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Wichita TIF Developer’s Ownership Restructuring not Very Reassuring
Read more: Wichita TIF Developer’s Ownership Restructuring not Very ReassuringRecent reporting by the Wichita Eagle uncovered troubling facts from the past of a developer the city is considering partnering with.
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No Diligence in Wichita City Hall
Read more: No Diligence in Wichita City HallRhonda Holman’s Wichita Eagle editorial today (Need vetting of City Hall partners) correctly states that city staff “missed the mark in vetting negotiator Grant Gaudreau.” Or is the proper title “principal developer,” as stated by Wichita’s director of urban development Allen Bell? (See Wichita’s Faulty Due Diligence for video.)
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Applying For Food Stamps: American Duty?
Read more: Applying For Food Stamps: American Duty?A television news story from yesterday in Wichita went like this: Television news anchor: “Some may think that using food stamps is a drain on the economy, but the truth is that’s really not right. Local organizers say using food assistance can help boost the economy during these tough times. One dollar of food assistance…
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The New Deal in Retrospect
Read more: The New Deal in RetrospectMany people refer to incoming president Barack Obama as the next FDR. The myth of Franklin Roosevelt — primarily that he cured the Great Depression through his extreme interventionism — is starting to be exposed. In this review (The Disaster Called the New Deal) of Burton Folsom’s book New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR’s…
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Huelskamp announces a run for Congress
Read more: Huelskamp announces a run for CongressKansas Liberty reports in the post Huelskamp announces a run for Congress: “[Kansas State] Sen. Tim Huelskamp, the veteran Fowler Republican, has announced he’ll pursue a seat in the U.S. Congress for 2010.” I think he’d make a great United States Congressman.
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Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture Wins. Who Lost?
Read more: Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture Wins. Who Lost?In what must be the most unsurprising news reported in Wichita this year, Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture was awarded the contract for plan management services for the USD 259 (Wichita public school district) bond issue. Their fee is one percent of the total of the bond issue, or about $3.7 million. If this contract…
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Do We Have Too Little Regulation?
Read more: Do We Have Too Little Regulation?One of the things we’re being told by the mainstream media is that deregulation is the cause of our current economic crisis. If only Bush hadn’t torn up so many regulations, we wouldn’t be in this trouble. Only adding more regulation will save the economy. Free markets — as if our economy is based on…
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Video Reveals Uninformed Citizenry
Read more: Video Reveals Uninformed CitizenryUtah Education Facts has released a video that illustrates the startling lack of information possessed by the average citizen. This video was made in Utah and uses Utah’s facts, but I’ve made some similar videos in Wichita, and the results are similar. People are mostly uninformed about basic facts. School districts use this to their…
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Wichita’s Faulty Due Diligence
Read more: Wichita’s Faulty Due DiligenceIn the Wichita city council meeting on December 2, 2008, council member Jim Skelton questioned Allen Bell, Wichita’s director of urban development, about developers the city is considering working with on a TIF district. Specifically, Skelton asked if there was anything in the backgound of the developers that the council should be concerned about. Bell…
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Wichita and Sedgwick County Agenda Deadlines Are Too Short
Read more: Wichita and Sedgwick County Agenda Deadlines Are Too ShortBoth the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County have policies that limit citizens’ ability to address these bodies on timely matters. Each body requires, effectively, at least one week notice to appear on the public agenda. That’s the part of the meeting where citizens can speak about any topic, not just those matters that are…
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Jeff Fluhr’s Decision
Read more: Jeff Fluhr’s DecisionAt the December 2, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council, Jeff Fluhr, the new president of the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, spoke on behalf of the expansion of the Center City South Redevelopment District, commonly known as the downtown Wichita arena TIF district. Attending the meeting with him were several members of that organization’s…
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Wichita Penalizes Companies Through Taxation
Read more: Wichita Penalizes Companies Through TaxationFive years ago, the City of Wichita granted Big Dog Motorcycles industrial revenue bonds (IRB). The benefit of these bonds is that the company escapes paying property tax (and often sales tax) on the property purchased with the proceeds from the bonds. At the December 2, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council, the council…