Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer Saves Us From Covered Wagons

August 14th, 2008 · 5 Comments

On August 12, 2008, at a meeting of the Wichita City Council, Mayor Carl Brewer delivered remarks that I found … well, I’m still trying to find the words that fully describe my astonishment. You can read my transcription of his remarks in this post: Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, August 12, 2008.

The context of these remarks is that John Todd and I had just testified against the city establishing a tax increment financing (TIF) district that benefits a local developer. Mayor Brewer believes it is the city’s firm duty to guide and subsidize economic development. His remarks on July 1, 2008 (Mayor Brewer Warren Theatre Statement) leave no doubt about this. So I wasn’t too surprised that the mayor ignored John’s and my advice and supported the formation of this TIF district.

What surprised me was when the mayor said that without the city’s “role in guiding and identifying how the city was going to grow … we would still be in covered wagons and horses.”

When I heard him say that, I thought he’s just using a rhetorical flourish to emphasize a point. But later on he said this: “… then tomorrow we’ll be saying we don’t want more technology, and then the following day we’ll be saying we don’t want public safety, and it won’t take us very long to get back to where we were at back when the city first settled.”

So I think it’s fair to say that the mayor believes that without the city’s role in economic development, we would soon return to the stone age (okay, there I exaggerate a bit).

Many people in Wichita, including the mayor and many on the city council and county commission, believe that the public-private partnership is the way to drive innovation and get things done. It’s really a shame that this attitude is taking hold in Wichita, a city which has such a proud tradition of entrepreneurship. The names that Wichitans are rightly proud of — Lloyd Stearman, Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna, W.C. Coleman, Albert Alexander Hyde, Dan and Frank Carney, and Fred C. Koch — these people worked and built businesses without the benefit of public-private partnerships and government subsidy.

Today this rugged heritage is disappearing in favor of the public-private partnership and programs like Visioneering Wichita. We don’t have long before the entrepreneurial spirit in Wichita is totally extinguished. What can we do to return power to the people instead of surrendering it to government?

Tags: · Capitalism, Entrepreneurship, Role of government, Wichita city government

5 responses so far ↓

1 matt eck // Aug 14, 2008 at 10:04 am

Thanks for all you do to try and take gov. out of our lives. Just last week I got a certified letter from the city saying i would be fined for having my Pickup truck parked in My parking lot of old office that is vacant. I told my grand-son he could have the money from the sale for his 529 Education fund. My old office has been vacant for over 3 years and this was the only vehicle on a lot that would hold 30 cars. Under the threat of a fine and towing, I removed it. Just another example of “Wichita at work! Bob, keep up the good work. I know it is a thankless job but you can be assured, I appreciate the work you do. If we can elect more people like Carl Peterjohn, maybe we can change things. Again, Thanks, Matt
2 Chuck Kriel // Aug 14, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Hi, Bob -

Excellent article, as usual. I think that to say that the attitude is “taking hold” may be a bit optimistic. It seems to have taken hold long ago. Before his death, Willard Garvey repeatedly observed in my hearing that “Kansas is a hotbed of Socialism.”

I wish you luck in your efforts to inject a little reason into the public debate.

Thanks -
- Chuck
3 seanmahair // Aug 17, 2008 at 9:29 pm

I’m not exactly sure why this should come as a surprize to anyone. Wichita cares for the “Next new thing”. It doesn’t care about history, not it’s on nor the cities
4 Wichita’s Naysayers Shortchanged in Council’s Record // Aug 21, 2008 at 10:27 pm

[...] Even more curious, after we three testified, Mayor Carl Brewer delivered his “covered wagon” speech. You can read my transcription of it in Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, August 12, 2008, and some commentary in Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer Saves Us From Covered Wagons. [...]
5 Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer’s Reformulated TIF Plan Still a Bad Idea // Oct 23, 2008 at 10:57 am

[...] are people in Wichita who don’t share my view of free people trading freely in free markets. Mayor Carl Brewer and several city council members — Sharon Fearey and Lavonta Williams being most prominent [...]

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