The Power of Socialization

Michael Hooper with Alexander Lancaster

By Michael Hooper

There is an enriching power in socialization. Some gatherings or parties inspire us for days afterwards. We come away with renewed energy, a sharper focus, a buzz of creativity, perhaps a vision for creating a change in our own life or in our community. These face-to-face gatherings used to include a handshake, a hug, a kiss and a close up look into the eyes of a loved one. There's something special about a touching affirmation of your struggle, you know when somebody understands you, you feel a sense of belonging.

We are hungry to get back to that level of socialization; social media helps but is not the same, not as intimate.

I'm thinking back to some of the parties I attended right before lockdown.

I had a party of writers and artists at my house on January 29th. It was a Wednesday night, cold in the heart of Winter. I lit a fire in the fireplace and played records for seven friends, Velvet Underground, Richard Hell & New Order, while working on writing projects together. I read several passages of a friend's new book. We toured my art studio and sat by candlelight in the backyard. Ate a bunch of food and talked and talked and talked, we could have stayed up all night. Tambour Bieker was hand dancing to Throbbing Gristle and Vincent Neff played his own version of industrial music kind of David Lynch style. Tara Rhiannon Bartley said the party was magical. I was high on this party for several days. I ended up ordering a David Lynch book and worked on my own book Diary of a Bohemian.

The last party I went to in Topeka was Saturday March 7th at the Two Wolves Studio, celebrating Alexander Lancaster's birthday. Probably a hundred people there, most of them artists, really cool setting with a ton of art on the walls and Nate Dingman playing music, and people talking about their art very passionately, heard all kinds of stories, saw an old friend Shar Evans, I did not know that she was such a great artist, I really enjoyed visiting with her about how she got into art and how it helped her in a therapeutic way, she is very particular with her lines, and colors, her paintings are very accurate, a realist in a fantasy world. November Evelyn Wilde was deeply engaged with a colorfully dressed woman, surrounded by admirers, holding court like a salon in her art studio and carrying on about the artistic process. Alexander Lancaster and I took a selfie together. Nate Dingman sang and played guitar for two hours. At the end of the night, November and I agreed it was one of the best parties in Topeka in years. I've never seen so many creative people together. Again I had a boost of energy for days, I went back to my studio and worked furiously, painting the Maui Dude, based on a picture of this street person I photographed in late February.

Then the Covid-19 crisis led to the shutdown of America around St Patrick's Day. For nearly 40 days we've been cooped up, unable to gather with other people, even our own families. The spark that I get from such gatherings has elusively disappeared.

Sure I continue to meet with friends and family by phone and online. I have attended board meetings for an organization that I am involved with. But other than that, I talk to my wife in person and that's the only person I get close to, I'm afraid to touch anybody else.

I know scientists are working on treatments and vaccines for the Coronavirus. Until there is a treatment and a vaccine, I fear going to big gatherings again. My wife and I wear our face masks when we go to the grocery store, otherwise we don't get around other people at all. We got worried when we saw the produce department was overly crowded with shoppers at Aldi. Someone might get closer than 6 feet. Got to abide by that social distancing rule.

I'm glad I had those parties with friends, I'm grateful I took the invitation to go to these important events. My wife's cousin is celebrating 20 years together with her husband and we were at their wedding. Most parties I rarely turn down. I went to Rome and New York and Athens, Greece, for concerts. Thinking about these memories brings a smile to my face. Memories is all we have and I fear such memories will be hard to come by in the future. Will we be wearing masks for the rest of our days? Will we be able to hug again? What is our future going to be like?

I suspect most people will not wear masks and will return immediately to close intimate gatherings. I hope we do not see a resurgence in the Coronavirus. The scientists cannot work fast enough to find a cure. I appreciate all the people who have been working during the shutdown. I feel for the people who have lost their jobs. I hope they can go back to work soon. Stay safe everyone.

