News from Wichita Liberty: Wind power, school bond, Lynn Rogers
Voice For Liberty in Wichita
Individual liberty, limited government, and free markets in Wichita and Kansas
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| Wind Power: Look at Costs of “Boom”
There’s been a lot of investment in Nolan County, Texas. Things are booming. But the reality is that the boom in Nolan County is being paid for by electricity customers throughout Texas. Not by their choice, too.
When considering wind power, balance requires us to consider all factors. The illustration that a concentrated area experiences a boom from a subsidized, expensive, and unreliable source of power doesn’t paint a picture of sound public policy. Click here for the full story.
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| Changing Rules Now Bad, Says Wichita School Board President Lynn Rogers
“It amounts to changing the rules in the middle of the game,” said Wichita school board president Lynn Rogers. “And it’s really bad policy.”
It’s ironic that Rogers objects to “changing the rules in the middle of the game.” He’s not always objected to this. Click here for the full story. |
| Official Reaction to Possibility of State School Bond Funding Cuts
In one respect, this boils down to a consideration of which promise is most important to keep: the Wichita school district’s promotion that 25% of the bond cost would be paid for by someone else, or the promotion that taxes would be raised by a certain amount.
Click here for the full story.
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| Kansas Has Too Much Local Government
Newly elected Speaker of the House Mike O’Neal is calling for consolidation of local government services in Kansas, based on a lack of efficiency and high costs to taxpayers. The Flint Hills Center for Public Policy agrees with his suggestion.
Click here for the full press release.
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| Leave the New Deal in the History Books
Mark Levey, the author of this editorial, argues that New Deal spending programs and higher taxes prolonged the Great Depression. Government “work” programs don’t work.
Click here for the full story.
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| Here’s Why Kansans Need to Take Control
As an introduction to my post What Impact do Kansas Voters Have on Judges?, Todd Epp of Kansas Watch writes “Um, this lawyer suggests, hopefully none?!”
My post mentions Kansas University Law Professor Stephen Ware’s call for an end to the lawyer-dominated process of selection Kansas judges. Mr. Epp’s reaction – and he is a lawyer – should strengthen the resolve of Kansans to take control of this process away from lawyers and their narrow self-interest.
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| Minimum Wage: Helpful? Or Not?
What’s one of the barriers to advancement by minorities in the workplace? We’re told that the minimum wage law is a guarantee that workers will not be exploited by greedy employers. But does it really work that way?
Click here for the full story.
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News from Wichita Liberty: TIF districts, AFP summit speakers, markets as regulators
| Prudence Requires Postponement of Wichita TIF District
Remarks to be delivered to the Wichita City Council on January 6, 2009.
Mr. Mayor, members of the council: Last month it was discovered that procedures used to investigate the background of potential city business partners were lacking in some respects. It is now recognized that the process that were in place failed to give city council members information that they needed in order to make a fully-informed decision about the desirability of partnering with a certain development firm. Today the council is facing a similar situation. As with the previous case, the TIF district itself has already been approved. Now the actual project plan is before you. Also as with the case last month, these developers made application under the vetting process that this council has now realized was faulty. To my knowledge, no one has made any allegations that the developers before you today have problems like those that caused the postponement of the project in December. But since these developers applied for and were approved for TIF financing under a system that is now recognized as flawed, we really don’t know. There is one thing in particular I would like to know: The developers have been asked to agree to what the city calls a “Tax Increment Shortfall Guaranty.” It seems to me that this guaranty is only as good as the financial condition of the guarantor. Has the city examined financial statements of Reverend Harding and his partners, in order to determine whether they have the financial capacity to make good on this commitment, if it becomes necessary? I think the citizens of Wichita would sleep better at night if these developers would go through the new qualification process that the city is preparing. It’s been reported that this new process will be ready soon. Mr. Mayor, why don’t we wait a month or two and investigate these developers under the new process that is presently being developed? Then the citizens of Wichita can have confidence in this council and the project the taxpayers have been asked to subsidize. Mr. Mayor and members of the council, there’s another issue that I’d like to call your attention to. That’s the possibility that the city or county – perhaps both – might decide to raise their sales tax rates in exchange for lowering the property tax mill levy. If that were to happen, what would be the impact on TIF districts? The assumptions used in the projection for this TIF district assume that the mill levy in future years is the same as it is today. But if either the city or county were to reduce or eliminate its mill levy, it seems that this – and other – TIF districts would not generate enough property tax to service their debt. |
| Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal to Speak in Wichita
AFP announces that in addition to Jonah Goldberg, Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal will be a speaker at the summit in Wichita on Saturday January 10.
