Robinson lawsuit

This is the second federal lawsuit for unfair workplace treatment filed against the city and essentially, against former public services director Gary Baugher, filed this year.

About the only thing the two sides seem to agree on here is that it should have never gotten to the point of a lawsuit and should have been resolved in the workplace. They just disagree on how it should have been resolved - hence the lawsuit.

It's down in the story but perhaps the most serious charge is made by the both sides that each one essentially lied, or fabricated, a document to prove their position.

Building bruhaha

Seems like McDonald, Kuhn and Smith are being the most reasonable here about this building along Madison being torn down. Doesn't seem like a big deal that commissioners were not informed in advance that a private property owner was demolishing an already half-rubble building.

If what Steve Archer said is true, this happens regularly and commissioners have not asked to be informed before hand.

Seems like a final dig as Archer gets pushed out the door. Sort of a "I told you he's not a good city manager" message.

Commissioners I'm sure are hearing from defenders of Steve and likely feeling some pressure for all the turmoil inside City Hall that they have initiated, for good or bad, depending on your take.

Historic

Obama at his best ....


President Obama predicts that years from now, people will wonder "why was there ever a source of controversy in the first place."

Gay troops fought at Gettysburg and at Iwo Jima, Obama says. "Their names are etched into the walls of our memorials. Their headstones dot the grounds at Arlington," he says. "So as the first generation serving openly in our armed forces, you will stand for all those who came before you. You will serve as role models for all who come in. I know you will fulfill this responsibility with integrity and honor, just as you have every other mission." (9:32 a.m.)

Obama also delivers this message: "Your country needs you. Your country wants you. And we will be honored to welcome you into the ranks of the finest military the world has ever known."

When he visited Afghanistan a few weeks ago, Obama recalls, a woman grabbed him in a rope line and whispered to him, "Get 'don't ask, don't tell' done." He says he told her, "I promise you, I will."

"For we are not a nation that says, 'don't ask, don't tell,' " he says. "We are a nation that says, 'Out of many, we are one.' We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. ... It is my honor to sign this bill into law." (9:35 a.m.)

Finally

Don't ask don't tell will be tossed into the trash bin of history, where it will rot in memory like Jim Crow laws.

The arch of history bends toward justice. The vote in the Senate to repeal Don't Ask was 65-31, which is a pretty strong majority.

Like other civil rights advances, eventually the fears of change will be proven to be false, and the voices against repeal will fade into memory and this will become accepted policy by both political parties.

15th street promise

Not sure how the city commission can veer from the plan it promised voters for the half cent sales tax on street repair. They city ran large ads in 2008 stating specific projects the tax would fund, including the 15th Street repairs in year 2.

I suppose priorities can change in two years, but it would be like breaking a promise to voters because it was very clear.

Greta Goodwin

RIP Greta.

She had a tough time the last two years, losing the election, then her husband, Jim, passing away.

Reviewing her legislative record is a reminder that she was a real fighter for local causes and institutions. At least that's how people are remembering her and that evidence seems to support it. She had a big hand in the veterans home and cemetery, the winfield prison, community homes for the developmentally disabled, the bypass here in Ark City. She fought hard, and successfully, against that lake project idea that upset so many rural residents in the Dexter area.

Toward the end of her political career she became a little embittered and seemed to find enemies where there were none. Not for sure whether this was a real, health-related condition. But one of her memorials is for Alzheimer's research.

Interim manager

Two candidates, neither local, are in the mix to replace Steve Archer on a temporary basis. Wonder if the commission will embark on a comprehensive, citizen-involved effort that was used to hire Doug Russell, or go a more traditional route?

Done deed

Ark City Commission and City Manager Steve Archer negotiated a deal for him to resign, as they desired, without having to fire him.

I should say as most of them desired. It was pretty clear that Mayor McDonald supported Archer and didn't want this. But the other four, or at least three of them, apparently did. This makes two managers "resigned" in three years.


There are two theories at work:
1) That Steve just didn't cut the mustard and could not manage department heads to carry out the commission's will/goals.

2) That Steve was overpowered and undermined by commissioners who micro manage and stir the pot inside City Hall, making him the fall guy.

I suppose a third would be some truth in both. We know Mell Kuhn has tried to micro manage the police and water/sewer departments and that Dottie is strong willed. They came in as outsiders and certainly don't follow the establishment. Snell is a former schools superintendent who is used to running the show. Steve certainly isn't a forceful person and perhaps he was better suited to his previous job as administrative director rather than CEO.

What to do next? They aren't too high on Lane Massey, the second in command, either. Does the commission have the humility to find a professional, experienced city manager and let them run the city under their goals/objectives?

Will other top level resignations follow?

Duplexes tax abatement

Curious what people think of forgiving property taxes to get new duplexes built on Kansas Avenue.

This is a pretty common thing, especially if the units are income restricted to create affordable housing, which I don't think these are going to be. Ark City did a housing survey and we pretty much need upgraded housing for all income levels as I recall.

The one thing about tax abatements that kind of sticks in your crawl, is where does the city get the money to keep up with the services needed to serve the property and the people living there?

Tragedy sparks change

Sounds like 322nd Road is going to get some safety measures. We don't really know how the accident happened, but especially after it, this seems like a no brainer.

Hospital tax

Bit of a surprise that the city/hospital has not had to use the sales tax money we've been paying to pay off the new hospital debt yet. I think this illustrates that the hospital is doing fairly well financially to make profits enough to pay off the bonds itself so far, although it looks like that's changing.

As a nonprofit, publicly-run hospital, it really isn't in the business of fattening its bottom line. But of course the more money it has to re-invest, the better, as long as services stay strong.

Survey says ...

Cowley First took the pulse of residents again to update the Vision 2020 strategic plan. Not much change form the 2005 results. Drugs and jobs still top the list of concerns. And of course people support expanded services and growth incentives, but don't really want to pay for them.

The attitudes of residents, though, seems upbeat and we take a pretty positive outlook on where we live and our quality of life, the exception being good job opportunities. You'd expect that in a recession. I was a bit surprised that education didn't get higher marks, I'm not so sure how "welcoming" Cowley County is to new residents, if you throw in the immigrant population. Accepting, maybe, but not really welcoming.

Archer contract

I think there's little doubt that Steve Archer's job as city manager as been in question, but Mayor McDonald is very high on him. And in fact he makes some logical points. For all the problems - passing and repealing ordinances, water billing, computer problems, the city itself is on a very progressive tract.

The fact that the other commissioners would not comment usually means they don't have complimentary things on their minds. We'll see what this "addendum" to Steve's contract means.

Drop off

I'm kind of surprised there's not more outcry to put up a railing or something where the car went into the River.

We don't like over regulation in Kansas and rely on common sense, but when a road just ends and an open path continues to the edge of a river, it seems to present a dangerous situation.

Wikileaks and all that ....

I find it hard to get upset about media outlets reporting on "secret" government documents that reveal communication and true relationships between the U.S. government and other countries.

I suppose much of this stuff that was leaked to the Web site Wikileaks and then given to the New York Times and other media across the globe is more gossipy and truly newsworthy.

But some of it is very newsworthy - the fact that a Saudi Arabia officials suggested U.S. bomb Iran and the Saudi's would take responsibility for it. You mean the public shouldn't know this is the kind of people we are dealing with?

Govt. officials and those who think secrecy and security always go hand in hand are foaming over this, but that's what happens when government officials who don't want the public to know what's going on get outted and embarrassed.

In my view we need MORE of this kind of thing, not less. I haven't heard of anything that really will put our security at risk or harm individuals. (perhaps there is and I've missed it) Sounds to me like the news outlets involved have been fairly responsible in what they are reporting.

And whoever "stole" or leaked these documents should be protected by whistleblower laws. There is a real courage necessary to bring to light what you think the public should know about wrong doings or truths your government is hiding.

Certainly sometimes privacy and secrecy by govt. trumps disclosure, esp. in times of war. But sometimes it certainly does not. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

Here's a great defense, really, of the leaks and the media's use of them on FOX News, even, and by the New York Times Editor, Bill Keller.

Toodles Tiahrt

Congressmen Todd Tiahrt says goodbye to Washington after 16 years in the House.

Tiahrt made use generous use of the earmark to bring money to this district, which is railed against on a national level but very appreciated back home (he secured funding for the levee here in Ark City).