The Human Faces of the Coronavirus Shutdown

John Tempesta, left, drummer for The Cult, and Sean Topham, a drum technician and truck driver, who lost his job due to the coronavirus shutdown. Photo Credit: Sean Topham

By Michael Hooper

Thousands of people are dying every day with coronavirus, but there are other silent victims of this disease. Millions of people have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus shutdowns across the United States and around the world. Many of the unemployed worked in the entertainment industry, travel and tourism, and the bar and restaurant business. Even the health care industry is hurting because of lost revenue as a result of postponing elective surgeries. Hospitals in Topeka are letting employees go. This article will take a look at three people who have lost jobs due to the coronavirus shutdowns.

Sean Topham, 51, of North Hollywood, Calif., and Courtney Collado, 40, of Kansas City, Mo., and Susie Hoppe of Grafton, Wis., all have lost income due to the coronavirus shutdowns.

The Drummer

Topham was working as a truck driver for Mates Rehearsal Studios, where he delivered music equipment to musicians. He also worked as a drum technician for numerous bands over the years including The Cult and Poison. He was supposed to be on tour with Tower of Power this spring but got a call on Friday, March 13, saying the Tower of Power tour was put on hold. He returned to Mates, but was laid off.

"Nobody knows when we are going back to work," Topham said in a phone interview. "All my friends in the industry are stuck at home with no work."

He and his girlfriend have been in home quarantine for over a month.

"I'm sitting here with my girlfriend," he said. "I've got a studio at home. I play drums every day but we're getting stir crazy for sure."

Topham said he had enough money for April rent but called all the places he owed money and asked that his debts be put on hold. So his cell phone bill, insurance and other bills are on hold for two months, knowing he will have to play catch-up when he starts earning money again.

Topham applied for unemployment, food stamps and assistance from Music Cares, an organization set up by the Grammys to help out financially struggling musicians. He has not yet received any unemployment, nor any assistance from food stamps or Music Cares.

"The whole system is slammed," Topham said. "I'm lucky I got the April rent paid."

When he applied for food stamps, someone called him, asked him some questions, and then said he should hear back within 30 days.

"I've got nothing right now and they say I've got to wait 30 days," Topham said.

He said he heard that the federal government will provide an extra $600 per week on top of his unemployment. If that is true, he said he should be okay.

Assistance from the government really depends on when it arrives. If it arrives in October, it will be too late. People need it now.

After quarantines went into effect, Topham said it was scary because panicky people had depleted the grocery stores of food. Now he said the grocery stores in Los Angeles have set limits so there is enough food on the shelves. His girlfriend just had her birthday and he bought her a birthday cake. He notices he spends less money on beer these days because he no longer goes out to drink since bars and restaurants are closed except for takeout. "A glass of beer here is normally $10, but now I drink and eat at home."

Topham has worked most of his life in the entertainment industry. He grew up in San Francisco but moved to LA when he was 23 years old. Back then he said Sunset Boulevard was a constant Mardi Gras every night.

He has worked as a drummer in a band called The Chimpz for 14 years. The band's music is featured in the chase scenes on Sons of Anarchy. His band has been a regular at the Rocklahoma festival in Oklahoma but he is worried the festival may be canceled this year.

He wonders when the coronavirus shutdowns will end. When will people be comfortable enough to buy concert tickets again?

"I can't wait to get back to work," he said.

The Dancer and Personal Trainer

Courtney Collado, daughter of Clark and Bobbi Trammell in Topeka, is a self-employed certified personal trainer, dance teacher, choreographer and master pilates instructor. She provides corrective movement solutions to dancers who are suffering from injuries. Nearly all of her work and income ended about a month ago due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Courtney Collado, her son Kellan and two dogs. Photo provided by Courtney Collado

Working out of a private studio in Kansas City, she helped clients reduce pain and improve physical strength.

"I need to touch people and breathe in a very close space with them," she said. But because of the coronavirus social distancing rules, it's impossible to get close to people. "My income is 100% gone," she said.

