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Staff chief to 2 Kan. governors discusses meetings

2/13/2012

TOPEKA -- A former chief of staff to two past Democratic governors says he can't remember them inviting legislators to the governor's official residence by committee.

Former Lt. Gov. Troy Findley says Govs. Mark Parkinson and Kathleen Sebelius invited groups of four or six lawmakers to Cedar Crest, the governor's residence. He said they went through the House and Senate rosters alphabetically.

Findley was the governor's chief of staff from 2005 to 2010, serving both Sebelius and Parkinson.

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor, also a Democrat, is investigating seven gatherings in January held at Cedar Crest by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback for GOP members of 13 legislative committees. Brownback and his aides have said they're confident the gatherings didn't violate the Kansas Open Meetings Act.