It seemed that his ability to look after his district created support from those who would not otherwise like him because of his hard right social and fiscal views. But he kind of rejected that image and became a Tea Partier during the last election and trash talk earmarks and so-called "pork" spending. His continued fight tooth and nail for the Boeing airtanker contract falls under the general headline of pork, does it not?

Tiahrt seems to me to have been a reliable vote for social conservatism and he became a small player in the GOP leadership back in the 90s that brought Gingrich, DeLay, etc. to power. He also seemed a reliable vote for George W. Bush last decade and, for the most part, has a record as a principled conservative.

His hard right image, though, which he worked on, caught up to him a bit in going up against Jerry Moran for U.S. Senate, who had a more moderate image.

Trash Don't Ask

Can we please just get this over with? Obama should stand up and say that if Congress refuses to pass repeal of this discriminatory policy then he will, by executive order, abolish it.

The report linked to above shows most military don't have a problem with getting rid of it, and we already know that a large majority of the public supports it.

This will be less controversial than racial integration of the troops during Eisenhower's time.

The arch of history bends toward justice.

More Creekstone publicity

CNBC does a flattering video piece on Creekstone and their success into the fine dining market.

Ark City gets a little shout out, too.

Buffett on taxes

Warren Buffet sounds the horn again that the rich should pay more taxes. He doesn't buy the trickle-down theory of tax cuts for the wealthy raising all boats.

I think the reasonable thing to do on tax cuts would be to let them expire on the wealthiest now, to raise revenue to be put toward deficit reduction, and let them eventually expire on the rest of us, after growth gets back to full steam. This would be a serious effort toward deficit reduction and show real compromise - for Republicans who hate taxes, and for Democrats who shun deficit reduction (Republicans actually haven't been that big on it until recently)

Conservative sanity

Here's a great take on the vapidness of the Sara Palin by a deep thinking conservative.

Palin is, by and large, a media creation. The national political media, and nonpolitical media oftentimes, lustfully tosses out her twitters and facebook comments to create the tension and conflict that makes people pay attention. But it goes beyond responsible reporting and real political dialogue because she has no real standing to the degree the media uses her. She quit her job as governor, does not belong to any institution, and has never shown any real grasp of policies/issues that would make her a serious part of the discussion. She avoids questions and interviews except on Fox News. Except the accident of her being nominated by John McCain as his VP candidate, she would still be fighting for the bridge to nowhere as Gov. of Alaska.

She's got good looks, some personality, a weird but loyal family and is unafraid to attack others, which apparently makes for good entertainment. My guess is that by 2012, with her wining, celebrity chasing, and incessant Facebooking, the American public will experience Palin fatigue.

Her support will continue to narrow and she'll be mostly a sideshow, which is really what she is now if you think about it because, unfortunately, sideshows are now the mainshow.

Plaza concept - big picture

I'm glad the city is leaning toward the plaza design of the land around the new hospital. It is the design concept I would have picked — interconnectedness, community and all that — I'm a sucker for anything with the words "pedestrian-friendly."

The city and recreation officials also have plans to turn the McFarland Pond area into an area safe and open to fishing and other recreational activities. This kind of visioning is good government and I think Ark City is fortunate to have leaders that look to the future and are not afraid to make investments — hospital, school and ball field construction, street repair, overpass, hike and bike trail, and now the McFarland project.

Of course much of this has been in the works for years and ideas percolating now (Construction incentives for Goff Industrial Park, for example) will not bring benefit for probably years go come. But it all shows that local government must take a lead role in fostering growth and community building.

The Ark City City commission has suffered its fair share of personality conflicts and had some bitter disagreements, but if you take a step back and look at the big picture over the last decade or so, I think you'd have to say Ark City has momentum and is on the move. The recession of course slows things down, and there are plenty of problems - deteriorating neighborhoods, low income levels — but there is plenty to feel good about, too.

Annals of hilarity

James Carville, Bill Clinton's idiot savant, comes up with this doozy about Obama's, uhm, backbone?

Bartlett lawsuit

Doesn't portend well for the city that the supervisor accused of wrongdoing in this lawsuit was fired about the time this lawsuit was filed.

But certainly there is more to the story that we can know on the outside looking in.

I found the comment from the plaintiff's attorney that they think the suit will go to trial because the city's defense attorneys get paid by the hour to be a shot across the bow to city commissioners, challenging them to make an enticing settlement offer.

Probably a well worn trick in confrontations like these...

The big question is whether this lawsuit by Mary Bartlett against a former department head is related much to the current turmoil inside city hall. The commission has been meeting in private to discussion personnel matters more than usual, and we know they have been discussing city manager Steve Archer's performance.

The Carnival Barkers

A great column by Thomas Friedman about how a lie/rumor makes its way into the mainstream media because it serves a political purpose - of course Fox News is easy prey for this kind of stuff.

Kobach's obsession

Looks like we have to put up with a Sec. of State whose going to fan the flames of immigration and alleged "voter fraud" in the Kansas.

He's going to push for having to show official ID at the polls and passports or birth certificates to register to vote.

Presenting an ID to vote sounds logical, but the fact is that a few people don't carry ID, or perhaps don't have one at the time. And we are going to deny them the most basic American right because they can't produce a piece a card or piece of paper? Ditto with passports and birth certificates.


This seems like going after a problem that isn't there. Kobach has been unable to provide real proof of voter fraud, asthis story shows you.

He's also apparently working in other states to deny citizenship to people born in the U.S. to noncitizen parents - a direct contradiction to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. No matter, anything to keep those brown people from coming here.

Brownback's agenda

Capital Journal interview with Gov. elect Brownback is pretty interesting. His tone is pretty moderate and he avoids any of that "culture of life" stuff, at least in this interview.

Sounds like his big push will be to reduce state income taxes to help with economic growth, but the interview doesn't really ask him how to offset those revenues or what services would be cut. The state already faces a $500 million hole.

He does say he wants to protect investments in public education. (let's hope he means it) And his idea for low-cost health clinics at community colleges sounds pretty good.

Cinderella wins again

LaDonna Lanning pulled off YET ANOTHER UPSET and will become the next District Court Judge in Cowley County. This has surprised just about everybody I've talked to. I yelled "holy ...." last night when I checked the results on the computer. Not only that but she won by 10 percentage points 55 to 45 (exact opposite of my lame prediction, which included several lame predictions about Goyle being closer to Pompeo and two Democrats - McKinney for Treasurer and Six for Attorney General - winning statewide races. They both lost soundly.)

In Krusor's case, goes to show you that money and prominence don't automatically make you a political winner. And that voters may not be that interested in what the other attorneys have to say.

Course Lanning benefited from the GOP wave. You have to wonder what the result would have been in a Democratic year, or an average year.

But Lanning ran a good campaign with a good message - fair, compassionate and independent. Helped that she was the outsider in a year a huge change election. She also knocked on doors and women related to her taking her on what is perceived as a boys club.

Wave, tsnumai, landslide, etc ....

The GOP took back the House, with a vengance, and Kansas became even redder.


Of course everybody is debating exactly what this means - validation of Republican philosophy of less government and spending? repudiation of Democrats bigger government and more spending? Anger at those in charge for not turning the economy around?

This article at swampland.com, I think, sums it up well: voters have voted for seismic change in three straight elections, hoping for some change to leadership and direction of the country. The first two times they voted for Democrats, this time for Republicans in a huge way.

As long as the parties fight the same old ideological battles, making no discernible improvement in the lives and feelings of American people, the same will happen in two years .....

Election day predictions

Here's my best guess on how things will shake out tomorrow. Nationally and statewide, Republicans will be as happy as Democrats were two years ago.

District Court Judge
Krusor 55
Lanning 45
Krusor's money and reputation is too much to overcome

78th House District
Trimmer 56
Alley 44
Winfield likes Democrats and Trimmer has proven himself.

4th Congressional District
Pompeo 54
Goyle 46
This one is going to be tighter than some people think. Goyle had a bunch of money and has somewhat effectively defined Pompeo has an elite businessman who won't fight for Kansas jobs. But its a conservative area in a conservative year and Pompeo has an organization and an effective basic message.


State wide races, Republicans pretty much sweep except for AG and Treasurer. Six has done a pretty good job and so has McKinney. Both are in positions where ideology doesn't really come into play.