Steve Moore is a great writer and speaker. One of his best columns was the subject of my post The Decline of Local Chambers of Commerce. This summit should be a great event. Click here to learn more and register for this important event.
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| Markets Are the Best Regulators
Since the start of the current financial crises, we’re told that markets are at fault. The most common diagnosis is that there’s not enough regulation in place, and only a move away from reliance on markets and toward more laws and regulations will save the economy.
One thing that did happen is that someone misjudged the risk that was present in the mortgage-backed securities that led to the downfall of several investment banks. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal does the best job I’ve seen of explaining how this mistake, made by credit rating agencies, was responsible for this crisis. The article, written by Robert Rosenckanz, is Let’s Write the Rating Agencies Out of Our Law. Click here for the full story.
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| Sedgwick County Legislative Delegation Public Hearing
At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, the Sedgwick County legislative delegation will host a public hearing and inviting public input in the Jury Room of the Sedgwick County Courthouse, 525 N. Main, Wichita, Kansas. This is your opportunity to address your concerns to area legislators prior to the convening of the 2009 legislative session in Topeka on January 12, 2009. Entry to the Courthouse will be through security on the north side of the building. In past years speakers have been given approximately 3 minutes to speak depending on the number of people wanting to speak.
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| The U.S. Taxpayer – AKA second, third or even fourth class citizen
Here’s a note I received from someone who isn’t appreciative of the tax collector. This reminds me of the Internal Revenue Service’s effort to improve “customer service.” That’s funny. It reminds me of David Henderson, who wrote “calling taxpayers customers of the IRS is like calling chickens customers of the egg farmer.”
Click here for the full article.
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News from Wichita Liberty: School bond contributors, wind power
Wichita School Bond Contributors: Self-interest Gone Wild
For example, Kenton Cox of Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture contributed $13,800 in cash to CARE, and that firm made an in-kind contribution of $15,380, reported by the Wichita Eagle to be donated signs.
Why would an architecture firm have such an intense interest in Wichita public schools? Why would Kenton Cox be concerned, given that he doesn’t even live in USD 259?
Here’s a possible answer: the minutes of the December 8 meeting of the board report that Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture was awarded a contract for plan management services for the bond issue. The value of this contract, as reported by the Wichita Eagle, is one percent of the value of the bond issue, or $3.7 million. This firm will undoubtedly earn millions more for those projects on which it serves as architect.
Was this lucrative contract put up for bid? Was any other firm considered? Was there ever any doubt that Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture’s contributions to the bond issue campaign would be returned multiplied many-fold?
(The board meeting minutes report that a summary of the agreement for plan management services is available in the appendix to the agenda. Just three weeks later, however, that material is no longer available on USD 259’s website. That’s a problem of a different kind with USD 259.)
Then, what about all the other architect firms that contributed many thousands to the CARE campaign? Civic involvement or self-interest — hoping to be sent a few crumbs in the form of design contracts that Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture decides not to keep for itself?
For the construction and engineering companies that contributed many thousands, the same questions apply.
One analysis finds that 72% of the contributions, both in-kind and cash, was given by contractors, architects, engineering firms and others who directly stand to benefit from the new construction.
Campaign finance reports for the groups that opposed the bond issue will show that real estate developers and owners contributed heavily to these campaigns. It’s likely that the Wichita Eagle — Rhonda Holman, probably — will editorialize about greedy developers, only wanting to increase their profits on the backs of schoolchildren.
These developers, however, are looking out for two things: First, it’s really their tenants that pay the increased property taxes that the school bond will impose. Then, in turn, anyone who eats in these restaurants, or shops at these stores, or rents these apartments, will pay more. The misinformation that USD 259 and CARE spread — that the bond issue costs just a dollar a week for a typical homeowner — didn’t acknowledge these costs.