"Because most of my income is self-employed, I don't yet qualify for unemployment or relief assistance," she said. "I taught one class per week as an employee for the Kansas City Ballet which qualifies me to receive  $74/week in assistance."

Now she is confined to her apartment with her 7-year-old son from her first marriage and two dogs. She helps her son with online instruction in the mornings. She also is working on her master's in fine arts so that she can earn more money teaching dance at the college level. 

"I've never been a good sleeper but I'm lucky to get three to five hours of sleep per night," she said. "I was supposed to do my master's thesis this summer but I will have to wait until next summer for that. There's too much to do here. There's more dishes, more laundry, taking care of my son. I'm fortunate he's very focused and self-motivated but it's very challenging. Much of my life is on hold."

She is trying to build up clients who would be willing to receive instruction online. She said she is fortunate to have one client who is still paying her for instruction. However she has many clients who can no longer afford to pay her because they are out of work, but she still provides help anyway because she loves what she does. She knows what it's like to be injured as a dancer. She has been dancing all of her life and received her first dance injury when she was a little child. Now she is 40 and she sees doctors from time to time because of the multitude of injuries that she received as a ballet dancer in New York City, where she lived for 15 years.

She said the new normal will be completely different than the old normal.

"We're not going back to normal," she said. "This will change the way we work and interact with people."

She said she doesn't really see an end to the coronavirus quarantine anytime soon. Maybe this fall or maybe in a year, but certainly not in 30 days.

The world is now realizing that society has become overly dependent on people who work too much for too little. Consumers now must do without the people they took for granted like the restaurant and bar employees who served them on a regular basis.

Collado remarried and her husband is in the military. He probably got coronavirus when he was in Morocco. All of his comrades in his unit got sick too and were quarantined until they got better. He is currently a major in the Army stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia.

She has learned, "It's okay to be sad and be scared. It's okay to grieve. But make sure you maintain your connection with your community."

"The only way to show love is to withhold all (physical) affection," she said. That means no hugs, no kisses, no intimate conversations. "We cannot safely visit my parents in Topeka."

The Bartender

Susie Hoppe, of Grafton, Wis., was working as a bartender at the Jackson Pub in Jackson, Wis., when the bar was closed right before the biggest sales night of the year on St. Patrick's Day. The state had required all bars and restaurants to close except for takeout. She lost two other jobs working as a bartender. She also runs her own cleaning business, cleaning commercial and private residences. She had been working close to 80 hours per week and all that came to a halt because of the coronavirus shutdowns. Her cleaning business has one part-time employee. "I kept him on because I did not feel comfortable letting him go," she said

Susie Hoppe, Photo provided by Susie Hoppe

Hoppe had been working very hard and long hours in order to save some money to improve her family cabin in Minnesota. But now that the coronavirus has shut down her income, she is not going to spend any money on repairs for the cabin.

Hoppe has applied for unemployment, but that task was extremely difficult. "You're going to spend a long time online," she said. "It's a long process."

She said many people in the food and beverage business do not have savings. "A lot live paycheck to paycheck," she said.

Hoppe's husband Greg continues to run his accounting business but because the deadline for paying taxes was pushed back to July 15, business has slowed down.

The coronavirus shutdown has really affected her psychologically too. 

"It feels like we're in the Twilight Zone," she said. "I've watched more TV in one week than I did all of last year."

So many events have been canceled including events to raise money for charities, she said. This will have a trickle-down effect on people in need.

"It's heart-wrenching to see all of the parks closed here," she said. "Kids can't go out and play. Kids can't be kids right now."

Utilities Target Evergy For Acquisition

By Michael Hooper

Several utilities are considering acquiring Evergy (EVRG), the electric utility that serves Kansas and Missouri.

NextEra Energy (NEE) is working with advisers to consider an offer for Evergy, according to a Reorg M&A report. NextEra has hired Citi to advise on the potential acquisition. Other utilities looking at Evergy are American Electric Power (AEP) and Ameren (AEE), reported Seeking Alpha and a report by TheFly.com.