Brownack 60
Holland 40

Attorney General
Six 51
Schmidt 49

Sec. of State
Kobach 54
Biggs 46


Treasurer
McKinney 53
Estes 47

U.S. Senate
Moran 65
Johnston 35

Amtrak derailed?

If Brownback becomes governor, which is about as likely as wind in Kansas, it doesn't look like he'll push for extension of the amtrak line from Oklahoma to KC, which would pass through Ark City.

Not surprising, considering that it would take major investment from the state and federal funding get this rolling. Brownback's fiscal conservatism prevents him from embracing government investment/spending for something like this.

I don't think the rail project is going to get much energy as long as the budget and economic troubles dominate the discussion in Topeka. But a study has shown that it would pay off in economic development, and there is also a certain value-added identity that having passenger rail would bring to Kansas. It appeals to both nostalgia and green-minded travelers.

Again, it would be nice if our area reps - Kasha Kelley and Steve Abrams - would throw their weight behind it as a benefit to Ark City and Cowley County.

F-35 - boon or boondoogle?

Here's the coverage of Goyle's Friday press conference going after Pompeo about the F-35 engine project. I tried to nail down just how sure people are that some work would be done locally if GE got this project, but it doesn't seem like anybody knows for sure.

It's an interesting issue, because this is the dilemma of the washington politician — do you stand up for companies and interests in your district, even if that contradict your general philosophy?

Todd Tiahrt, a crusader against government size, spending and influence, was for this project. Tiahrt was pretty adept, as a member of the House appropriations committee, at funding projects for his district while at the same time projecting a spend-thrift image.

Can you fault Pompeo for sticking to his conservative values on this, even thought it appears to run counter the interests of the district? Also, there appears to be a good argument that spending money on a competing engine now will save billions more in the long run.

Goyle has TV ads going that continue to attack Pompeo on outsourcing. As I've mentioned earlier, I'm not sure these attacks are fully justified. Did Pompeo actually take away a Kansas job and replace it with a job in a foreign country? Haven't seen evidence of that.

Abortion wars

A local man appears in the MSNBC documentary of Tiller's assassination, airing tonight. Here's the story. John Daulton, a local actor, kind of got a call of the blue and ended up playing a pastor that argues with assassin Scott Roeder in one scene of the show.

The story does not say how Daulton feels about being part of the this project. It's on MSNBC and narrated by Rachel Maddow, so you have to assume the pro-choice agenda will be on display.

Krusor v Lanning

Pretty interesting story on the judges race from yesterday's paper. There is a big contrast in identity here, with Mark Krusor kind of representing the old guard and the established way. He's the democrat but enjoys plenty of republican support and has built many relationships over his years as an attorney in Winfield. His experience, knowledge and temperment are not questioned. LaDonna Lanning is the spoiler here, having upset several others to win the GOP nomination and playing in a male dominated world. You hear a lot about her confrontation style, or inability to get along, but is that true, or meaningful, or is it because she doesn't play by the old guard's rules and gets characterized unfairly?

F-35 flap

Looks like Raj Goyle is going to make a deal out opponent Mike Pompeo not supporting the alternative F-35 engine made by General Electric. Pompeo wrote a letter to the editor at the Wichita Eagle in Sept. 2009 making the case, as many others have, that the engine is unnecessary and wastes taxpayer dollars. But it has managed to be funded year after year through Congressional support. Goyle plans a press conference for tomorrow here in Ark City, before a candidates forum sponsored by KSOK.

Here's Goyle's email press release:

State Rep. Raj Goyle to Hold Pre-Debate Press Conference at Cowley College
Pompeo’s Serial Outsourcing No Longer a Surprise, but New Anti-jobs Info. is Baffling

WICHITA, KS – Tomorrow at 4:30 P.M. State Rep. Raj Goyle, 4th District Congressional candidate, will discuss a baffling new addition to Mike Pompeo’s anti-jobs agenda. Standing in support of the F-35 Alternate Engine Project, Goyle will also talk about the importance of protecting 800 jobs in Cowley County. Following the press conference, Goyle will participate in a KSOK-sponsored 2010 Election debate at Cowley College.

The event is open to the press.

PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS

WHAT: Press Conference - New details about Mike Pompeo’s anti-jobs agenda

WHEN: 4:30 P.M., Thursday, October 21st

WHERE: Wright Room in the Brown Center
Cowley College Campus
125 S. Second Street, Arkansas City, KS

WHO: State Rep. Raj Goyle, Kansas workers

Reality of repeal

My editorial in Saturday's paper about the folly of trying to real the new health care law. For the full version see the paper or e-edition.

Basically, there's no way the new law will be repealed as long as Obama is president. If the GOP wins the House and/or Senate, taking this on would sink us further into partisan malaise. GOP should push for CHANGES, but not full repeal - especially since there are pretty universally accepted things about what insurance companies should offer and how they should behave.

GOP gains

All candidates for statewide office hold decent leads at this point, according to the KWCH-Survey USA poll. The one surprise I think is the 16 point lead by Ron Estes over Dennis McKinney for Treasurer. The poll Web site says McKinney held a 21 point lead just three weeks ago. That sounds pretty odd.

Pompeo shows a 13 point lead over Goyle, which is up a bit from the last poll.

I think if Goyle comes within 10 points it can be consider a success on his part. No way a democrat wins in a conservative district in a GOP wave election, unless the candidate is horrible.

Justice for gays

It's always been the courts who have forced justice upon a reluctant society. A federal court in Californiaordered a ban on don't ask don't tell. Not sure how far this particular case is going, but I'll bet you in 20 years we'll be wondering how in the world we could have ever forced gay military men and women to stay in the closet. Those actively fighting against it will be seen as prejudice and backward.

Goyle-Pompeo

I wrote this story and thought it was a very good forum/debate.

I think Pompeo was using some scare tactics about people's taxing going up. That's not going to happen unless you make $200-250,000 a year, and he certainly knows this. He also said health reform will "literally bankrupt Kansas." Presumably he's talking about new Medicaid responsibilities. Here's a Kansas City Star article that debunks that claim. Medicaid costs are rising anyway and the new law will funnel a bunch more federal dollars to states to help cover the added people. Not only that, but Kansas has three years to prepare for the changes.

Goyle, for his part, has distorted Pompeo's record of allegedly "outsourcing" of jobs as a business owner/executive. There appears to be no evidence that jobs were actually eliminated in Kansas to create them in Mexico or China. The general point of Pompeo having business interests in foreign countries and what he might do to protect them is valid, but the outsourcing seems seriously exaggerated.

Goff land buy

Here's my editorial in last night's traveler arguing the land buy is good but wishing the terms could be more simple so ACI and the city keep each other at arms length.

But there is too much paranoia about ACI and the city's effort to obtain land for economic development. This is proactive step, common among municipalities, to help spur growth.

Certainly there's good debate and arguments about how involved the city should be and what kind of development it should use incentives to attract.

But there's no evidence of some nefarious deal-making based on the self-interest of the landowners or the city commission. Be nice if we could stop the conspiracy theories and just debate the facts.

AYP

Sounds like school officials are all over the AYP problem. There will be big pressure to meet the standards next year. The district has for years done so well on AYP and other testing that this was a bit of a shocker, although apparently not to them.

I've long have mixed feelings about No Child Left Behind. On the one hand it has zeroed in on basic skills like math and reading that students were falling behind on. And it's mission to raise standards for all children, including those who have struggled in the past, is a noble.

But having a student in the system it is clear that testing does over take learning sometimes. There is SO much focus on math and reading that other subjects seem diminished. They also have much more homework at an early age than I can ever remember having.

Mike Morton

I hope this one turns out to not be what it appears. Kind of a shocker. Mike Morton has been a civic-minded citizen, although I suppose you can be that and do what he's accused of. My guess is that this isn't the end of this story.

Land deal

A split vote, but the city entered an agreement to buy a piece of Goff Industrial Park from AC Industries.

From the birds eye view, this is a good thing. Cities need to position themselves to attract development. Owning land prime for commercial development can facilitate that.
It would be nice to leave everything to the private sector, but municipalities that are proactive get more done when it comes to economic development, especially in a slow-growth area like ours.

But the details raise some questions. The contract seems to intertwine the city and ACI more than necessary. It's a 5 year deal where ACI keeps some say over what the land is used for, and has first right of refusal to buy land back if a developer wants to buy it.

