Voice For Liberty

Tag: Wichita city council

  • More unlikely Lavonta Williams voters

    I don’t want to emphasize this too much, as these cases are not in the same league as listing an endorsement from a dead man (Wichita political endorsements from the other side and Campaign mailer listed endorsement from dead man ).

    But for completeness — possibly, who knows — here’s the rundown on a few more people who are listed on Lavonta Williams’ campaign literature under the heading “Join us in voting WILLIAMS on April 7:”

    Elder Herman Hicks. He lives in Derby.

    Reverend Kevass Harding. He lives in Bel Aire, outside the Wichita city limits. But he works at a church in district 1, and is involved in Wichita taxpayer-subsidized real estate development there, too. But he can’t vote in district 1.

    Brother Clifford Easiley. He lives in precinct 224, in city council district 2. (It’s spelled “Easily” on the mail piece.)

    Reverend Lincoln Montgomery. He lives in precinct 218 in the exclusive Willowbend neighborhood. That’s a long way, figuratively, from the inner-city church he serves in district 1.

  • Another unlikely Lavonta Williams voter

    Today’s Wichita Eagle contains a story that provides some detail behind something readers of this blog already knew. The Eagle story Campaign mailer listed endorsement from dead man tells how Val Jackson, a prominent Wichita businessman who died in 2002, came to be listed as someone who will be voting for Lavonta Williams.

    Sharp-eyed readers who received that mailing might notice another name that doesn’t belong in a list of those who will be voting for Lavonta Williams: John Kemp.

    A look at the voter file shows there’s no one with a name close to this registered to vote in district 1.

    There is, however, a John Kemp active in city politics in his role as a member of a District Advisory Board. But he lives in and serves on the DAB for district 3.

    Since he doesn’t live in Williams’ district, it’s hard to see how he’ll be voting for her.

    While it would be easy to brush off these mistakes as trivial, this sloppiness in Williams’ campaign material is the same sloppiness we’ve become accustomed to in city hall. Whether intentional or not, it’s a cause for concern.

    It further raises the issue of who is really pulling the strings on the Williams campaign team. Is it the candidate herself, or her advisors such as Beth King, with ties to those who seek subsidy from Wichita city hall? The post Williams — King — Minnesota Guys connection raises concern supplies details of one such connection.

  • Williams — King — Minnesota Guys connection raises concern

    There’s a triangle of influence and connections that should raise flags of caution as voters decide the makeup of the Wichita city council.

    At the center is Beth King, a Wichita public relations executive. She’s well known in city hall, having managed the mayoral campaign of Carl Brewer in 2007. She’s said to be a close advisor to him. Her name is so familiar that when her emails are forwarded among department heads in city hall, she’s referred to as simply “Beth.” No last name is necessary.

    The connection that voters should be aware of is this: King is the campaign manager for Lavonta Williams, who is seeking election to the district 1 council seat she holds after being appointed to fill the remainder of Brewer’s term after he was elected mayor.

    King is also the public relations consultant for Real Development. This firm — best known for its principals the “Minnesota Guys” — is a beneficiary of Wichita taxpayer dollars in the form of TIF districts and facade improvement loans paid back by special tax assessments.

    Lavonta Williams voted for each of the programs the Minnesota Guys wanted. Enthusiastically.

    The Minnesota Guys will be asking for more TIF financing, according to Wichita Eagle reporting.

    Lavonta Williams, should she be elected to a new term on the council, will be voting on whether to give the Minnesota Guys access to more Wichita taxpayer funds.

    Who will advise Williams how to vote? Beth King, her campaign manager, with financial ties to the Minnesota Guys?

    It’s a relationship too close for taxpayer comfort.

  • Wichita political endorsements from the other side

    A recent mailing by Wichita city council candidate Lavonta Williams contains an endorsement that seems a bit implausible.

    I don’t know anything about the politics of Val Jackson, a prominent Wichita businessman who, in Williams’ recent mailer, is listed under the heading “Join us in voting WILLIAMS on April 7.”

    But I do know he died in 2002.

  • Wichita City Arts tech studio proposed

    Randy Roebuck, in a presentation at the Wichita city council workshop, promoted the idea of a “digital oasis” in Wichita. It would be a place where people can go to get free help with technologies such as cell phones and computers.

    He told of how an Apple Genius Bar does things like this. Council member Jim Skelton asked who runs an Apple Genius Bar? Apple Computer Corporation, of course.