All of this interest in Evergy follows a board shake-up with the addition of two board members from activist investor Elliott Management. Elliott acquired 11.3 million shares of Evergy and pressured the board to change strategy including putting itself up for sale. Initially Evergy leadership rebuffed Elliott last fall but then caved in and allowed two Elliott members onto the board, then changed its capital plan to accommodate Elliott.

NextEra Energy, based in Houston, operates several wind farms in Kansas. Evergy purchases power from multiple wind farms that are owned by NextEra, said Gina Penzig, spokeswoman for Evergy.

When asked to comment about NextEra's interest in acquiring Evergy, Penzig said, "We don’t comment on speculation in the marketplace." 

On March 2, Evergy announced that it had entered into an agreement with Elliott Management. As part of the agreement two new independent directors joined the Evergy board of directors effective March 3. In addition, the board established a new Strategic Review and Operations Committee with a mandate to explore ways to enhance shareholder value.

The new additions are NRG Energy CFO Kirk Andrews and former Energy Future Holdings CEO Paul Keglivic.

Andrews has led NRG through a three-year transformation plan that began in 2017 and was initiated by an agreement with Elliott and another Dallas activist investor, the Kansas City Business Journal reported.

Keglivic has held several positions including CEO, CFO and chief restructuring officer during his 10 years with Energy Future Holdings. The Dallas-based company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2014, named him its CEO in 2016. The company was acquired by Sempra Energy in March 2018, when he left the company.

The additions push the size of the Evergy board to 17 but four current board members will retire in May.

Evergy is already changing its strategy because of pressure from Elliott Management. Evergy has increased its five-year capital investment plan to $7.6 billion through 2024 compared to $6.1 billion in its prior plan. Evergy plans to spend $1.5 billion per year for five years in projects that modernize the electric grid, improve reliability while reducing operations and maintenance expense.

With the increased capital investment, Evergy has elected to halt the remainder of its share repurchase program.

Evergy was formed in 2018 with the combination of KCP&L and Westar Energy. The company has 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri.

In 2019, Evergy earned $670 million or $2.79 per share compared with $536 million or $2.50 per share for 2018.

Evergy has been cutting staff through attrition and not replacing them when they retire or leave in order to reduce operating expenses.

One of the first things that Elliott wanted after acquiring shares of Evergy was to put the company up for sale, according to comments made by Evergy leadership. The problem with this is Evergy just went through a merger between KCP&L and Westar Energy. That merger took years of work and hundreds of hours of testimony and documents before the Kansas Corporation Commission. Initially, the KCC rejected the sale because the deal required too much debt. The two companies changed the deal to a stock for stock merger. Then the KCC approved the deal.

I have been buying shares of Evergy at $52, $55 and $58 per share, with a current average price of $57.36 per share. Evergy stock was up 11% to $57.88 per share on Monday while the S&P 500 was up 7%. I believe Evergy remains a buy below $65 per share. Evergy stock had reached $76.57 per share prior to the stock market crash due to the coronavirus outbreak.

If Evergy gets acquired, you can expect another board shakeup and possibly layoffs. That is a possible outcome of all this M&A activity. You let in an activist investor like Paul Singer, founder of Elliott, you are likely to see big changes.

Editors Note: The author owns shares of Evergy and may buy more in the future.

Top 11 Stormont Vail Staff Earn More Than $1 Million Apiece in 2018

By Michael Hooper

Eleven employees earned more than $1 million apiece at Stormont Vail Health in 2018.

Stormont Vail's highest paid employees are listed on Schedule J, page 76 of Form 990 for tax year ending Sept. 30, 2018, the latest year available at Guidestar.org.

Physician Matthew Wills earned $1.7 million while Kevin Han, vice president and CFO through June 30, 2017, earned $1.1 million.

