Is graft a problem in Wichita?

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Dump truck carrying coins

In his paper History and Constitutionality of Pay-to-Play Campaign Finance Restrictions in America Greg Schmid explains the problems that result from the “soft corruption” that pay-to-play laws combat.

Is this a problem in Wichita? Is it possible that “Graft takes the collective wealth of working taxpayers and transfers that wealth to the benefit of corrupt government officials and their private sector accomplices” in Wichita?

Yes. Absolutely. As explained in In Wichita, a quest for campaign finance reform, we have a problem.

An example: In August 2011 the Wichita City Council voted to award Key Construction a no-bid contract to build the parking garage that is part of the Ambassador Hotel project, now known as Block One. The no-bid cost of the garage was to be $6 million, according to a letter of intent. Later the city decided to place the contract for competitive bid. Key Construction won the bidding, but for a price $1.3 million less.

The no-bid contract for the garage was just one of many subsidies and grants given to Key Construction and Dave Burk as part of the Ambassador Hotel project. Both of these parties are heavy campaign contributors to nearly all city council members.

What citizens need to know is that the Wichita City Council was willing to spend an extra $1.3 million of taxpayer money to reward a politically-connected construction firm that makes heavy campaign contributions to council members. Only one council member, Michael O’Donnell, voted against this no-bid contract. No city bureaucrats expressed concern about this waste of taxpayer money.

As elections approach, Wichita voters ought to remember that the three incumbents running for reelection all accepted campaign contributions from the parties that they voted to reward with an overpriced no-bid construction contract.

Following, Greg Schmid explains the problem in this excerpt from History and Constitutionality of Pay-to-Play Campaign Finance Restrictions in America:

The Problem
Graft is nothing new in the world, especially soft “white collar” corruption involved in the award of government contracts based on “special relationships” between public officials and government contractors. Particular acts of corruption are often hard to detect, one at a time, but the aggregate effects of “Pay to Play” are reflected by the heavy financial toll that corrupted actors within our government system take on the taxpayer. Graft takes the collective wealth of working taxpayers and transfers that wealth to the benefitof corrupt government officials and their private sector accomplices. Graft increases the cost of government by motivating officials “on the take” to mismanage government project spending. An inside deal, that is good for the corrupt official personally, usually leads to a bad economic decision for the public because the extra cost of corruption must be passed on to the taxpayer; a bought politician tends to make distorted choices. This “mismanagement effect” is costly to the public trust. One dollar of corruption is estimated to impose a burden of $1.67 on the taxpayers. …

Efforts to make government transactions transparent are met with disdain and with incredulous personalized claims that people who don’t trust their public officials are just paranoid, and should not be allowed to interrupt the people’s business by prying into the inner workings of government procurements. Fear of being targeted for ridicule or worse by society’s powerful elite makes it easy to look the other way, live in denial, or just accept government corruption as the way of the world. This is the most dangerous attitude of all; the perception that our government system is just unethical and corrupt and that there is nothing anyone can do about it. By this attitude, the perception of pervasive corruption at all levels of government, citizens lose hope and lose faith in their governing institutions. When this fundamental disconnect occurs people disengage from government, and self-governance is at risk.

Comments

6 responses to “Is graft a problem in Wichita?”

  1. TheREd Queen

    If I’ve said it once,I’ll say oit again,”Off with their heads”

  2. hawkinoz

    Yes ‘graft’ exists, over taxation exists. Everytime I sneeze, a tax appraiser is driving by to jack my assessment. If he could get down the unplowed road (IDA) he would probably up my assessment because I shoveled off my step. I paid $80K for a modular home-that I was told will depreciate every year- bull pucky it’s grown past $90K. so where does the tax money go? Ask the only demoncrat county commissioner who covers this part of the county and Wichita………… It doesn’t go to snow plowing.

  3. Queen of Hearts

    There you go again being deceitful…….

  4. Wildhorse

    …..and disrespectful and anecdotal. I dunno Bob. This may not be the right forum for this…. ;\

  5. Toldyaso

    Where’s Kelly Parks when you need him?

    If I recall, he took a box of damning evidence to the FBI, but found out what that stands for in Kansas: Friendly, But ,
    Indignant.

    Keep it up Bob, it’s the tip of the iceberg.

  6. commesariat

    Look at the history of graft in our region: the Pendergast machine in KC. Look at graft from Tammany Hall in the 19th century. I think the shoe fits the Wichita foot but you are “Ghana” have to get a copy of Mayor Brewer’s “go to” letter where his favorite construction company gets promoted in Wichita.

    That is the favorite company for city construction (look at the airport remodel contract last year) and the Key way to construct about knowing who and what is going on in Wichita and at city hall.

    Puns above are all intended.

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