Wichita never seems to learn. Its government, that is. The last time Key Construction was awarded a no-bid contract for building a parking garage in Wichita, it almost cost Wichita taxpayers an extra 27 percent. Now the Wichita City Council has done it again, awarding Key another no-bid contract for a project paid for by taxpayers. In August 2011 the Wichita City Council voted to award Key Construction a no-bid contract to build the parking garage that is part of the Ambassador Hotel project, now known as Block One. The no-bid cost of the garage was to be $6 million, according to a letter of intent. Later the city decided to place the contract for competitive bid. Key Construction won the bidding, but for a price $1.3 million less. Today…
Some citizen activists and Wichita city council members believe that a single $500 campaign contribution from a corporation has a corrupting influence. But stacking dozens of the same $500 contributions from executives and spouses of the same corporation? Not a problem. On December 1, 2015 the Wichita City Council considered an ordinance regarding campaign finance for city elections. A Wichita Eagle article on the topic started with: "A proposed change in city ordinance would allow corporations, labor unions and political action committees to have a greater influence on Wichita politics. For years, city elections have remained insulated from the power of those groups, unlike national and state elections, because Wichita ordinance specifically forbids them from contributing to local campaigns." [1. Ryan. Kelsey. Wichita City Council considers changes to campaign finance,…
Actions of the Wichita City Council have shown that campaign finance reform is needed. Citizen groups are investigating how to accomplish this needed reform, since the council has not shown interest in reforming itself. Consider recent actions by the council and its members: The council voted to give a movie theater operator a no-interest and low-interest loan, after having already received the benefit of tax increment financing. A minister dabbling in real estate development made a large contribution to his council representative just before he asked the city council for tax increment financing. The council voted to give a construction company a no-bid contract for a parking garage. When later put out for competitive bid, the same company won the contract, but with a bid 21 percent less costly to…
Actions of the Wichita City Council have shown that campaign finance reform is needed. Citizen groups are investigating how to accomplish this needed reform, since the council has not shown interest in reforming itself. Consider recent actions by the council and its members: The council voted to give a movie theater operator a no-interest and low-interest loan, after having already received the benefit of tax increment financing. A minister dabbling in real estate development made a large contribution to his council representative just before he asked the city council for tax increment financing. The council voted to give a construction company a no-bid contract for a parking garage. When later put out for competitive bid, the same company won the contract, but with a bid 21 percent less costly to…
A politically-connected construction firm in Wichita is challenging the award of the contract for building Wichita's new airport terminal. When the Wichita Wichita City Council makes the decision, it will be impossible or difficult to gauge the impact of campaign contributions and political influence on the process. The contract, worth about $100 million, was awarded to Dondlinger and Sons. But according to Wichita Eagle reporting, the city may award the contract to Key Construction. The reason is that Dondlinger may not have met bid requirements regarding disadvantaged business enterprises. The decision the council will make is colored by the fact that executives of Key Construction and their spouses make a lot of campaign contributions to Wichita City Council members, both liberals and conservatives. A chart of these contributions for council…
When Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer recently shopped for a car, it made the front page of the newspaper, and for a reason that doesn't seem very newsworthy. Buried in the story, however, is a short passage that holds actual news. Carrie Rengers reports in the Wichita Eagle: [Brewer] says he knows a lot of dealers in Wichita ... but he says he has to be careful about trying to get a good deal while shopping in the city. "I don’t want to be accused of getting any type of special deals or anything else," he says. "You have that handful of people that’s always searching for some type of conspiracy." It's good to know that this mayor is concerned about ethical behavior when shopping for a car. But I'm surprised,…
Tomorrow Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and the Wichita City Council will make a decision that will let the city learn the ethics and character of its elected officials. The issue is whether the mayor and five of six council members will decide to preside in a quasi-judicial matter over a case involving a major campaign contributor and personal friend. Now we know that the mayor has also intervened on behalf of Key Construction, recommending exclusively that the firm be hired for a construction project. My reporting in Wichita City Council can’t judge airport contract details the campaign contributions made by executives of Key Construction and their spouses. On Sunday Bill Wilson of the Wichita Eagle reported on the letter Brewer sent to a retail store planning to build in Wichita.…
The Wichita city council should repeal a law that the council doesn't follow. As he has done previously, Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer decided not to vote on a matter involving Spirit Aerosystems at the November 4, 2014 meeting of the Wichita City Council. The mayor didn't give a specific reason for recusing himself, but it's probably because he was formerly an employee at Spirit. So it's good that he did this. But if we're going to observe ethics protocols like this -- and we should -- let's go all the way. The mayor should have announced at the start of this agenda item that he had to recuse himself, and then he should have left the bench and probably also the council chambers. Instead, Brewer presided over the presentation and…
Speculation that politics might influence a decision over the location of State of Kansas offices is amusing, given that one of the players has a history of awarding campaign contributors and friends. Will he now advocate for keeping politics out of governmental decision-making? When the State of Kansas said it is going to move offices from its downtown location, a local politician expressed concern to the Wichita Eagle: "It raises a red flag," says Rep. Jim Ward (D-Wichita). "I have a concern there is a history of the governor rewarding financial contributors with state contracts. I know he has contributors in Wichita that own (buildings) that fall into that category. ... I don’t want that to be the reason we’re moving." In another Eagle article, Ward said his second priority…
As he has done previously, Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer decided not to vote on a matter involving Spirit Aerosystems at the November 5, 2013 meeting of the Wichita City Council. The mayor didn't give a reason for recusing himself, but it's probably because he was formerly an employee at Spirit. So it's good that he did this. But if we're going to observe ethics protocols like this -- and we should -- let's do them correctly. The mayor should have announced at the start of this item that he had to recuse himself, and then he should have left the bench and probably also the council chambers. Instead, Brewer presided over the presentation and discussion of the item, and then stated he wouldn't be voting. It's a small matter, but…