Government ethics

23
Nov
By Bob Weeks

Wichita city government ethics workshop

When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. -- Frederic Bastiat On Tuesday November 19 the Wichita City Council held a workshop. Two of the three topics presented were state and city laws regarding ethics. As far as I can tell, the upshot is that the Wichita city ethics code is crafted so poorly that it is without meaning. More on this issue is at Wichita city code seemingly ignored. The video for the presentation on state ethics is here, and the…
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11
Nov
By Bob Weeks

Curious Wichita ethics enigmas

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…
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11
Oct
By Bob Weeks

Cronyism and other problems in Wichita

Someone asked for a collection of articles about cronyism and other problems with Wichita city government. Here are a few. Exchange Place still not good for Wichita, others The Wichita City Council will consider a redevelopment plan for the Exchange Place project in downtown Wichita. Despite having shed the problems with the former owners, the project has become an even worse deal for the taxpayers of Wichita, Kansas, and the nation. Those looking for jobs and for investment capital to meet consumer demands are worse off, too. Article here. Wichita performs a reference check, sort of Citizens of Wichita are…
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11
Oct
By Bob Weeks

Wichita contracts, their meaning (or not)

Is the City of Wichita concerned that its contracts contain language that seems to be violated even before the contract is signed? This week the Wichita City Council approved a development agreement for the apartments to be built on the west bank of the Arkansas River. The development agreement the council contemplated included this language in Section 11.06, titled "Conflicts of Interest." No member of the City’s governing body or of any branch of the City’s government that has any power of review or approval of any of the Developer’s undertakings shall participate in any decisions relating thereto which affect…
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16
Aug
By Bob Weeks

WichitaLiberty.TV August 18, 2013

In this episode of WichitaLiberty.TV, host Bob Weeks shows his "Prezi" that illustrates the disregard for the law shown by Wichita's mayor. Then, Bob walks viewers through a visualization that illustrates the unintended consequences of government intervention at the Wichita Airport. Finally, Bob introduces Henry Hazlitt's book "Economics in One Lesson," which will be the topic of future episodes of WichitaLiberty.TV. Episode 9, broadcast August 18, 2013. View below, or click here to view on YouTube.
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09
Aug
By Bob Weeks

WichitaLiberty.TV August 11, 2013

In this episode of WichitaLiberty.TV, host Bob Weeks asks if shoppers have ever paid extra sales tax in Wichita's Community Improvement Districts, and describes efforts by the city to avoid disclosure of this tax. Then, are there similarities between Wichita and Detroit? Finally, a Sedgwick County Commissioner is worried about agriculture being driven out of the county, but Bob thinks he doesn't need to worry. Episode 8, broadcast August 11, 2013. View below, or click here to view on YouTube.
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08
Aug
By Bob Weeks

More illumination of Wichita City Council ethics

Today on the Joseph Ashby Show, the host shines additional light on problems with the Wichita City Council. [powerpress url="http://wichitaliberty.org/audio/joseph-ashby-show-2013-08-08-excerpt-bob-weeks.mp3"]Joseph Ashby Show, August 8, 2013 (excerpt). Some background material: Joseph Ashby on Wichita City Council Kansas Affordable Airfares program: Benefits and consequences Wichita airport statistics: The visualization Wichita Airport statistics: The video Wichita Eagle: Wichita City Council rejects conservative blogger for airport advisory board WE Blog: Peterjohn’s comment was inappropriate Joseph Ashby Show: Upcoming Wichita City Council meeting It will be a busy Tuesday in Wichita Fish, sauce, and the law: You make the call
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07
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Joseph Ashby on Wichita City Council

Today on the Joseph Ashby Show, the host shines light on some problems with the Wichita City Council. [powerpress url="http://wichitaliberty.org/audio/joseph-ashby-show-2013-08-07-excerpt-3.mp3"]Joseph Ashby Show, August 7, 2013 (excerpt). Some background material: Kansas Affordable Airfares program: Benefits and consequences Wichita airport statistics: the visualization Wichita Eagle: Wichita City Council rejects conservative blogger for airport advisory board Joseph Ashby Show: Upcoming Wichita City Council meeting It will be a busy Tuesday in Wichita Fish, sauce, and the law: You make the call
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03
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Wichita’s evaluation of development team should be reconsidered

In an effort to avoid mistakes made in the past and inspire confidence in the process, parties wishing to receive economic development subsidies for projects in downtown Wichita are evaluated on a variety of measures. The evaluation matrix released for a project to be considered next week by the Wichita City Council, however, ought to be recalculated. City documents describe one of two competing projects as this: "River Vista is proposed by River Vista LLC, a development group comprised of George Laham, Dave Burk, Dave Wells and Bill Warren." It's this ownership team that ought to cause the city concern.…
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