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Did Jeff Longwell dodge a tough city council vote?
16
Apr
By Bob Weeks

Did Jeff Longwell dodge a tough city council vote?

On election day, Wichita city council member and mayoral candidate Jeff Longwell appears to have ducked an inconvenient vote and would not say why. At his Wichita mayoral campaign announcement last November, then-council member Jeff Longwell called for a moratorium on the use of forgivable loans until a new policy is implemented. [1. Wichita Eagle, 2015. Economic Development Among Mayoral Candidate Jeff Longwell’s Priorities For Wichita. Accessed April 16 2015. Available at www.kansas.com/news/local/article393829.] At other times he called for the end to traditional cash incentives, telling the Wichita Eagle “I think that we have to get away from the traditional…
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Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer on citizen engagement
10
Nov
By Bob Weeks

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer on citizen engagement

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and the city council are proud of their citizen engagement efforts. Should they be proud? The day after the November 2014 election in which Wichita voters rejected a proposed city sales tax, Mayor Carl Brewer and most members of the Wichita City Council held a press conference to discuss the election. A theme of the mayor is that the city reached out to citizens, gathered feedback, and responded. Here are a few of his remarks: As elected officials, it's our duty and responsibility to listen to citizens each and every day. And certainly any and every…
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Your smartphone is your activism toolkit
22
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Your smartphone is your activism toolkit

Your smartphone is a valuable tool for activism. Here are two ways to get involved. Many people wonder how they can be involved in helping to improve government as a citizen activist. It may be that you have a valuable tool that's in your pocket, and that you take everywhere you go: Your smartphone. You may have seen me showing photographs of street lights burning in downtown Wichita during the middle of sunny afternoons. Have you ever spotted government waste like that? I’m sure that you have. I think people forget they have a fairly high-quality camera with them at…
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16
May
By Bob Weeks

Twitter, helpful in this case

A useful contribution of Twitter to society is to reveal how little some people actually know about their causes. It started with this. American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, was holding a meeting in Kansas City, and there was a lot of ALEC-bashing going on. But I like what ALEC does, as I tweeted: I'm glad that #ALEC advocates for free markets and limited government, especially since freedom has so many enemies. #ksleg— Bob Weeks (@bob_weeks) May 2, 2014 Which provided an opportunity to explain the fundamental axiom of libertarianism, and how libertarians apply it to everyone, including government: .…
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02
Jan
By Guest Author

2013 year in review: Top 10 stories from the Sunflower State

2013 year in review: Top 10 stories from the Sunflower State By Travis Perry, Kansas Watchdog OSAWATOMIE, Kan. -- It’s over, done, finalized, finito. With the final days and hours of 2013 ticking to a close, we figured it’s a good time for reflection on what the last 12 months have brought the Sunflower State. So, without further delay, Kansas Watchdog presents its Top 10 stories of 2013. 1. Wayward welfare dollars An in-depth investigation into howKansans spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in government welfare money came to a shocking conclusion: a striking number of transactions appear to be going toward anything but…
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11
Aug
By Bob Weeks

Kansas school spending advocates take to Twitter

A few days ago someone sent me a message on Twitter, regarding something I wrote about Kansas schools. @bob_weeks @albobcobb Bob, these class sizes are getting out of hand. We must first restore funding then we can go after remaining probs.— Devin Wilson (@ksucats96) August 10, 2013 As Tweets are too brief to discuss the issues, I do so here. It's true that state education spending -- that portion of total school funding provided by the State of Kansas -- has fallen. But total school spending per student is different. It has fallen too, but by much less. That's because…
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22
Oct
By Bob Weeks

Kansas unemployment, the credit or blame

The unemployment rate in Kansas dropped from 6.2 percent to 5.9 percent in September. Before figuring who to credit for this, we ought to take a look at the underlying trends. KS unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% in Sept. lowest rate since Dec. '08. #ksleg #ksgov dol.ks.gov/LMIS/NewsRelea…— Sam Brownback (@govsambrownback) October 19, 2012 Kansas Governor Sam Brownback was quick to take credit, issuing the tweet "KS unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% in Sept. lowest rate since Dec. '08." Thank you, @barackobama RT @govsambrownback: KS unemployment rate dropped to 5.9%, lowest rate since Dec. '08. #ksleg dol.ks.gov/LMIS/NewsRelea…— Jason Perkey (@jasonperkey) October…
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07
Sep
By Bob Weeks

Sedgwick County updates agenda information system

Recently Sedgwick County implemented a new system for making its commission agendas and accompanying background material available online. Previously, only the agenda itself was available online. Agendas contain just a brief description of each item to be handled at meetings. If citizens wanted more information about an item, they had to travel to the courthouse to obtain a printed copy of the agenda report. This document, which might be several hundred pages in length, contains detailed information about each item. It's the type of information that citizens need if they are to be informed about the matters the commission will…
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19
Jul
By Bob Weeks

RightOnline in Las Vegas this week

Later this week the RightOnline Conference takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the third year for this conference. It's held at the same time -- and in the same city -- as the Netroots Nation. Or NutRoots, take your pick. The event features a lot of training and some great speakers. Michele Bachmann will headline the Friday dinner, and the Saturday general session features speakers like Andrew Napolitano, Mike Pence, Robert McDowell, Herman Cain, Erick Erickson, and John Fund. RightOnline is sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. Click on Podcast: Erik Telford Previews the RightOnline Conference to…
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