Sedgwick County Assistant County Manager Tanya Cole told Commissioner Jeff Lubault that her 20-year career with the county has spanned roles from management intern to director-level posts and that she is overseeing several large capital projects intended to address the county’s building and service needs.

Cole, who said her parents immigrated to Wichita in 1960, said she earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Wichita State University and has worked in county budgeting, communications, project services and facilities. "I started out as a management intern and kind of moved my way through Sedgwick County," Cole said.

The projects she described are part of the county’s capital-improvement program and aim to address long-term space and service needs, she said. "We want to fix the problem for the future," Cole said, adding that the county maintains about 50 buildings and employs roughly 3,000 people while serving approximately 530,000 residents.

Cole listed specific items included in the county’s planning: a DNA lab addition; an emergency management preparedness center; consolidation of multiple Comcare leases into a single Comcare complex; a community crisis center currently in design that will be advertised for contractor bids; assistance to the state on a separate mental-health hospital in the county; and an upcoming briefing to the commission on the county administration building. "Of course, in your district, we have—we're helping the state with a mental health hospital," Cole said. She added the administration-building item will return to the commission "in a couple weeks."

Cole described how prior roles prepared her for the assistant county manager position: she said each position provided opportunities to rely on subject-matter experts and to learn through research and project work. "There's always, you know, I always feel that when you're in those positions always ask the questions," she said.

Commissioner Jeff Lubault, who conducted the interview, said he values Cole’s facilities and real-estate experience when the commission discusses leasing, buying and renovating county property. "I feel like we have very constructive conversations when it comes to real estate as part of the commission," Lubault said.

Cole also spoke briefly about personal background and activities outside work: her parents’ immigration from Holland, time spent living in Southern California when her father retired, military service in the Army Reserve, membership on Wichita State’s rowing team, and family life with three children. She said she cooks, watches the cooking channel and follows the Kansas City Chiefs.

Contact information was shared during the conversation: Lubault provided an email rendered in the discussion as "jeff.blueballsegwick dot gov," and Cole spelled her email as "Tania, t a n i a, dot colesegwick dot gov" and gave a direct phone number as 660-9854.

The conversation was introductory and did not include formal votes or policy decisions; Cole’s remarks focused on project statuses, staffing and space-planning priorities rather than final approvals or budget vote outcomes.