Category: Wichita city government
-
Wichita Old Town Theater’s Bill Warren: No Ideas?
Recently the Wichita City Council approved a no-interest and low-interest loan to Old Town Wichita theater owner Bill Warren and his partners. Citizen opinion in Wichita seems to be mostly outrage at this giveaway, and rightly so. See Wichita Old Town Warren Theater Public Hearing Remarks and Wichita and the Old Town Warren Theater Loan.
-
Reverend Kevass Harding and His Wichita TIF District
Remarks to be delivered to the Wichita City Council, July 8, 2008. Mr. Mayor and members of the council, today I will not discuss the desirability of tax increment financing (TIF) districts in general, or the merits of this one in particular. I’ll leave that for the August 12 public hearing. Instead, I wish to…
-
Wichita Council Member Jeff Longwell: We Can, and Do, Read
Wichita City Council Member Jeff Longwell, in the news article Little time to review Warren loan terms (July 1, 2008 Wichita Eagle), was reported as remarking “It’s unlikely many residents would read the full contract even if it had been made public earlier.” Mr. Longwell, many people in Wichita do read documents such as these.…
-
In Wichita, is Economic Development Proven Public Policy?
In a statement read by Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and released on the city’s website at Mayor Brewer Warren Theatre [sic] Statement, the mayor states “Economic development is proven public policy.” The word “proven” was used several other times in the statement. (I don’t know who wrote the title to the statement, but it combines…
-
Wichita Old Town Warren Theater Public Hearing Remarks
From John Todd. Testimony I presented before the Wichita City Council on July 1, 2008 in opposition to the proposed Old Town Warren Theater LLC loan. The question before the council today relates to the proper role of government. I believe the role of government is that of acting as a non-partial judge from the…
-
Wichita and the Old Town Warren Theater Loan
Remarks to be delivered to the Wichita City Council, July 1, 2008. Mr. Mayor and members of the Council, we are potentially beginning a journey down a road where there are two classes of businesses in Wichita. There are business owners who seek to earn their profit through market entrepreneurship, that is, by meeting the…
-
Warren Old Town Wichita Theater: Good Money After Bad?
This letter is from my friend Darrell Leffew. Not everyone seems to understand the folly of throwing good money after bad. “Taxpayers are already on the hook” is Wichita city council member Jeff Longwell’s opinion as expressed in a Wichita Eagle article. Mr. Longwell, I realize you weren’t a member of the council when we…
-
Wichita Tax Swap Has Dangers
The City of Wichita is thinking about raising its sales tax and using the proceeds to lower property taxes (“City starts talks on 1-cent hike in sales tax”, May 14, 2008 Wichita Eagle). While some debate the relative merits of sales taxes vs. property taxes, there is one thing I am certain of: if Wichita…
-
Wichita city manager’s warning is too late
Wichita Interim City Manager Ed Flentje issued this warning to the council: “There are in this community much larger businesses with much larger employment who may see this opening as something that will open a door for those businesses to come and say, ‘You’ve done it before, you can do it for us.'” Dr. Flentje,…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Haze surrounds Wichita smoking ban
Smoking ban supporters claim that they have the right to go to bowling alleys, bars, and other such places without having to breath secondhand smoke. That’s false. No one has the right to be on someone else’s property on their own terms. The property owner controls those terms. If the bar owner lets the band…