Second, the property tax environment in Wichita and Kansas is such that development is discouraged. Some projects, as reported in the Wichita Eagle, have been canceled. What’s not seen by the news media and Wichitans are the projects that aren’t proposed or considered because of our high — and about to be made higher — property taxes. We’ll never see or hear about these.
When considering who are the greedy and self-interested parties, look at the CARE campaign finance report and the education bureaucracy in charge of the Wichita public schools. Their names are there.
| A Reasoned Look at Wind Power
The Texas Public Policy Foundation has released a report titled Texas Wind Energy: Past, Present, and Future. It doesn’t have a catchy title, but the report is full of useful information about wind energy.
Click here for an excerpt and link to the full study.
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| Wichita School Bond Finance Report Omits a Big Contribution
Recently, Citizens Alliance for Responsible Education (CARE) filed their campaign finance report. This group was in favor of the bond issue to benefit USD 259, the Wichita public school district.
There are some interesting details in this report, but there’s one glaring omission: there’s no mention of the campaign contribution made by the taxpayers of USD 259. Click here for the full article.
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News from Wichita Liberty: Climate change, school bond campaign, charter schools
Wichita School Bond Finance Report Omits a Big Contribution
There are some interesting details in this report, but there’s one glaring omission: there’s no mention of the campaign contribution made by the taxpayers of USD 259.
Click here for the full article, including a link to download CARE’s campaign finance report.
| Attitudes Towards Global Warming Are Changing
Global warming alarmists – in this article Christopher Booker refers to them simply as “warmists” – have become “even shriller and more frantic” in light of evidence that climate change may not be proceeding they way they’ve been predicting.
Click here for the full article.
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| Why don’t we have these in Wichita?
“Just 12 years later, economically disadvantaged students – defined as those eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches – in secondary charter schools are twice as likely to score at advanced or proficient levels on math and reading tests as their peers in traditional public schools, based on federally mandated national tests.”
Do we have charter schools in Wichita? Click here for the full story.
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| Global Warming Rope-a-Dope
Walter Williams reports that the science behind global warming is not as solid as alarmists and zealots present it to be. … Global warming alarmists pursue their agenda with zeal, and usually with no consideration as to the harmful effects of their policies. If uncontrovertible evidence that global warming is a mistake were to appear, would it make any difference to them? Of course not. Their crusade, which in reality is a thinly-disguised campaign against capitalism, would continue.
Click here for the full story.
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| In Public Schools, Incentives Matter
… describes a method for evaluating and paying teachers. It’s not based on what public schools do now, which is to reward teachers solely on the basis of longevity and education credentials earned. That’s because we’ve found that these two measures don’t do anything to improve the effectiveness of teachers. “Test scores, graduate degrees, and certifications – as much as they appear related to teaching prowess – turn out to be about as useful in predicting success as having a quarterback throw footballs into a bunch of garbage cans.”
Instead, Gladwell finds that personal characteristics and behavior of teachers matter highly. Click here for the full article.
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News from Wichita Liberty: Naysayers, TIF, AFP, Wichita city hall
Wichita’s Naysayers Shortchanged Again
Click here for the entire article.
| Tax Increment Financing (TIF Districts) in Wichita, Explained
Last week I spoke to the Wichita Pachyderm Club about tax increment financing, or TIF districts, in Wichita. John Todd spoke about the same topic, too.
Surprisingly, my remarks contained some different material from the talk given to the same group by Allen Bell, Wichita’s director of urban development. Click here for the article with link to video. |
| AFP Defending the American Dream Summit to be Held in Wichita
I’ve been to several Americans For Prosperity statewide summits in Kansas and Texas, and the national summit in Washington. AFP always puts on a great event, and I urge you to register early and attend this event in Wichita on Saturday, January 10.
Click here for more information and to register.
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| Wichita City Hall: More Evidence of Lax Procedures
Wichita Eagle reporting from yesterday (Past client: Developer admitted embezzling) provides more evidence of the need for improved procedures and greater accountability at Wichita city hall. In this story, investigative journalist Dion Lefler reports that Grant Gaudreau admitted stealing money from a business partner. This comes to light just after the City of Wichita nearly became a business partner with Gaudreau.
