Voice For Liberty

Category: Wichita city government

  • 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.

    Past articles on this website and in the Wichita Eagle (Wichita’s Faulty Due Diligence, Sharon Fearey Doesn’t Appreciate the Wichita Eagle, Wichita TIF Developer’s Ownership Restructuring not Very Reassuring, and Wichita City Council: Put Better Procedures in Place Before Proceeding) document the specifics. But a few new developments and questions have arisen.

    First, it’s been reported that Gaudreau has a warrant for failure to pay $12,332 in income tax. I asked Wichita police chief Norman Williams if Gaudreau was subject to arrest because of this warrant. He said yes, he is.

    Second, it’s unclear whether Joe Kramer and Len Marotte of the real estate firm Joel LLC were aware of the entire scope of Gaudreau’s problems when they teamed with him to develop the Renaissance Square project. It’s clear, however, that they knew a lot. Their business judgment must be questioned.

    Mayor Carl Brewer asked city staff to develop new procedures for vetting potential partners. The problem is that city hall is occupied with some transitions. A new city manager will start work in just about a month. The assistant city manager (now the interim manager) has been looking elsewhere for jobs, and given the mayor’s public treatment of him, I think he’s smart to do so. Three council seats are up for election in the March primary. The city botched a public hearing, but calls it “leadership.”

    My recommendation is that the City of Wichita stop participating in public/private partnerships. Instead, work on improving the business climate for everyone, across the entire city. But when the city considers partnering with someone, I recommend that the city hire an outside firm to conduct an independent investigation of potential partners. This is how we can have confidence in the procedures the city is developing.

  • Wichita’s naysayers shortchanged again

    At the December 2, 2008 meeting of the Wichita city council, three citizens spoke to the council on the same issue. The treatment these people received in the official minutes of the proceedings varied quite a bit.

    At the meeting, Jeff Fluhr of the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation spoke in favor of action the city was contemplating. John Todd and I spoke against the action. The difference in the treatment given to each party in the minutes of the meeting is evidence of bias in the city’s attitude towards its citizens. Yes, the mayor and others thank us for our participation. But I don’t know if they really mean it.

    I measured the length of each citizen’s talk, and counted the number of words of coverage received in the minutes. Here’s the results:

    Jeff Fluhr: 1:08 minutes, 95 words.
    John Todd: 4:04 minutes, 72 words.
    Bob Weeks (me): 3:49 minutes, 13 words. About half of those words were my name and address.

    What is the reason for this discrepancy? Does the position taken by each speaker have any effect? It seems so, as a similar situation took place in August, described in Wichita’s Naysayers Shortchanged in Council’s Record.

    Perhaps the City of Wichita needs to do what the Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners does, which is to provide a verbatim transcript of each word spoken by everyone at the meeting. But that seems to generate its own problems and delays. As of today, minutes are available for meetings through November 12. For meetings after that date, minutes are not ready, at least on the county’s website. (The county prepares a short review of each meeting, and these are ready perhaps a week or so after each meeting.)

    The minutes of this meeting are available here. Video of each citizen’s talk is available on YouTube: Jeff Fluhr, John Todd, and Bob Weeks.

  • 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.

    My talk was about 20 minutes in length. YouTube limits videos to 10 minutes, so my talk is contained in two videos. The first part is here, and the second part is here. Click here to download the handout mentioned in my talk.

  • 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.

    Kansas statute 12-1772 says in paragraph (c)(3)(f) that substantial changes to the project plan require a new public hearing. The changes the Wichita city council made less than 24 hours before the public hearing nearly doubled the planned spending. Further, the new spending is of a different character. These are substantial changes that require a new public hearing.

    This post on my blog, which was printed as an op-ed in the Wichita Eagle, explains the situation: Wichita TIF Public Hearing Was Bait and Switch.

    Others agree that there were changes to the plan. Randy Brown argued for another public hearing (Randy Brown: Reopen Downtown Wichita Arena TIF Public Hearing). The Wichita Eagle’s Rhonda Holman noticed the problems with the Wichita city council’s action (The Process Should Be Most Important). Interim Wichita City Manager Scott Moore acknowledges defects in the process (Wichita Public Hearing Action Not Evidence of Leadership).

    Citizens can’t have trust and confidence in government when business is conducted this way. This action, along with another high-profile breakdown in the processes at city hall (Wichita City Hall Confusion Leads to Evaporation of Confidence), should chasten the city to move cautiously and with due regard to process and respect for citizens. Holding another public hearing on the expansion of the Center City South Redevelopment District, commonly known as the downtown Wichita arena TIF district, would let the city start the process of regaining the trust of its citizens.

  • 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.”

    He also said “We cannot afford as a city to create an environment where citizens have question or they have doubt as to what we’re doing.”

    It’s puzzling to me as to why the mayor is upset about this incident that featured a breakdown in communications, when events surrounding a December 2, 2008 public hearing are more egregious. In that case, citizens were left in the dark. A public hearing was conducted with substantial changes having been made without reasonable notice to citizens. Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer’s Selective Outrage provides more information and background.

  • Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer’s selective outrage

    At the Tuesday December 16, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council, Mayor Carl Brewer expressed his displeasure with the way city staff handled its investigation of a developer the city was preparing to do business with. The problem, it seems, is largely one of communications. City staff didn’t present the council members with relevant information. The process, according to mayor Brewer, “made a complete mockery of the entire process and everything we actually do.”

    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?

    Previous coverage:
    Wichita Public Hearing Action Not Evidence of Leadership
    Problems with Open Government in Wichita
    Wichita TIF Public Hearing Was Bait and Switch
    Randy Brown: Reopen Downtown Wichita Arena TIF Public Hearing
    Letters to Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission Regarding Downtown Wichita TIF District

  • Defective public hearing in Wichita. Open government needed.

    John Todd and Bill Davitt speak about the defective public hearing held at a recent Wichita City Council Meeting, and about the importance of open and transparent government.

  • Sharon Fearey doesn’t appreciate the Wichita Eagle

    At the December 16, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council, Sharon Fearey expressed her displeasure with reporting done by the Wichita Eagle.

    In this clip, she mentions the Wichita Eagle reporting of the history of Grant Gaudreau. Fearey implies that the Eagle knew that he had been removed from the Renaissance Square project over a month ago. But just two weeks ago, Allen Bell, development director for the City of Wichita, referred to Gaudreau as “principal developer.” So Fearey’s accounting of the facts isn’t even close to Bell’s.

    Is there a communications breakdown at city hall? It seems obvious.

  • We Don’t Want Secrecy in Wichita Government

    Remarks by Bill Davitt to the Wichita City Council, December 16, 2008.

    My name is William Davitt of Wichita.

    President Harry Truman said “Secrecy and a free, democratic government don’t mix.”

    Another wise man said “Secrecy is the great friend of tyranny. And secrecy in government is the beginning of tyranny.”

    Thomas Jefferson said “The basis of our government is the opinion of the people.”

    Please schedule a new and open public hearing before implementing the Center City Redevelopment TIF district that was approved by the mayor and council on Ddecember 2, 2008. And this time give the people of Wichita plenty of advance notice that the hearing is going to take place … so that they can come here and express their opinion.

    You and I don’t want secrecy in our Wichita city government so it gets the reputation of corruption like they have up in Chicago. You can I don’t want that.