Three years from now, the commission could be completely different and not want anything to do with a contract like this. Perhaps the commission majority wants to make the infrastructure improvements necessary to create development and doesn't care who owns it in the end?

And then you have the whole suspicion problem by locking arms with ACI. With a former ACI board member as a commissioner, the idea that the city is doing ACI's bidding can't be escaped.

It seems like the commission majority is pushing awfully hard to get this TIF/redevelopment thing going. Guess they hope a pro-TIF candidate gets elected this spring. But that's a big gamble. If this TIF campaign backfires, they could set back the redevelopment efforts for quite a while

I still think the city should look at redevelopment tools for south Ark City and perhaps west Madison.

Pine-scented sludge

The second half of this story (the part you'll have read in the paper or e-edition) reminds me of spraying the bathroom after somebody uses it. KanPak is trying to address ongoing problems of smell created by waste in their food processing/packaging. It's apparently gotten much better. We haven't heard too many complaints here at the paper lately.

KanPak is an interesting place. They have grown and become a major employer here in Ark City, yet they seem relatively obscure. It's good too see their waste issue get settled with the city. Their folks don't seem to sit on boards or civic committees much. They do make some donations here and there, but they are not too visible and I'd bet about 75 percent of the town doesn't know what they do.

According to their Web site, KanPak is a leader in "aseptic technology" to create mixes for specialty drinks and foods. Here's their Web site. http://www.kanpak.us/ They are very hard to contact regarding stories or information from the paper. Maybe that will change ....

ACI land buy?

Should the city enter into this complex agreement to buy land in Goff?

Two thoughts

Why is it so complicated? The land is bought over time with ACI getting the appraised value if it sells to a developer before totally payout. Why wouldn't the city just buy the thing outright instead of being entangled with a contract that could bring disagreement later on?

Also, it is not unusual for cities to own land for development prospecting. The fact is that that cities have to get proactive and engaged in being the economic development agent if we want to see growth, especially where so little growth occurs.

Alsup approval

County Administrator Leroy Alsup is getting strong support in our online poll. This is unusual, considering that online feedback often trends negative. And of course these polls are not scientific and can be skewed by campaigns to vote one way or another. But doubt this is happening in this case. I think Alsup, and the commission in general, have done a solid job in the past several years. They certainly have avoided controversy, unlike the Ark City commission.

Do you approve of the county retaining Leroy Alsup as administrator?

Yes, he's done an excellent job.
(228 Votes, 61%)
Yes, but not the way it was handled.
(20 Votes, 5%)
No, it was time for him to retire.
(117 Votes, 31%)
I have no opinion.
(7 Votes, 2%)
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Failed AYP

This story runs counter to what we usually hear from Ark City schools — that they are winning awards for student achievement.

Could be wrong, but I get a sense that school officials are not confronting the issue head on. The comments that MOST kids are doing well kind of glosses over the whole reason No child left behind is in place — to ensure that those who are hard to teach - low-income, language barriers, minorities - get educated too.

Lloyd Lisk

A good man passed away this weekend.
From what I could tell, Lloyd had a real heart for this community and was dedicated to serving it and improving it. He was also very kind and gentle.

It struck me yesterday that Lloyd is the third former council member from the first part of this decade who has passed away. Both Janet English and Wayne Short passed away from cancer in the last two-three years.

Gives you pause — time makes history of us all, sometimes quickly. But the world keeps rotating.

County raises mill levy

This story features Sid Regnier, the former Cowley College business administrator, urging the Cowley County commission not to raise the mill levy (tax levels) even if it is only slightly.

Regnier says that personnaly, he's cut out most all extraneous costs at his household, including cable and the newspaper (I'd call this an essential :)

He makes a compelling case. It's similar to the situation with the ark city school board earlier this summer - why approve a budget with a small mill levy increase that could come with big political consequences. People are mad at all levels of government now and want political leaders to behave like they are — cut expenses and live frugally, especially at the local level.

Practically speaking, if the need to raise $40,000 to $60,000 saves an important job or keeps an important program running, I think it's the right thing to do. Both the school district and county have been been efficient operations. In fact the USD 470 has earned national recognition for low administrative costs but quality education.

Still, I think Groom made the right move here. At least politically. He has the standing now to claim he's the protector of the taxpayer.

Gay marriage

Living on top of the Bible belt, it's hard to comprehend this new poll that suggest a majority of Americans support gay marriage. The overall trend is in support of gay marriage.

My guess is that in 20 year it will be law in every state.

Hospital vision

Give credit to city mananger Steve Archer, hospital and city commission officials for creating some visioning on the land surrounding the new hospital. They got the community involved through focus groups, and now will put together some concepts that can lead to the orderly, logical development of that area. There are high hopes that the hospital will attract spin off businesses.

Personally, I think the area needs more rehabilitation facilities. The hotel and wellness facilities, along with a nice, meditative park area for families and patients, are great ideas, too.

As far as the design layouts, I think I like the town center concept because it connects things in a more pedestrian, grouped way. Imagine walking across a huge blacktop with no sidewalks trying to get from the hotel, or senior apartments to the hospital. That was be poor planning, in my opinion.

Illegal caught

This story, of course, raises the question that many folks have on their minds in Ark City area — just how many workers at Creekstone are illegal immigrants. Creekstone has said several times that they run documents through the proper channels. Guess the problem is that it's hard to know if they are fake.

The company appears to work with authorities to root out those who are non-citizens, but the assumption is that probably many workers there are. Nobody really knows.

Commissioners explain

More detail about the retiring and rehiring of Alsup. You can also view his contract. The action basically is a simple move so he can collect retirement and then come back at full employment. I'm told the state law was recently changed to allow this. Previously, it did not allow you to work at the same KPERS employer for full salary. Although you could go to another public agency and do that. But now you can, after sitting out 60 days, do exactly that.

As Dick Bonfy said, it may not look right, but there is practicality in the decision and it's hard to blame somebody for pursing their financial interests from a retirement system that they paid into for years.

It will not rest well in the minds of the public, however, and is another chip off the trust in government.

Alsup staying

Man, Leroy is in the catbirds seat. Not that often you get such glowing remarks from your bosses.

He has been a very effective administrator and pretty much put to rest the debate over whether county government needs a top executive.

But this story is has a strange nugget — he will retire and then come back after two months. Presumably to collect pension. So he'll be getting retirement from the government system he worked for and be paid full salary from the same system.

hmmmmm

Tea Party power

Last night's primary win by Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell in Delaware over favorite establishment GOPer Mike Castle shows the power of the tea party movement.

But ..... in the end does this advance its cause of less government, lower debt., and whatever else it stands for? Maybe not. Here's a take on how short term gains could mean long term losses.

The same goes for the political left. The harder left the Democratic Party became in 1980s and 90s, the more distant they became to the voting mainstream. They had to move center, a la Bill Clinton, and against are trying to tack center.

Beating more moderate Republicans in more moderate/liberal states like Delaware, New Hampshire, Nevada could be a Trojan Horse if those ideological pure candidates can't get mainstream support.

I wonder why in Kansas the tea party hasn't really caught on, at least in any tangible connection to candidates. Mike Pompeo was as establishment as any candidate in the GOP primary for 4th district. (Maybe Schodorf) Perhaps there was not really any establishment candidate for anti-Washington crowd to fight against.

Buy the same goes for Gov. race, Senate race and other congressional races. There was no really break through in tea party-connected candidates, as far as I can tell. Perhaps the Republican crop of candidates were already conservative enough to satisfy the movement. Brownback and Moran are both pretty hard right, although they're temperament and public comments are not firey or grandstanding as tea party voices often can be. (Think Tiahrt, but Tiahrt spent 16 years in D.C.)

Koch's Kingdom

Fascinating New Yorker article about the influence of the Koch brothers and Koch Industry on politics and policy in American life.

Here's a link to an article (with more links inside) defending Koch Industries and the Kochs.

I think there's no doubt that Koch's are much lower profile than other big corporate leaders who go on television and get involved in politics and social causes. (Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, George Soros)

The one thing that is disturbing about Americans For Prospery, which is Koch funded and apparently Koch spawned, is the secrecy of donors. But that is true with any of these independent groups that don't specifically endorse candidates, and thus can skirt the disclosure laws. What's also interesting is the low profile that Charles Koch, who lives in Wichita, maintains. According to the article, he's the big dog. But brother David Koch is more public.

