansas PAC now use this reporting scam?, Kansas Meadowlark, Dec 10, 2007

Last week the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee rejected Carmichael’s nomination to the Commission by a 4-4 vote. Senators Ostmeyer, Brownlee, Gilstrap and Lynn vote “no.” Senators Vratil, Brungardt, Reitz and Francisco voted “yes.” Senator Barnett did not vote. A tie vote meant failure to forward his nomination to the full Senate at which point Sebelius withdrew the nomination.

Carmichael’s picture shown above was removed today from the Kansas Human Rights Commission’s web site. He is now shown as a former commissioner serving from July 2007 to May 2008.

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Related: Clinton names her Kansas team; Sebelius just might endorse after all, KC Star Prime Buzz, Jan 9, 2008.

Tags: John Carmichael, Kansas Human Rights Commission, Kansas Senate, Kathleen Sebelius, Wichita Voters for Truth PAC

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 12:34 am and is filed under Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, Kansas Senate, Political Appointment, Political Contribution. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.