League Seminars Panelists

Deborah Collins
For the past 2 ½ years, Deborah (Debbie) Collins has been the Director of Johnson County’s Human Services Department.  The Department provides services in five major program areas: Aging, Housing, Outreach, Information and Accessibility.  The Department is designated as the Area Agency on Aging as well as the Johnson County Housing Authority.  The frail elderly, people with disabilities and families and individuals of low and lower-income status are served by the Human Services Department.

Debbie’s career in human services spans nearly 28 years. She spent the first 25 years of her career working on behalf of persons with developmental disabilities, 21 of which were spent at Johnson County Developmental Supports.  In the early 1990’s, her work as an advocate for people with developmental disabilities helped to bring about sweeping reform with the passage of the Kansas Developmental Disabilities Reform Act. 

Debbie holds a degree from Baker University in Business Administration and the designation of Certified Public Manager from the University of Kansas.

Paul Welcome
Mr. Welcome serves as the County Appraiser for Johnson County, Kansas. As County Appraiser in Johnson County, he manages a staff of 95 and the valuation and records for approximately 211,000 parcels with a 2009 valuation of approximately $60 billion. Prior to coming to Kansas, Paul was the Deputy Chief Appraiser in Travis Central Appraisal District, Austin, Texas. He has worked as a fee appraiser and also served as Associate Director for Valuations, State Property Tax Board in Austin, Texas.

He holds a Certified Assessment Evaluator designation from the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), is an Accredited Senior Appraiser by the American Society of Appraisers, and a Registered Mass Appraiser for the State of Kansas. On June 30, 2009, Paul became a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Paul is currently serving a one year term as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Appraisal Foundation. He has served in various capacities with the Appraisal Foundation Board of Trustees since 2004. He is a past president of the International Association of Assessing Officers (2002-2003, and he has received many awards, the most recent being the IAAO Clifford B. Allen “Most Valuable Member” received in August 2008.

Paul served in the United States Air Force as an Aircraft Commander. He received both his Masters of Business Administration and Bachelors of Business Administration from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH.

Lougene Marsh
Lougene Marsh is Director of Johnson County Health Department.  Lougene has been in this position since April 6, 2009, after working eight years as Director of Lyon County Health Department/Flint Hills Community Health Center.  Prior to that time, she worked many years for Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services, managing financial assistance programs.  

Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts from Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas.  Lougene completed the Kansas Certified Public Manager program, the Kansas Public Health Certificate Program, the Kansas Public Health Leadership Institute and the Johnson & Johnson/UCLA Health Care Executive Program. 

Joe Waters
Joe Waters has served as Director of Facilities for Johnson County for over 15 years, a position in which he is responsible for strategic planning, design, construction and maintenance of County property as well as a wide variety of traditional support services. He has almost 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors in architecture and facilities planning, development and management.

As Director of Facilities for Johnson County, Joe has lead the planning, design and construction of over $470m in public buildings and corrections facilities, and created a unique Strategic Facilities Master Plan to inform and guide the organization in long-term capital investment. In addition, Joe leads the County sustainability efforts as Chair of the Sustainability Committee. Under Joe’s leadership, Johnson County Facilities has received regional and national recognition in design and facilities management from numerous organizations, including; the American Institute of Architects, the Design Build Institute of America, Public Technology Institute, National Association of Counties, the Sierra Club, the United States Green Build Council, Capstone Award, EPA Blue Skyways Partnership Award and the Bridging the Gap Environmental Excellence Award.

Joe graduated from KU with a degree in architecture.

Scott Neufeld
Scott Neufeld has served as the Budget Director for Johnson County since 2005 and has been with County government almost 15 years as a finance manager, administration manager and budget analyst.  Prior to beginning his service to Johnson County, Scott worked for the Western Missouri Mental Health Center.  A lifetime Johnson County resident, Scott has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Kansas.