Yucky water

I'd be pretty upset if my water looked like this, too. At least the city is trying to make it right.

Channel 12 had a pretty good story on this, following our story Wed. It does lend itself to images. It sounds like people have been dealing with this for years. I'm surprised they've dealt with it without storming city hall for this long.

Hartman for Goyle

Pompeo is right. If Hartman entered the race as a libertarian, it would up Goyle's chance of winning the 4th Congressional District, because it would split conservative votes. This story is a pretty good inside look at the issue. It also is a lesson in the need to reach out to opponents after a primary to solidify party support. The bad blood between Pompeo and Hartman probably make that difficult on a personal level.

Independent voters

Be interesting to see how many votes Larry Alley gets running as an independent in the 78th District against Democrat Ed Trimmer. Sounds like he aligns with Republicans and offers contrast to Trimmer.

But he'd have to campaign hard and do lots of advertising and promotion to challenge Trimmer, who I think his pretty popular and made a reputation as a good legislator despite being left of center in a conservative area. Alley sounds a bit gun shy and he is not too well known in the Winfield area, where all the votes are. But there is still time to raise his profile, and with so many people calling themselves independent these days, and with no GOP candidate on the ballot, that is enough for Trimmer to take him seriously.

Mosque madness

Another Republican goes against the grain on the Park51 project. Grover Norquist, the anti-spending, anti-tax leader, says GOP will pay for their anti-Muslims judgment in the long, and short, run.

And Ted Olson, former solicitor general for George Bush, and who lost his wife in the 9-11 attack (Pentagon plane), makes that case that religious freedom and tolerance must trump generalized fear and anxiety.

Money quote: "We don't want to turn an act of hate against us by extremists into an act of intolerance for people of religious faith."

More on the mosque

This story about Muslim Republicans on the mosque issue is worth a read.

A commenter in a previous post compared the chief person behind the mosque project, Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, to Fred Phelps.

Obviously some people are suspicious of Muslims Americans, but how did it get to this? Comparing a man who advocates democracy and moderation for Muslim believers and countries, to someone as villainous as Fred Phelps?

It is interesting how much this issue has unleashed the latent fears and hostility toward Islam and those who practice it. Is it not the same fear that those who attacked us used to propel themselves? Fear of another belief system. Fear of being encroached upon, or forced to understand, another social and religious way of life. Fear that different ideology will somehow pollute our own and therefore threaten our existence?

Except that in America, we have a constitution, and set of laws, that humble all religions and belief systems and tribal longings. Those laws and principals force us to accept individual and group freedoms, however at conflict with our own, because we know that if we don't, our own liberties to pursue our chosen way of life are surrendered.

Half full, half empty?

Online polls results so far on comparison of Ark City to other cities.

Superior
(1 Votes, 1%)
Somewhat better
(9 Votes, 9%)
The same
(12 Votes, 13%)
Somewhat inferior
(29 Votes, 30%)
Inferior
(45 Votes, 47%)

Not pretty, but it seems the online community is more negative in general than the real world. I think most people have long accepted that Ark City needs a self-esteem boost. Frankly, I think its getting it with some of the progressive things going one. But there are still root problems. Income levels in Ark City are well below state averages. Be interesting to see what the 2010 Census shows in terms of how Ark City stacks up.

Survey says ....

Very interesting results to citizens survey done by Municipal Solutions. In general, the respondents were positive about the city. It's a stark contrast to the survey done 3 and half years ago, where residents rated city services and quality of life fairly low. Here's a snippet from a story back then...

A recent survey by the National Citizen Survey company shows that many people in Arkansas City have a negative attitude toward the city and what it has to offer.

Mayor Dotty Smith said the "biggest thing is the perception of our citizens. We need to do a better job of letting people know what the city does for them."

Some big differences in the surveys were that the one three years ago went out to every address and got a much larger response/sampling of citizens. It also appeared to ask more questions geared toward overall quality of life. The most recent survey seemed to focus on city services/relations.

You would think that people might feel even more pessimistic now than in 2007, because of the recession. Back in 2007, employment was at a high peak. But, despite the national scene, Ark City has things going on that make us feel constructive and good about the future -- school/stadium construction, hospital construction, major street repair.

My guess is that if you did the exact same survey in 2007, it would probably have similar, fairly negative views because of methodology and sample size. However, this recent survey is useful in what residents want: including curbside recycling, more places to shop/eat and beautification.

Free exercise thereof

Thankfully the president has finally spoken out on this issue issue. I understand the controversy and the concern of some people, especially some 9-11 victim families. However, that does not trump our constitution, and the end conclusion seems pretty simple — of course they have a right to build a center of worship for Muslims. Not only that, the site is not at ground zero and it will be a community center with a worship space, not a giant mosque with spirals and all.

I'll bet that George Bush, if still president, would support this. He did an excellent job, at least just after 9-11, of calling for tolerance and respect of Muslims and their religion.

The more you read about the people behind it, and the and more context you get, the more it seems this is being driven by fear and tribalism - the exact thing we are fighting against in terrorism.



Here's the first part of the first amendment to the constitution. It kind of bring some clarity.

CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF ...

Whoa!

Mike Pompeo's campaign forwarded a bigoted comment about opponent Raj Goyle to campaign supporters. Pompeo has apologize and said it was an accident - they meant to forward an article about the midwest political scene. I'm sure it was not intentional, at least by Pompeo himself. Don't really know him, but met him a few times and can't believe he would stoop that low.

It does make you wonder what his staff was doing with this comment. Staffers are often more ideological and hard core than their bosses. Which can lead to these kind of gaffes.


Unfortunately it's given the nutbag who made the comment, who is from Wichita, publicity and injected race and religion into the race. Will Pompeo make an issue out of Goyle's lack of religious affiliation and being raised in the Hindu tradition growing up?

Doubt it. He will most likely just try to paint Goyle as a liberal, Obama-like person who wants government to run every aspect of our lives.

And Goyle will paint Pompeo as a return to Bush era that got us into the recession and someone who would jack around with social security and medicare, etc ....

Those opposed ...

Three of seven school board members voted against the budget due to a small tax increase for Ark City Schools. This story outlines their arguments.

School funding is a complicated, frustrating world when you're trying to balance needs of taxpayers and needs of educating our children - one of governments priorities. Don't envy being in the school board's position.

Although this school district, or college district, passed a budget that lowers the mill levy a bit, $29,000 worth. Looks like increased enrollment might have helped funding, allowing them to keep decrease the mill levy.

They did it

School board in Ark City approved a budget with small mill levy increase.
The budget includes a wage increase for teachers, and raises an extra $61,000 or so, which translates to about $10 more per year on a $100,000 home.

Frankly I'm surprised this was done. It's not a bunch of money, but you'd think they would, politically, find $61,000 in projected savings instead of risking alienation of the public with a tax increase. The bond issue, the local sales taxes, and now the state sales tax have increased the tax burden. I suppose this is why the vote was split 4-3.

I could understand more the pursuit of a mill increase if the threat were big — several hundred thousand or so to make up.

Vote break down

Looks like LaDonna Lanning won the election in the townships. She ran pretty even with Smith in Winfield precincts, 394 to 393. He edged her slightly in Ark City, 167-152, but she did better in the rural areas, 508-380, especially in Ninnescah and Maple townships in northeast part of county, which I guess is Udall.

Muret, it appears, won Winfield and did decently in northern Cowley rural areas, but had little showing in Ark City. Reverse is true with Wilson, who had very few votes in Winfield.

The battle in the general election is going to be in Ark City. Krusor will probably win Winfield, but if Lanning stays strong in townships and wins Ark City, she could pull it off.

In the commission race, no surprise that a Winfield resident won. That's where the votes are in that district. By looks of it, I don't see how anybody from Ark City, or Ark City area, could win it against a Winfield area person. I think Wilt's being well respected in Winfield drove his numbers way up.

Lanning, Wilt are the winners

LaDonna Lanning beat the boys for the GOP nomination for local judge.
Chris Smith and Bill Muret were a close second and third.

I suspected she might sneak in there. I was also surprised and impressed at the number of yard signs, and financial donors, she had.

Wayne Wilt soundly won the county commission race. No surprise there, with most of the district in the Winfield area. Wilt seems like he'd make a good commissioner. Ark City area candidates McGowan and Green ran third and fourth.