    Later council member Paul Gray continued with questions based on Skelton’s. Why not an Apple Genius Bar in Wichita? Why is the city competing with private business? City officials insist they are not trying to compete with private business. Instead, it’s a resource for training and education.

    Council member Jeff Longwell said this idea is “on the right path,” as long as it doesn’t cost a lot.

    Lavonta Williams said this will attract a different group of people to downtown Wichita. She said it’s something we need.

    Mayor Carl Brewer mentioned that not everyone who would want to use a facility like this might not be able to afford its cost. He didn’t mention that someone else should pay for them, but that’s what this program will do.

    “It’s part of creating an environment where we have everything that anybody could possibly want. … If the private sector’s really wanting to get out there and they’re willing to invest their dollars and they want to start their business, we should let them.”

    This illustrates the mayor’s — and several other council members’ — vision of an expansive city government, providing for citizen needs all the way through arts, entertainment, and now computer tech support.

    Then there’s the mayor’s language that we (Wichita city government) should let the private sector do something. I really hope the mayor misspoke here.

    This is a bad idea. It seems to me that there may be people in Wichita city hall with too much time on their hands if they have time to come up with ideas like this.

    View the video of the portion of the city council workshop where this presentation was made by clicking on Wichita city council workshop, March 24, 2009.

    The slides shown to the council members aren’t available on the city’s website, to my knowledge. I captured them from video, and they may be viewed by clicking on Wichita City Arts tech studio presentation.

    Read Wichita Eagle reporting by clicking on Cyber Alliance plans to offer free technical training. reporting on KWCH is at Wichita Considers “Digital Oasis”.

  • Cornejo & Sons campaign contributions history

    A recent Wichita Eagle news story jogged readers’ memories about the company that’s the target of the story, Cornejo & Sons, Inc., and their campaign contributions a few years back. The company asked some of its employees to make campaign contributions, and then the employees were reimbursed. That’s illegal.

    A Wichita Eagle story from April 27, 2003 states: “A former administrative assistant for the Cornejo & Sons construction firm says company executives sought campaign donations from employees and then walked around the office illegally reimbursing workers with stacks of $50 and $100 bills.”

    In this story, Ron Cornejo, the company president, denied the making the reimbursements.

    But two days later the Eagle reported: “The president of Cornejo & Sons admitted Monday that the construction firm reimbursed employees who donated money to pro-landfill candidates for Wichita mayor and Sedgwick County Commission — a practice that violates state law. Company president Ron Cornejo issued a statement saying that he and his company are cooperating with state ethics investigators and gathering data on the contributions that were made by the employees in 2002 and 2003.”

    The next day Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston announced the launching of a criminal investigation.

    On August 21, 2003, according to Eagle reporting, “the state ethics commission fined Wichita-based Cornejo & Sons Inc. $15,000.” An Eagle editorial called this “a slap on the wrist.”

    All candidates who received the money — a mix of Wichita mayoral, city council, and Sedgwick county commission candidates, one still in office — were cleared of any wrongdoing by the ethics commission. I couldn’t find any news stories about the result of the DA’s investigation, so I inquired at the office. But it appears that no charges were ever filed.

    It’s thought that the contributions were supporting Cornejo’s substantial contracts with the City of Wichita, and also the company’s effort to gain approval to build a landfill near Furley. The construction landfill that’s the subject of the recent Eagle article wasn’t mentioned as the motivating factor for these contributions.

  • YMCA – Wichita conflict of interest

    A local non-profit organization, held in high esteem, seeks to purchase property owned by the City of Wichita. So what’s the problem?

    During his State of the City address for 2009, Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer revealed his plan for a partnership between the city and the YMCA. So far this partnership has revealed itself in the city’s plan to sell some city-owned land at First and Waco Streets to the YMCA.

    Council members Jeff Longwell and Sharon Fearey were appointed to represent the city in negotiations.

    The problem is that Longwell is a member of the advisory board for the northwest branch YMCA. This is possibly a conflict of interest. It certainly is the appearance of a conflict of interest, and for that reason, Longwell should step away from the negotiations.

    At the same time, the YMCA should request that Longwell be replaced with another council member.

    I’m not accusing the YMCA of any wrongdoing.

    I’m also not accusing council member Longwell of any wrongdoing.

