On January 13, 2003, Annabeth Surbaugh was inducted as the first popularly elected Chairman of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, a new office created under the auspices of the Home Rule Charter for Johnson County Government.
A long-time citizen activist and public official, Surbaugh's victory in the November 2002 General Election re-defined local history and put her at the helm of a new governmental structure combining political leadership and community representation with professional management of services and programs. It's the culmination of a community vision first articulated more than a decade ago by the Citizens’ Visioning Committee.
As Johnson County's chief elected official, Surbaugh's top priorities include greater fiscal accountability, strategic community planning, and increased public participation in the local governance process.
“I'm committed to sustaining our community’s
positive development so that Johnson County remains a place people are
proud to work, to live, and to raise a family. I want to bring the people
to County Government, and the County Government to the people.”
Born to middle-class parents in St. Louis, Surbaugh's ambition and leadership skills were evident at an early age, eventually leading her to the University of Missouri-Columbia where she earned her bachelor’s degree in retailing. After college, she joined The Jones Store, Co., where she worked as a management trainee in Ladies Ready-To-Wear.
True to form, Surbaugh quickly advanced through the ranks. She left the Jones Store to join Harzfelds and, later, Macy’s Department Store as a buyer for Ladies Better Ready-To-Wear.
A resident of Overland Park since 1968 and local businesswoman, Surbaugh continues to juggle a full personal and professional life. She formerly owned and operated an interior design firm, Yours, And Then Some, and sits on numerous local and regional governing and advisory boards, particularly those with a focus on human services, in addition to her service as an elected official. At heart, though, she says she’s still a citizen activist, spending any spare time she has collaborating with civic and business leaders on common issues facing the community.
Johnson County Government has been on the forefront of innovative, effective and cost-efficient local governments for more than a decade, and Surbaugh has been a major contributor to those accomplishments. She has been a strong supporter of the local business community and has worked to ensure continued funding for important business investments, such as the County Economic Research Institute (CERI), and the Johnson County Business Enterprise Center, both of which provide support services to help develop business growth within the community in an effort to attract and nurture small and newly established business and bring sustained economic development to the area.
In 1995, serving in her first year as the rotating Chairman prior to the adoption of the Home Rule Charter, Surbaugh led a landmark initiative to establish the Citizens’ Visioning Committee, a 25-member advisory panel that worked over the course of two years to develop a twenty-year projected future vision for the Johnson County community and the role that County Government would play in that vision. Typical of her public activist roots, Surbaugh has insisted that the Committee reconvene each year to “grade” the County’s performance in achieving that vision for the community.
Her most important job, however, remains that of being mother to her daughter, Page. Page has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas. After graduation, she worked for 6 years for an oil and gas company in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She has since returned to Johnson County, working for a local engineering firm and living in Merriam with her husband, Bryan Burks. Page and Bryan are actively involved in United Way and Marillac. Public service underscores the importance of family, she believes. In fact, for her, it’s a very simple mission, driven by a personal philosophy: governance is really about civic engagement.
It was this commitment to her own child, and to the children of the community, that caused Surbaugh to champion an effort to supplement state allocations for local public school districts in Johnson County in 2002. Facing state budgetary shortfalls and unprecedented cuts in public education funding, the initiative ultimately proved successful. In November 2002, the public adopted a quarter-cent sales tax and authorized the County Government to provide economic grants and other funding for Johnson County’s public schools.
Despite the fact that public school systems were the province of the State Legislature and the fact that no precedent existed to enable the County Government to provide local school districts with the crucial supplemental funding needed, Surbaugh confronted the issue directly.
“Our schools are a principal factor in the success of this community.
Is the 
County legally obligated to step in and help out where the State
can’t? The clear and easy answer is no. But, are we morally and ethically
obligated to protect and nurture our schools—and, ultimately, children?
Without question, the answer is yes. Yes, absolutely.”
Surbaugh has identified the ongoing struggle to balance the competing demands for economic development, public safety, and community infrastructure with residents’ human service needs as the principal challenge facing Johnson County. In the face of a troubling economy, she expects that challenge will be amplified; however, in classic Surbaugh fashion, she feels the Board’s up to the task.
“In these troubled times tempered by threats to our national security
and the uncertainty of the economy, we can have no tolerance for backsliding,” Surbaugh
said.
“The bar has been set very high by those who've gone before us. In that tradition, decisiveness must replace divisiveness; determination must replace delay; and cooperation must replace conflict.”
It’s the sum total of her many personal, professional, political, and legislative successes, Surbaugh believes, that will help her to set the right tone—not to mention the right foundation—for the future of Johnson County.
“The people expect the chairman to be a leader,” she said. “That means being strong enough to tackle the difficult issues facing our community and being able to bring the right mix of our community’s stakeholders to the table to make sure that all sides are heard and addressed. That’s what I intend to do.”
Click here for a copy of Chairman Surbaugh’s professional resume.