Pompeo looks like he'll easily win the GOP nod for Congress. That general election race should be interesting. Pompeo's got to the be the favorite but Goyle's got money, smarts and presents well on TV and on the stump.

Hopefully Moran will hold on to beat Tiahrt.

Traveler endorsements

These appeared in Saturday's paper. You'll have to read it to see the arguments behind them.

District Judge

LaDonna Lanning — (I've taken some heat for this one. Some attorneys says she's not professional and doesn't get along with others)

County Commission
Eddie McGowan

Congress
Jean Schodorf - Republican
Raj Goyle - Democrat

U.S. Senate
Jerry Moran - Republican
David Haley - Democrat

Sec. of State
Elizabeth Ensley - Republican
Chris Biggs - Democratc

Attorney General
Derek Schmidt - Republican

Commission forum

The candidates, in forum at the fair, pretty much touched on issues already covered in this campaign, except one: the idea of a county sales tax for economic development purposes. Wayne Wilt was the only one who said he might support something like that.

While I think a sales tax to provide stable funding for cowley first and to use as seed money or leverage funds for expansion of local businesses is a good idea, now is not the time. As Darrin Green said, the sale tax is already high, esp. in Ark City. Perhaps when the state sales tax and the street tax in A.C. goes away, it would be something to consider.

VOTE TODAY!

Local races

I think we have a good crop of candidates for county commission and for judge. The GOP primary will decide the next county commissioner. I think it's a hard choice, all of them are qualified and all have pretty similar ideas about county government, it seems. Guess experience might be the deciding factor.

In the District Court judge's race, all are attorneys with solid reputations. Chris Smith probably has the best name recognition as county prosecutor, but really all of them are pretty well known. Watch LaDonna Lanning as the sleeper in this race. I would guess she is the least well known but with five candidates, she could slip through. I know of several women who like the idea of a woman on the bench.

Pompeo v. Hartman

This was the first time I'd heard Hartman speak. There is a bit of a tycoon presence about him, sort of a Donald Trump aura with his success in business and how it takes credit for things.

Course my take is that both guys are too ideological and puritanical in their comments about how government should work. But Hartman appears to go even further, if not in his actual positions but in his strong persona and language.

Not sure he's the kind of guy who could work with 434 other people to help craft legislation. While Pompeo might not be either, I think he's personality might be more suited to Congress, and his intellectual approach is also impressive.

Questionable judgement

Seems like the judicial candidates are using an over abundance of caution in declining to attend forums. Seems like the public should get more credit for understanding that they might not be able to answer certain questions due to the need to stay neutral as a judge.

As one reader said recently, this district court judge position probably has more influence and power over the lives of Cowley County citizens than any other elected position because of the power to make direct decisions over their freedom and property.

Municipal pollution?

Mell Kuhn is back in full form.

Only he could offer up this type of playground put down, as he did in remarks today about the auditors who looked at the city's organizational issues.

Some of his criticisms are surely valid, but these bold, over-the-top statements are childish and poison the atmosphere and fracture any unity on the commission.

A full circle of shame, blame

For those keeping up with the debacle that is the Shirley Sherrod story, this piece by Politico about online provocateurs is informative.

Not to be too philosophical here, but I think the real culprit here is — US. You and me, the reader, the viewer the information consumer.

Seems like society is eating up factional attacks that promote each faction's agenda. Doesn't matter much whether they are vetted, edited and put in context. No, the point is the political or ideological agenda. The truth, as much as it can be obtained, is secondary or even irrelevant.

The immediacy and unaccountability of the online world fuels this type of information dissemination. And traditional media, the ones we rely on to provide editing, context, get caught up because so many people follow the story.

The media really is a reflection of society. In many ways the online world is great, because of the information access and ability to bring more transparency to a story or issue.

But it would be nice if Fox News, MSNBC and other outlets didn't allow itself to be used by people like Andrew Brietbart to stoke political flames to win factional wars. However, in the end, Glen Beck, Andrew Brietbart, Keith Olberman aren't the problem. Those hucksters and fear mongers have been around forever. They are political pornographers.

Those of us who watch them, are the problem.

Fox News is singled out because it is at the center of so much of this. It may not even have a political agenda per say, but it has an audience/money agenda. It knows these things get ratings, stoke the fears and worries of conservative-leaning whites, or confirm their beliefs.

How else can you explain the pushing of this story, the obsession with the ACORN story, the obsession with the Black Panther story, and the obsession with the Vance Jones story?

And then there's Obama and his administration's cowardly response to this stuff. Normally they don't over react, (in fact probably don't react fast enough) but this time they got sucked into the muck. At least they have apologized.

Perhaps the damage to this innocent bystander, whose story should actually be celebrated (she fought against her own racial prejudice after her father was killed by a white man and a cross burned in her yard) will inject some sanity back into the media and political discourse?

Dept. of Bigortry, part 2

Some disappointing reader reaction to my post about the racism surrounding the opposition to the proposed Muslim mosque near ground zero in New York:

I believe it is a stupid idea to build a muslim shrine on the very ground where American citizens were murdered. The muslim community has no right to go anywhere near Ground Zero in my opinion.

Oh yeah, they absolutely should be able to build a mosque at ground zero. Don't all great victories in battle get a shrine built to them? Gettysburg? Bull Run? thermopylae? Let's remember the great victory of the brave men who flew a plane into the WTC and killed all those enemies of the muslim faith.

How many Christian churches are allowed to be built in Muslim countries ? Zip zero nada ....

The level of stereotyping and discrimination here is stunning. But alas, in the blogosphere, things sometimes tend to balance out. Here are some other comments:

I forgot it was Islam that attacked us on 9/11. So yeah, basically all Muslims should be held responsible.

You folks realize 300 of the victims were muslim, right? And the terrorists were extremists?
Throughout history entire races of people have been blamed for the actions of a few from said race.

There are a couple facts that have to be agreed upon here by any sane-thinking person.

1) The proposed mosque is NOT on ground zero, but a couple blocks away.

2) Other than sharing the same general religion, there is absolutely no connection between the people proposing the mosque and the terrorists who flew the planes into the towers. (This would be like holding all Christians accountable, and restricting their practices, because of people like Fred Phelps.)

3) The free exercise of religion is a constitutional right.


Thank God the mayor of New York gets it. Bloomberg supports the building.

"Everything the United States stands for and New York stands for is tolerance and openness," he said.

Schodorf soaring?

Could this be true? It's a press release from Jean Schodorf Campaign today:

Schodorf catches up to Hartman and Pompeo

The Schodorf for Congress Campaign said today that their polling of Republican voters in the Fourth Congressional District now shows Jean Schodorf in a statistical tie with Wink Hartman and Mike Pompeo in the Republican primary for Fourth District Congress.
Those surveyed were asked, “If the election for congress were today, would you be voting for Jean Schodorf, Jim Anderson, Mike Pompeo, or Wink Hartman?” The names were rotated among callers.
The results:
Hartman 19%
Schodorf 18%
Pompeo 16%
Anderson 9%
Not sure 39%

The poll was conducted by Jayhawk Consulting Services on July 15, two days after Jean Schodorf was endorsed by former U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker.

Jean Schodorf said, “I’m very pleased with where we are at this point. Although Mr. Hartman and Mr. Pompeo have been advertising heavily, we have managed to close the gap with old-fashioned person to person campaigning. Our own advertising begins in earnest this weekend.”

Jayhawk Consulting Services conducted 400 live personal interviews. There is a 95% level of confidence in the results. Dr. Jim Yonally, President of Jayhawk Consulting Services, has over 30 years of experience in public opinion polling, campaign consulting, and Kansas public policy development. “Over the past 12 years our polls have correctly predicted the outcome of candidate elections with 94% accuracy,” said Yonally.

His firm surveyed Republicans who have actually voted in at least two of the last three primary elections. Polling was done on a geographic representation of past voter turnout, using experienced callers who are well-educated adults.

For more information contact: Jean Schodorf 316.259.0912 or 316.831.0229

Audit-acious Part 2

The performance audit is suggestions some serious changes to the organizational structure of city government. The idea of an umbrella community development department makes some sense.

Seems the overall theme of the audit is a lack of planning and deliberate delivery of services, such as vehicle replacement, road and infrastructure repair, etc.

Hopefully the commission won't just shelve this audit. The spat over whether to bring the auditors back to present the information hopefuly won't sour the whole deal.