Physician Stephen Eichert earned $1.3 million and physician Marc Baraban earned $1.1 million. Other employees who earned more than $1 million include physician Chu Chi Chen at $1.9 million; physician Benjamin Boudreaux at $1.08 million; Bernard Becker, vice president through Sept. 15, 2017, at $1.5 million; Douglas Rose, physician and vice-president, $1.6 million; vice president Janet Stanek, $1.3 million; physician Eric Voth, $1.05 million.

Many employees made over a half a million dollars, most of them physicians.

The starting wage at Stormont Vail is $12.45 per hour. That is $25,896 annually for full-time work. At that rate, it would take a worker 38 years to earn $1 million, assuming no pay raises.

The top paid employees and other non-essential staff are now expected to take pay cuts as Stormont Vail adjusts to a 50% contraction in business due to the coronavirus outbreak, a Stormont Vail employee said.

Matthew Lara, public relations specialist at Stormont Vail, said all elective surgeries have been cancelled and the number of patients visiting the hospital have declined due to the coronavirus outbreak. Because of a 50% decline in business, the hospital is implementing pay cuts. Stormont Vail has about 5,300 employees.

Lara said Robert Kenagy, president and CEO, is taking a 35 percent pay cut. All senior vice presidents are taking a 25 percent pay cut, vice presidents a 20 percent pay cut. Administrative directors will take a 15 percent pay cut. The doctors have been asked to take a pay cut as well. Essential front-line, patient-facing employees such as nurses will continue to receive 100 percent of their pay, Lara said.

"We're trying to make this as equitable as possible. Senior leadership are taking bigger cuts," Lara said. "I'm taking a 10 percent pay cut."

Stormont Vail had $822 million in revenue in 2018 and $735 million in expenses with a net gain of $87.8 million, according to the tax return.

"Before all of this, we were doing very well," Lara said. But after the outbreak of coronavirus, the health care organization has been providing only half of its services so half the revenue has been cut.

Last week, Moody's reaffirmed the organization's credit rating, Lara said.

Lara said non essential employees will be put in a labor pool, where they may be reassigned and get a 10 percent cut. If there is no work, they will be put on administrative leave and receive 50 percent of their salary, he said.

The new pay plan will be effective Thursday, April 5.

Randall Peterson, former president and CEO, earned $2.1 million in 2018.

Robert Kenagy earned $758,000 in 2018 as vice-president but was promoted to president and CEO in 2019.

Lara said Peterson, Stanek, Becker and Han are no longer with Stormont Vail.

On March 20, Moody's Investors Service affirmed Stormont Vail Health's A2 revenue bond rating. This action affects approximately $47 million of rated debt. The outlook is stable.

Moody's said affirmation of the A2 bond rating reflects the likelihood that Stormont Vail Health will continue to sustain strong operating performance and balance sheet metrics while management implements growth strategies. Stormont Vail Health expects to open three ambulatory clinics in the next three years with the first expected in June 2020. Stormont Vail Health will also continue to expand its presence in high growth Manhattan, Kan., to support its recent ownership interest in a surgical hospital. The rating is further supported by Stormont Vail Health's continued growth and investment in its large employed physician group, the Cotton O'Neil Medical Group, which Moody's views as a market differentiator despite the presence of an academic medical center in its primary market. Challenges include a variance to total revenue and margin targets in 2019 due to a decline in inpatient volumes though year to date 2020 is exceeding budget. While Stormont Vail Health's revenue base is somewhat modest, balance sheet metrics will continue to remain strong despite near term decline in liquidity to fund capital.

The stable outlook reflects the likelihood that the system will sustain current operating performance and replenish liquidity following completion of ambulatory projects.

Stormont Vail Health is a health system anchored by a 586 licensed bed tertiary referral hospital in Topeka. Located in the northeast part of the state, it is the only Level 2 trauma and Level 3 neonatal intensive care center in the service area. Stormont Vail Health owns physician group Cotton O'Neil Medical Group which employs 276 physicians.