Click here for the full story.
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Kansas Law Requires Wichita to Hold Another Public Hearing
Click here for the full story.
News from Wichita Liberty: Wichita city council, schools, Wichita Eagle
Voice For Liberty in Wichita
Individual liberty, limited government, and free markets in Wichita and Kansas
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| Kansas Law Requires Wichita to Hold Another Public Hearing
Recently, the Wichita city council passed a resolution announcing a public hearing on a TIF district and its project plan. The city then, on the day before the hearing, substantially changed the plan. This change means that the city must hold another public hearing.
Click here for the full story. |
| Newspaper Journalism in Wichita: We Need It
In Wichita we have recent examples of how newspaper journalism has influenced events. Recently the Wichita Eagle uncovered problems in the past of a person the City of Wichita was about to partner with on a real estate development. Without the work of Wichita Eagle reporters, the deal would have happened. No other news outlet in Wichita had the resources or wherewithal to do the investigation necessary to report the story.
It appears that we don’t quite know how to support newspaper journalism in the age of the Internet. Let’s hope soon that someone develops a business model that lets journalism thrive in the future. Click here for the full story and photograph. |
| Wichita Public School District’s Path: Not Fruitful
The problem is that the current standards for teachers don’t “track what we care about.” The path to increased pay as a teacher – longevity and more education credentials – doesn’t produce better teachers. But because of union contracts that govern pay, that’s the only way to earn more as a teacher. This is one of the reasons why teachers unions are harmful to schools.
Unfortunately for Wichita schoolchildren, USD 259 has started down a long and expensive path that is likely to produce little in the way of positive results. The existing ways of doing things are reinforced. Reform is postponed. Opportunities are foregone. Click here for the full story.
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| Some Wichita Communications Breakdowns are More Important Than Others
At the December 16, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council, Mayor Carl Brewer scolded interim city manager Scott Moore for failure to communicate effectively with council members. The process, according to the mayor, “made a complete mockery of the entire process and everything we actually do.”
Click here for the full story.
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What is the Future of News Distribution?
Click here for the full story and photograph.
News from Wichita Liberty: Sedgwick county, Wichita mayor, Jeff Fluhr
Sedgwick County Commission Fails Citizens
Click here for the full story
| Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer’s Selective Outrage
… The mayor’s fault-finding is quite selective. The December 2, 2008 meeting of the council was marked by something that, in its own way, is worse. That’s when the council, having published notice of a public hearing, substantially changed the plan that was the subject of the hearing. That, to borrow a phrase from the mayor, made a complete mockery of the public hearing. Why wasn’t the mayor upset about that?
Click here for the full story.
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I, Pencil Turns 50!
The Foundation for Economic Education has a new version of I, Pencil to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Click here to view the announcement and read this short book.
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| Jeff Fluhr Decided
A few weeks ago in the post Jeff Fluhr’s Decision I wrote that the the new president of the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation had a choice to make: “Mr. Fluhr needs to decide if he’s on the side of open and transparent government, or whether he’s in favor of crony capitalism and the good ol’ boy network.”
When Mr. Fluhr testified at yesterday’s Sedgwick County Commission meeting, I learned the answer. It’s crony capitalism, all the way. Click here for the article and video.
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Sedgwick County Republican Party: Democracy in Action?
Click here to read the full article.
News from Wichita Liberty: Confidence and trust in Wichita city hall, TIF districts
Wichita Public Hearing Action Not Evidence of Leadership
In an op-ed piece in Sunday’s Wichita Eagle, Interim Wichita City Manager Scott Moore makes the case that “the [Wichita city] council’s Dec. 2 vote demonstrated leadership and an ability to respond decisively to urgent community matters after appropriate public deliberations.”
The actions of city officials and council members, however, is not leadership. Leaders own their mistakes and accept their consequences.
Leadership at the December 2, 2008 meeting would have meant city staff or council members apologizing to the public for the last-minute changes to the plan and the defective notice. Leadership would have required a council member making a motion to delay the public hearing until citizens receive proper notice of the actual contents of the plan. Leadership would have required unanimous consent to this motion.