Mell Kuhn's brash statements about the auditors not telling the city anything it didn't know already is typical bombastic rhetoric on his part. This kind of talk can bring the whole effort down.

He does make a good point, however, about the need to act on the recommendations and not just sit on the thing, a feeling it seems like the whole commission shares.

Clean it up!

This story about Jim Sybrant complaining about code enforcement illustrates a dilemna about keeping up property in town. First, code enforcement can only get to things they get complaints on. This may sound poor, but it has been the case in every town/county I've covered as a journalist (four, other than this one.) Actually, Fort Pierce Fla., did begin to take a proactive approach, but they sunk a bunch of money into prosecuting code violators in a big effort to clean up the town.

Second, are the codes what they should be? Barbed wire fencing is apparently allowed in certain conditions in town? Also, remember the yard parking, and the sofas etc on front porches?

The city can't get cleaned up if the codes are sufficient.

Department of Bigotry

Sad stereotyping going on in New York City, where plans to build a mosque not far from ground zero are stoking xenophobia and illustrating the hatefulness of stereotyping.

Good for the TV stations refusing to air the ad.

Fire folks

The city audit shows that the fire department might be understaffed, which is understandable with no permanent chief, no ems coordinator (that's news) and no fire marshall.

Sounds like the city has fallen behind on fire inspections. Positive news is that morale seems to be improving, and the auditors don't actually suggest getting a new fire chief at the moment. I believe interim chief Les Parks has said he's not interested in the full gig.

Audit-acious

With the Home National closure story getting most of the attention, the performance audit of the city of Ark City is getting a little overshadowed. But this is a big deal, and could reshape city operations if recommendations are followed through. City hall reporter, Andrew Lawson, is doing a yeoman's job of covering this thing in detail and getting the info to the public. Here's his second story, which covers street repair.

Remember a few years ago when the city hired a consultant to create a street repair program? Sounds kind of familiar. As I recall, though, that proposal was very costly.

The audit covers lots of interesting stuff, including recommendations on water billing and computer repairs, which will be featured later this week.

Bank on it

Seems like RCB's arrival in Cowley County has been fairly well received. We'll see what happens if they reduce workforce at the Ark City downtown location, which seems likely.

But they seem to fit the small town, conservative model that perhaps HNB got away from as they expanded into the Wild West. Most of their bank locations are small towns in Oklahoma. Will they sell off the Scottsdale Arizona properties, seems to be a big question?

HNB no more

As workers covered up Home National Bank signs with RCB signs Saturday, you could feel a sense of history and change. The bank that for decades was owned by a local family and was so much a part of Ark City's financial, commercial and community life, is gone. But not totally - we still have three banks in town. And RCB does appear to be a regional-community bank, which could be the best news. We'll see what kind of changes they make to their new Ark City locations.

Moran-Tiahrt debate

The debate will be replayed these times and channels, according to political science professor Bob Beatty at Washburn.

C-SPAN: 7:30pm on Saturday, July 10.
KSN: 10:35 pm, Sunday, July 11.
KSNT: 11am, Sunday, July 11.
KSHB: 1:00, Sunday, July 11.

Lighting the way

If the preservation boardapproved the sign,you can bet the city commission will, too.

This is probably as it should be. The sign isn't too incongruous for the building.

Just hope that making these exceptions doesn't hurt the downtown's designation as an historical district. Hopefully this issue will raise awareness and eh em, get people talking about a Main Street program?

Tiahrt v. Moran

Coverage from the Eagle here. Immigration and security sounds like topics that dominated the debate. I was glad to hear, actually that Tiahrt supported in-state tuition for immigrants and even driver's licenses for illegal aliens (Don't think this is a good idea, but liked that he was on the side of trying to assimilate them) but of course today, when running in a GOP primary, Tiahrt can't have those positions so he's changed his mind.

It's funny that each is exposing the other's more moderate, or less conservative positions in their pitched battle to appear the most conservative. Tiahrt is highlighting Moran's vote against Bush tax cuts, and his opposition to military tribunals in certain cases. Moran, probably rightly, says they violated the U.S. constitution. But right now that's the last thing he wants voters to know .....

Illegal fireworks

Seemed like there were more illegal fireworks this 4th than ever before in the city limits of Ark City. There was a garage fire in Winfield from smoldering fireworks.

Love fireworks myself, we shot some off in the county. But it will take a few more accidents, or one horrible one, for the county to reimpose the ban. I wonder how smart it is to let folks shoot fireworks. Some of them are pretty powerful. Like mortar rounds.

Tiahrt-Moran debate

Tonight on KSN. This should be good. Both are catering to the tea party crowd somewhat, although Tiahrt is a card-carrying member. Tiahrt has been the aggressor, but Moran has also gone after Tiahrt on spending, big government votes. Which seems to be about all they can talk about.

Immigration reform push

Obama gives a speech to launch new effort at immigration policy reform.

Here's an idea — what if BOTH sides compromised a bit on the immigration wars and the county tightened the borders AND helped legitimize the people with good records who came here illegally.

Remember, you like those $2 socks at Wal-Mart and that $2.97 lb hamburger.

Let there be light!

The overwhelming majority of votes in the UNSCIENTIFIC online poll support letting Land Rush Leather light the sign.


Should Land Rush Leather be allowed to light its sign?
Yes — I don't see the problem.
(248 Votes, 76%)
No, the Kansas Historical Society is right.
(67 Votes, 21%)
I have no opinion.
(10 Votes, 3%)

I have mixed feelings about this. Gotta follow the guidelines, and if one exceptions are made where does it stop. But it doesn't seem like that big of a violation to light a sign that otherwise follows the rules.

Gun ban debate

The majority of Supreme Court thinks the second amendment applies to individuals and has, basically, struck down the ban on handguns in Chicago.

Here's a good editorial supportingthe decision. Here's one opposing it.

Tiahrt needs surge

The latest SurveyUSA poll shows Moran still leading Tiahrt big. Tiahrt today announced that Fox News personality Sean Hannity had endorsed him. He also touts the Palin endorsement on his Web page.

If these numbers hold, it will be a clear loss for the Tea Party efforts. Tiahrt his throwing all he's got at Moran, but nothing seems to stick. Of course anything can change in a month, but you'd think Moran's numbers would go down by down.

As the downtown turns

This story highlights the change, and some anxiety, about downtown with major icons now off the map - Fosters, Bryants and Browns, and to some extent Gambinos.

New businesses are coming in. Will they replace this kind of retail activity and cultural pull for downtown? Time will tell. One good sign is that some existing businesses are moving into downtown from outside it — McDonald's Computers, Verizon. The rent is cheap and it's a great location!

Don't spend, unless

The problem with Tiarht and Moran, and lots of other GOP primary races, is that they are acting like they have been spend thrifts all their lives but their records are contrary,at this editorial shows.

Not only that, but how will they cut spending? By far the biggest areas are social security, medicare and defense. Are they up for axing some of that?

Unhappy meals

I love this story because it highlights two truths of life — McDonald's is brilliant at marketing their unhealthy food and has the nation's children hooked. Some people worried about the nation's health would like to sue to stop them from selling toys in meals, but that's ridiculous because in the end, it's a choice.

And I hope my wife reads this and doesn't take the kids to McDonald's today!

Light isn't right

This story reminds me of the need for a Main Street organization. The owner of the new leathershop went to the trouble to buy a very nice sign but can't light it because it doesn't mean historical guidelines. He and the building owner say they were not aware that downtown Ark City was an historical preservation district. A Main Street program would have fully informed them and told them about opportunities for grants for improvements, etc..

Winfield and Newkirk have thriving Main Street programs. Ark City has, arguably, the best downtown in terms of historical buildings and layout, and yet no group dedicated to its improvement.

Another downtown closure

Brown's Store is closing. This is the third long-time business to close in downtown proper in the last 18 months or so. Without Bryant's Hardware, Foster's Furniture and Brown's Store, downtown is not the place it used to be, even in modern times. Nostaglia says things are going downhill, but optimism says everything runs it course and change must take place. New businesses are coming in, too, replacing the older ones, like the leather shop, gun store, meat store and others. Just hope they can keep up.

Brown's and Bryant's in particular, really defined the character of downtown because of the historical or cultural presence. Losing Brown's is a blow.

