Month: June 2008
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Complacency is Not an Option: Kansas Needs to Drop its Dropout Rate
Is a high school graduation rate of 39 percent acceptable? That was the record of USD 457 Garden City and USD 501 Topeka, according to a report issued by the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy. USD 500 Kansas City did only slightly better, with a 49 percent rate.
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Wichita School Bond Issue: Is Economic Impact Real?
I wrote to Janet Harrah, the lead author of this report, with some questions. One of her responses, not to any particular question I asked but just by way of general explanation, was this: “These studies are designed to estimate the impact of expenditures for a particular activity. These studies are not designed to determine…
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A Believer in Good Government Programs
A Mr. Greg Abbott of Clearwater, Kansas makes the case in the June 13, 2008 Wichita Eagle that there are many good government programs: the interstate highway system, the post office, the air traffic control system, police and fire departments, etc. I believe the writer makes a huge error in logic by assuming that because…
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Kansas Blog Roundup for June 13, 2008
At The Kansas Meadowlark, read about a Kansas state representative’s use of franked mail: State Rep Rardin’s FOURTH franked piece to kick-start his re-election campaign. This post inspired a few rather heated comments.
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Karl Peterjohn Files for Sedgwick County Commission
On June 5, 2008, Karl Peterjohn officially filed to become a Republican candidate for the Sedgwick County Commission in district 3. I and some other local news media interviewed him afterwards. Peterjohn believes taxes are an important issue in Sedgwick county. “Taxpayers need additional protection in Sedgwick County. The most effective position for taxpayers is…
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Kansas Blog Roundup for June 6, 2008
At Voice For Liberty in Wichita, guest author James Barfield contributes Wichita City Manager Search: Look Before You Leap, urging Wichita to be wary of the presumptive new city manager, Pat Salerno. Mr. Barfield has done some investigation on his own, and uncovers some troubling facts. An abridged version of this post was printed in…
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Wichita School District Economic Impact
In February 2008, Janet Harrah of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University produced a report titled “Wichita Public Schools: Impact Analysis Operations Impact, Bond Impact and Success Measures.” This report painted a glowing picture of the USD 259 (Wichita, Kansas public school district) bond issue in 2000. The district…
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Tax Abatements in Wichita
A few months ago I spoke before this council asking that you not grant a tax abatement. At that time I was told that granting a property tax abatement doesn’t have any impact on City of Wichita spending. I found this quite remarkable, that new homes and buildings can be built but not consume any…
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Wichita City Manager Search: Look Before You Leap
In the business world, there’s an old adage that says “look before you leap.” So, upon hearing that the Wichita city council was going to hire the only city manager candidate interviewed, I decided to do some looking. What I have seen thus far, has not been all that pretty to me. One of the…
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The smoking ban in Wichita
University of Kansas School of Medicine professor Dr. Rick Kellerman is on the front page of the May 30 Wichita Eagle. Kellerman is upset that a complete ban on smoking is not expected to be adopted by the city council at their June 3 meeting.