    But I’ve talked to several elected officials and many citizens about this, and only one has thought there wasn’t a problem with this arrangement.

    This is especially confounding to me in that I’m sure there is probably no actual conflict of interest — at least as these things go — but its appearance is beyond doubt in the minds of most citizens.

    A representative of the YMCA told me that the board Longwell serves on is an advisory board with no decision-making authority.

    I asked Longwell if he could understand how people might think there is a conflict of interest, and he said he could appreciate that position. He added that’s why there is more than one city council member representing the city, and, of course, it takes four votes on the council to take any action.

    Furthermore, he told me that he was out of town and missed a meeting, so he hasn’t been present at the negotiations.

    I’ve talked with several people who have reminded me of the good things the YMCA does for Wichita and the surrounding area.

    So why can’t the YMCA and the city conduct these negotiations in a way that eliminates even the slightest whiff of any appearance of a conflict of interest?

    People are wondering, especially when it is likely that the land will be sold for much less than what some believe it to be worth.

  • Wichita election watch parties

    There isn’t a whole lot of interest in today’s primary elections in Wichita. None of the school board races had enough candidates to require a primary. Two of the three city council races did, but probably the only district where’s there’s any doubt as to the outcome (at least as far as who will advance to the general election) is district 6, which features Janet Miller, Bob Aldrich, Ken Thomas, and Damon Isaacs. Here’s information about two election night parties that I know of:

    Bob Aldrich: Tuesday, March 3rd at the Wichita Area Builders Association building 730 North Main Street (parking in rear), starting at 6:00PM. Link to Google map.

    Ken Thomas: Tuesday, March 3rd, starting at 6:00PM at Caffe Moderne, 300 N. Mead, Suite 108, Old Town Square Wichita (Behind Rock Paper Scissors). Link to Google map.

    You can get more information about these candidates by clicking on Wichita City and School District Candidate Websites and News Coverage.

  • Wichita Residential Property Tax Relief Requested

    Following are remarks that Wichita businessman Craig Gabel delivered to the February 10, 2009 meeting of the Wichita city council. I think Gabel’s idea has some merit. One thing I don’t quite understand is his proposal for “a credit on each residential property owners’ tax statement.” I will ask him for clarification as to how this would work. More information about the Proposition K that Gabel refers to can be found here.

    After Gabel spoke, council member Paul Gray expressed the desire to start discussions on this matter now that the new city manager is in place. Mayor Carl Brewer expressed concern about the benefits and long-term impact of Proposition K. Gray pointed out to Brewer that some of the cities the mayor thinks Wichita should emulate have lower property taxes than we do, but at the cost of higher sales tax. In this exchange, it seems that the mayor realizes that higher taxes are bad for business — at least the aircraft business.

    Here are Gabel’s remarks and the video of his presentation:

    I come before you today to ask you to place a 1% sales tax ordinance, on the April City election Ballot, for city of Wichita residential property tax relief. I am not asking you to reduce mill levies or limit your ability to fund City budgets.

    I ask that we give voters an opportunity to vote on a 1% sales tax that would show as a credit on each residential property owners’ tax statement. In addition in your packet you can find an outline for a property tax relief known as Proposition K. It calls for a freeze on property values, and an annual increase of 2%, for our purposes we are only dealing with residential properties.

    The people of our great city are ready for this change. I have talked to literally thousands of people in Wichita and Sedgwick County and this subject is foremost on their minds. The reasons are many. Some are senior citizens that have seen virtually no income growth over the past decade. Most are working age adults that have seen a meager 30% increase in income while appraised values have increased 100% and property taxes have seen a 97% increase. All are ready to share the burden of the cost of local government.

    There are several other advantages that make this proposal extremely attractive.

    • With property values possibly decreasing due to the economic crisis, this would stabilize the City tax base.
    • The 2% annual increase would allow for limited budget growth and cost of living increases.
    • Homeowners would be more inclined to make home improvements, thus stimulating the local housing market and getting contractors back to work.
    • Laid-off workers would see some small relief on their home mortgages as a result.

    Finally in addition to asking you for this property tax relief I am scheduled to ask the Sedgwick County Commissioners for the same relief at the County level on Wed Feb. 18.

    Other news coverage can be found here:
    Wichita Council Wants To Discuss Sales Tax Verses Property Tax (KWCH Television)
    Wichita to discuss new sales tax to reduce property tax (Wichita Eagle)