Click here for the full article.
| Wichita City Hall Confusion Leads to Evaporation of Confidence
Reporting in the Wichita Eagle by Brent Wistrom (City vows to better vet its partners, Sunday December 15, 2008) has revealed a city staff confused as to basic procedures for safeguarding citizens’ taxes, not to mention their trust. I won’t go into the details of Mr. Wistrom’s reporting, except to quote him as concluding that “city officials offered confusing and sometimes conflicting versions of how they analyze private business partners who ask for city assistance.” … In this matter, time is not of the essence. Let’s wait before proceeding. Given the confusion at Wichita city hall that Mr. Wistrom reported, citizens can have no confidence in proceeding with any projects like this until better procedures are put in place. Then, we’re not going to take Allen Bell’s word that these procedures are in place, as recent events give us little confidence in his capabilities or judgment. We’ll need some independent confirmation that city staff and council members are to be trusted in matters such as these.
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| Wichita TIF Developer’s Ownership Restructuring not Very Reassuring
In less than two weeks, the person that Wichita economic development director Allen Bell referred to as “principal developer” is now thrown under the bus so that the project can proceed. I would submit, however, that a little shuffling of the ownership structure of the project is hardly assurance to Wichitans that this project is on the up-and-up.
Here’s some unanswered questions:
Click here for the full story. |
| Problems with Open Government in Wichita
On the KPTS television public affairs program Kansas Week, I spoke about some problems with a public hearing regarding a controversial matter in Wichita. Click here for the video.
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Dion Lefler: Problems With Wichita Developer Uncovered
On the KPTS television public affairs program Kansas Week, Wichita Eagle reporter Dion Lefler talks about problems he uncovered with a developer the City of Wichita wants to partner with.
Click here for the video.
News from Wichita Liberty: Allen Bell’s due diligence, agenda deadlines, uninformed citizens
Wichita’s Faulty Due Diligence
Click here for the full story and video.
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Wichita and Sedgwick County Agenda Deadlines Are Too Short A reasonable policy is this: When something happens in a meeting one week, there should be time for citizens to get on the public agenda for the next meeting.
Click here for the full article.
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Video Reveals Uninformed Citizenry Utah 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.
Click here for the full story and video.
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Many Wichita Developers Pay for Infrastructure
Randy Brown: Reopen Downtown Wichita Arena TIF Public Hearing
News from Wichita Liberty: TIF districts, Public hearings, Wichita city council, Sharon Fearey jokes
Wichita TIF Public Hearing Was Bait and Switch
Click here for the full article.
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Randy Brown: Reopen Downtown Wichita Arena TIF Public Hearing This may not have been a technical violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act, but it was an aggravated assault on its spirit. Among other transgressions, we had a mockery of the public hearing process rather than an open and transparent discussion of a contentious public issue.
Click here for the full story.
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Sharon Fearey’s Bad Joke “Do we all get free nuts or anything?”
Click here for the full story and video.
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Many Wichita Developers Pay for Infrastructure A frequent and valued commenter on this blog wrote a comment a few days ago that contains a factual error. I think it’s important to understand this error, because it goes to the heart of the difference between developers working in TIF districts and those who aren’t.
Click here for the full story.
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Wichita Taxes Cancel Development Carrie Rengers’ Wichita Eagle column from yesterday (Warehouse plans near airport are called off) reports on two Wichita real estate developers who have canceled a project that would be a valuable addition to our city. The reason for canceling? Wichita’s property tax environment.
In Wichita, we’re separating real estate development into two classes. There are those who listen to markets and consumers, and try to satisfy the needs that they sense. These are the market entrepreneurs. Then, there are the political entrepreneurs. These developers make use of devices such as tax increment financing (TIF districts) to offload large portions of the cost of their developments on the public. They do this by pleasing government officials and bureaucrats, not consumers. |
Other Articles
Wichita TIF District Reveals Lack of Confidence
Low marks for Gov. Sebelius on Cato Institute grade card
Kansas Tax Increase Not Ruled Out
Wichita Schoolchildren Face a Dangerous Future
Wichita TIF Districts Mean Central Government Planning
Downtown Wichita Arena TIF District Still a Bad Idea