Author: Bob Weeks
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A public or private downtown Wichita arena, which is desirable?
Image what our town could be like if the Wichita downtown arena vote fails and Sedgwick County Commissioners put aside for a moment their plans for the renovation of the Kansas Coliseum. Suppose, instead, that arena supporters, along with those who would vote yes for the sales tax and anyone else who wants to, formed…
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Whitewash
There are laws and rules while there are lawyers and judges but there is truly one unique and privileged class where the rules do not apply in Kansas: The Kansas Supreme Court.
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Tax increment financing in Wichita benefits few
How does a TIF district work? The Wichita Eagle reported: “A TIF district doesn’t cost local governments any existing tax money. It takes property taxes paid on new construction that would ordinarily go into government coffers and redirects it to the bond holders who are financing the project.”
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Sedgwick County surrenders key tax advantage
Spirit Aerosystems CEO Jeff Turner defended the massive spending hike that was used as the primary justification for the county’s 8.8 percent property tax hike in his editorial August 9, 2006. Turner’s support for this increased government spending ignored some important ramifications behind this economically destructive vote.
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Terrible Blighted Property
The link below from Castle Coalition shows some properties that have been declared as blighted by local governments, so that the local government can condemn the property and take it from its owner under the process of eminent domain. Judge for yourself as to whether these properties are, indeed, blight. http://www.castlecoalition.org/CastleWatch/bogusblight/index.html
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Reform the “other” welfare
A recent USA Today editorial (“Hooked on Handouts” July 31, 2006) makes the case for reforming corporate welfare, given the success of “regular” welfare reform:
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Kansas Board of Education election demonstrates one thing
Looking at some of the comments left on various discussion forums in the state of Kansas, the victors are joyously gleeful in their win and vindictive towards the defeated. I would hazard to guess that the victors were more interested in victory for its own sake, and more motivated by hatred for their rivals, than…
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Government Charity in Sedgwick County
At the July 25, 2006 Sedgwick County Commission meeting, during the public hearing on the proposed 2007 Sedgwick County budget, a speaker said this in support of funding for mental health services: “I agree with the previous presenter and I’d be willing to forego a few cheeseburgers this year so that if I need to…
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Wichita (and Kansas) Democrats illustrate progress in education
This use of the greengrocers’ apostrophe in the headline of an article on the Kansas Democratic Party’s website on July 25, 2006 tells us something, but I don’t quite know what.