Voice For Liberty

Tag: Elections

  • On the Wichita Eagle editorial board, partisanship reigns

    The Wichita Eagle’s Rhonda Holman, writing for the editorial board in today’s lead editorial (Where do city, county stand on bond?) makes a few points that illustrate the highly partisan nature of this board.

    Here’s the first example. She complains about lack of transparency in knowing who is contributing to the campaigns for the Wichita school bond issue, writing “It’s frustrating that USD 259 voters must make a decision on the bond issue without knowing who funded the pro- and anti-campaigns. The three groups behind the campaigns could release their donor lists and amounts on their own prior to Election Day …”

    As reported recently by this writer in the post Wichita Eagle Political Contributions: This Year? the Eagle contributed to the pro-bond campaign in the year 2000, and never disclosed that fact to its readers.

    If Rhoda Holman is really interested in promoting transparency of campaign funding, her newspaper could start by stating whether it has made a contribution this year. She could reveal her own personal contribution too, or state that she hasn’t contributed.

    Then, Ms. Holman complains that a candidate for local office benefits from a campaign mailer mailed on the candidate’s behalf by a third party. She doesn’t like the fact that the organization that sent the mailing won’t have to disclose who paid for it, because it’s an educational effort, not an endorsement.

    The reason why it’s an educational effort is because it stops short of saying “vote for ____.” But if the voters get that message anyway, Ms. Holman says “mission accomplished.”

    Now if this situation sounds familiar, it should. This is very much the situation with the campaign surrounding the proposed Wichita school bond. In this case, USD 259 (the Wichita school district) undertakes an educational effort that has precisely the same characteristics of the effort that Ms. Holman complains about. But she conveniently overlooks this.

    There’s one difference, however. We know exactly who is funding the poorly-disguised campaign on behalf of the Wichita school district: taxpayers.

  • Wichita school district campaigns for the bond

    An article in today’s newspaper reports on how USD 259, the Wichita school district, uses school district assets, personnel, and funds to promote the proposed Wichita school bond issue.

    Oops. I meant to say to educate and inform. I made the same mistake that nearly anyone who has received material from USD 259 or has looked at their website makes. They call it for what it is: a political campaign designed to persuade citizens to vote for the bond issue.

    Even the citizens group supporting the bond issue agrees. When they want to cite evidence — flimsy as it is — to persuade people to vote for the bond issue, they link to material on USD 259’s website. See Wichita School Bond Issue: Informing or Advocating? CARE Seems to Know.

    Here’s an example of an email sent by a school principal. Since the email came from usd259.net, it’s certain that school resources were used to send this message.

    —–
    From: Molly Nespor [mailto:mnespor@usd259.net]
    Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:03 PM
    Subject: Bond message

    Good evening parents, this is Molly Nespor, Principal of Allen Elem. November 4 will be an historic day for our district, as citizens are being asked to vote on many critical races as well as our proposed bond issue. As you decide how you will register your vote, I want to remind you that this bond issue will benefit Allen by providing 4 new classrooms and a lunchroom cafeteria. Our bond issue is the final item on a rather lengthy ballot, so don’t forget to look for this question at the very end.

    If you have any questions please contact the school office at 973-1750. Thank you for your support of Allen Elementary!
    —–

    The message in favor of the bond that’s in this letter is milder than some of the other appeals the Wichita school district makes.

    Citizens should also notice that the information provided by the Wichita school district never mentions alternatives or any material that would reflect poorly on the need for the bond. An informational campaign that is truly educational would be balanced. It would be an honest debate. The material that USD 259 presents is neither.

  • Goddard City Website Campaigns for Its Mayor

    City of Goddard website

    For about the last week, the City of Goddard, Kansas, has been using its website to campaign for its mayor in her race for the Sedgwick County Commission.

    The website, located at www.goddardkansas.us, usually looks like a typical city website, holding general news and information, with links to city departments. But around October 21, according to the date given on the site, the normal front page was replaced with the page illustrated above. (Click here for a full-size image of the page.)

    The message on this new front page is nothing else but a campaign advertisement for Marcey Gregory, Goddard’s mayor. It seeks to rebut the facts about tax increases in Goddard that were revealed in her opponent’s advertisements and in news stories.

    It’s not right for governmental units to use their websites for this purpose. The proper place for candidates to get out their message is in their campaigns, funded by themselves and their donors. The same goes for the Goddard City Council members (Craig Bassett, Bob Means, Larry Zimmerman, Mary Carpenter, and Todd Wentz) who are speaking to voters through this message.

    I don’t know if this campaign message, delivered as it is using government property and at government expense, violates campaign laws. If not, there should be a law prohibiting this.

    Note to the writer of this advertisement: when forming the plural of citizen, don’t use the greengrocers’ apostrophe. An apostrophe indicates possession, not the plural form. Also, use a colon instead of a semicolon at the end of the heading.

  • Money in Kansas District Attorney races

    “Recent contribution reports by District Attorney Candidates in Johnson, Shawnee and Sedgwick Counties show Democrats have raised $300,793 and spent $423,857, while Republican candidates have raised only $181,521 and spent $212,670.”

    Read the Kansas Meadowlark’s full report at Money in District Attorney races.

  • The Wichita School Bond Yard Sign Never Used

    Wichitans may remember that the upcoming election on November 4 regarding a bond issue for USD 259, the Wichita school district bond issue, isn’t the first time this year that this matter was to be voted on.

    Originally the Wichita school board passed a resolution setting May 6 as the date for the election. But at the request of a citizens group, the board canceled that election.

    We may never know why the board canceled the May 6 election. They did so, however, without regard for effort and expense their political opponents had already expended, the yard sign illustrated above being one example.

    Wichitans can spot foul play when they see it. Not only does the Wichita school district have nearly unlimited taxpayer resources to expend in a thinly-disguised educational and informational effort that has all the characteristics of a political campaign except one: the explicit appeal to vote a certain way, which Kansas law prohibits. The school board can also change the election calendar if they think they’re getting beat.

    Other coverage of this issue:
    Wichita School Board Poisons Democracy
    Wichita School Board Action is Very Expensive
    Wichita School Bond Issue: The Election That Wasn’t, and Maybe Shouldn’t Be
    Wichita School Bond Issue: Explain Again the Need for a Delay
    CARE Dropped Ball on Educating About Wichita School Bond Issue.

  • Voter Integrity Project for Kansas

    The Kansas Meadowlark introduces Voter Integrity Project for Kansas. This is part of a project at Ballotpedia, which is a great place to learn about ballot issues across America.

  • Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius: Different from You and I

    Do different laws exist for Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and the rest of us? (At least the conservatives and libertarians among us?)

    The Kansas Meadowlark reports this: “Apparently Sebelius is exploiting a loop hole in Kansas law in using her PAC to attack conservatives. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission said a similar new ‘Leadership’ PAC with ties to conservative House Majority Leader Ray Merrick could not exist.”

    Read the Meadowlarks’s full report at Gov. Sebelius’ Bluestem Fund “Leadership” PAC attacks conservatives.

  • Wichita and Sedgwick County Candidate Websites

    I’ve started a page that lists candidates for election in the Wichita and Sedgwick County area, containing links to candidate websites. It’s not quite finished, but it’s a start. The link is here: Wichita and Sedgwick County Candidate Websites.