TOPEKA Two things were on David Tolands mind Monday afternoon in the minutes following his hotly contested, but successful, bid to become the Kansas secretary of commerce.
First was gratitude to the people of Allen County and across the state who have been incredibly supportive, Toland told the Register in a telephone interview. The outpouring of support in the form of calls, letters and visits to senators has been tremendous.
Second, Toland was ready to look to the future, to get the Department of Commerce back on its feet, and see growth in our states economy in our rural, urban and suburban areas.
The highly polarized nomination process culminated Monday with senators voting, 23 to 14, to confirm Toland as Gov. Laura Kellys chief economic development officer, a position hes held on an interim basis since early January.
Ive been going 110 percent since Jan. 14, Toland said, and thats what I am going to continue doing. His first full day as commerce secretary sent Toland to Dodge City today to partake in a Rural Opportunities Conference.
Toland marks the first Iolan to ever hold a position in a Kansas governors cabinet.
BUT FIRST came the bruising Senate vote, which featured an hours worth of commentary some good, some bad, some downright ugly.
The majority of senators failed to buy detractors arguments that Tolands tenure as CEO of Thrive Allen County could somehow be linked to abortion, or that he was guilty of Allen County Regional Hospitals lack of mammography services or the closing of Haldex and Herff-Jones.
The vilest attacks on Toland came from senators who tried to link the funding of two grants to Thrive to it providing abortion-related services. The grants totaled about $20,000 and came directly from the Wichita Community Foundation, by way of a fund established in memory of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita physician who also performed late-term abortions.
The funds in Iola were used to provide smoking cessation classes for pregnant women, Pap smears and birth control.
Even so, for Sen. Ron Olson, R-Olathe, the allegation was enough to change his favorable committee vote on last Thursday to voting against him on Monday.
If I support him, I would not be representing those who voted for me, he said.
Sen. Ed Berger, R-Hutchinson, was persuaded otherwise.
As an individual with a 100% pro-life voting record, I had concerns with the grants, he said. However, my concerns were largely allayed when they werent abortion-related and placed an emphasis on healthy pregnancies, which is something all pro-life individuals should encourage.
Sen. Mary Pilcher Cook, R-Shawnee, took time during her criticism of Toland to make a plug for an anti-abortion movie, Unplanned, because Kansans For Life had sent letters to senators in opposition to Toland.