RIP Margie Berrie

Margie Berrie, the strong-willed former county commissioner, died this week. She lost reelection to Gary Wilson in 2004. She could be difficult to work with, apparently, but her entry into public service is a great story — she took up a cause close to her – improving the cemetery where her husband was buried - and then ran for public office based on the experience.

Margie also gets credit for being open-minded during the debate over whether to create the county administrator's position. She changed her mind during the discussion and eventually voted for it, which kind of run counters to her reputation has hardheaded.

She also was a women who started her own trucking company. I'd love to hear more of that story ....

I enjoyed bumping into Margie in the grocery store. She'd always ask about my kids, and sometimes rib me for not endorsing her outright in the election that she lost.

And they're off ....

In the very UNSCIENTIFIC Traveler online poll, Chris Smith has a slight lead thus far. Gotta believe that his name recognition as county attorney makes him the favorite.

Rod Iverson
(37 Votes, 22%)
LaDonna Lanning
(20 Votes, 12%)
Bill Muret
(26 Votes, 15%)
Chris Smith
(48 Votes, 28%)
Bert Wilson
(39 Votes, 23%)

Silent 78th

Pretty interesting that Ed Trimmer will have no opponent in the general election in house district 78. This should be a big Republican year and he's a Democrat in a very Republican county. But ... Winfield has a history of electing Democrats at the state level, and Trimmer seems to have settled in pretty well. He's very visible around his district and even though most of his votes sway to the left, he's adept at articulating his reasons and his knowledge of legislation is impressive.

No surprise really that Kasha Kelley, district 79, has no opposition this year. She steamrolled her last opponent two years ago and has strong populist support in Ark City. Her fiscal and social conservative record seems to ressonnate in Ark City. And, she's very likeable.

ACI shares

I think the commission ended up doing the right thing here. Doesn't seem like a good idea to have the city own shares, even a small amount, of a private development group, even one that exists for the overall community good.

That said, some of the talk about how business and government shouldn't mix goes too far. Obviously government and business DO mix and need to mix. Look at Cowley First, where a public group promoting economic development gets funding from private businesses, who then have seat at the board to make decisions. The way it's set up provides for decision-making for the overall good of the county.

Other examples are redevelopment agencies inside cities and counties that work closely, even sometimes funding, private development if a larger public benefit can be found.

But with ACI, we had the potential of the city being a shareholder, or part owner, in a private, for profit company. Perhaps ACI should look at changing its model to a non profit, or even a public agency. The distrust, which appears to me unfounded, among the public, seems to be because of the way it operates. And, let's be honest, because ACI and Home National Bank had such close connections.

Kobach's = Kline

Comparing Sec. of State candidate Khris Kobach to former Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline is pretty apt, as this Eagle editorial does.

Kline's obession was abortion and he seemed to devote his office and time to battling it, even though the law permits it.

Kobach seems unnaturally focused on one issue, immigration, and wants to turn the Sec. of State's office into a law enforcement office to crack down on voter fraud.

Except where is the evidence of voter fraud? What he really wants to do go after illegal immigrants from an office that isn't designed for that. He was involved in writing Arizon's new law targeting illegal residents.

He's trying to cast voter fraud as protecting civil rights, except he's not trying to protect anybody's civil right, he's trying to claim some people don't have that right but are getting it.

Maybe there's evidence of serious voter fraud in Kansas, including by illegal immigrants, that I'm not aware of. I'm sure viewers will let me know ...

Anti-semitism

This isn't an issue that comes up much around here — virtually no Jewish people at all in Cowley County. But Helen Thomas' "back where they came from" comment about Jews in Isreal was bigoted and insensitive, as Cal Thomas points out. And I rarely agree with Cal Thomas.

The point that she was apparently trying to make is one that seems to underscore the entire Mid-east conflict: How do you resettle a country with Jewish refugees immigrants under an ethnic and religious framework, and still uphold the rights of the people who where already there - the Palestinians.

It seems an impossible task - which is why it seems there is no end in sight to the Israel - Palestinian problem.

Parkinson's praises

Ed Flentje, political science prof at WSU and former interim Wichita City Manager, sings Gov. Mark Parkinson's praises in this column. Indeed he governed from the center - the best place to be, in lawmaking.

The guy could go toe to toe with Brownback, if he were to run. But alas Parkinson appears to be bowing out of politics. Perhaps that's the reason he has governed so well - not worrying about the next election.

Kasha running

Kasha Kelley, R-Arkansas City, is seeking a fourth term in the state House. She's now on file with the sec. of state.

She's probably a shoo-in. Esp. if nobody runs against her. The filing deadline is Thurs. noon and it appears she is the only one so far.

judgeship

LaDonna Lanning has formally filed for district judge on the Republican side.

If anyone can make an argument for why judge elections are partisan, I'd like to hear them.

Suffice it to say that Krusor looks like he'll cruise to victory on the Democratic side. I would say Chris Smith is the heavy hitter on the GOP side, because of his status as county attorney and overall he has had a good tenure. No one ran against him in 2008 for reelection.

Dem defector

County Attorney Chris Smith says he discovered after being a prosecutor that he's more GOP than Democrat. I suppose this makes sense, but the timing of it — to run for district judge – seems like there might be a little political expedience in the mix? Although it might be easier to win on the Democratic side, with only one candidate, Mark Krusor, in that primary. Smith's entry into the GOP field brings the total to five.

Wonder if Smith will take his Obama bumper sticker off his car?

Customer service

City manager Steve Archer says Karol Magnus's departure wasn't related to audit of city services, but, again, it's hard not to draw conclusions between people leaving unceremoniously and the audit of city services being done by an outside consultant.

I do know that the phone response system at City Hall stinks. Unless they changed it recently. Seems like it just looped back to the water department or something strange and confusing like that. If you didn't have an ext. number you couldn't get far ....

A taxing debate

Kuhn and Smith didn't like the Ark City chamber's stance on the state budget and taxes, which led in part to chamber dropping out of Kansas Chamber. Kuhn would have more credibility on this if he actually paid his taxes (on time).

Sheldon's Paw_ Shop

Bill Sheldon's convictions relating to accepting a fire arm from a convicted felon have all been thrown out. Will get back in the pawn business? Seems like the business has been going all along. The sign doesn't say Pawn anymore, though it says Paw ... and it's still an eye sore.

Build a fence, Bill!

Everything in moderation?

Moderate, and the whole concept of moderation, is a virtue not a vice in life. But in the Kansas GOP, and the GOP nationally. Moderate has become a dirty word. As this Great column by Chapman Rackaway from Fort Hays State shows. This is what typically happens in a primary, just as democrats veer left, but this year the trend is acute among Republicans for the perceived influence of the tea party movement and overall dissatisfaction with Democrats in charge of congress and white house.

Once upon a time Kansas was identified with more practical Republicans - Eisenhower, Dole, Kassabaum. Now the Kansas GOP has become more linked to conservative crusaders such as Phil Kline and Sam Brownback. And if Tiahrt becomes Senator, look out. And the GOPers running for Tiahrt's seat fighting for the ultra-conservative mantle, expect one - Jean Schodorf, whose only hope is that the others will split the very conservative vote.

Judgeship

Mad rush to replace retiring judge Michael Smith. How much does that job pay? Here's a story, four years old, that says Kansas district court judges get $104,000 a year.

Course money is just one component. I imagine that many attorneys aspire to becoming a judge as the pinnacle of the career in the judicial system. And the hours are probably better.

Am-on-track?

Good to see Sen. Steve Abrams at the informational meeting last night for the Amtrack extension through Ark City. Now if we can get Kasha Kelley aboard (pun intended).

What we don't hear from either of them is strong advocacy, which is what it will take from lawmakers whose districts stand to benefit. As I said earlier, it's hard for Abrams and Kelley them to take up a cause that could cost the state more money, esp. if general fund dollars are needed.

But, hey, they are fiscal conservatives, and subsidizing train service isn't what they were elected on.

But it would be nice to see them fighting for something that seems an obvious benefit to our area.

What's going on here?

West Chestnut Ave. bridge seems like a den of inequity. And pretty dangerous. These spots pop up in every town. In Winfield, The Damn, off 19th Street was always a place of were boundaries were crossed. Might still be.

Blue Skies ahead?

Of course the economy will turn around eventually. But is state Treasurer Dennis McKinney right to be bullish on the future of the Kansas economy due to investments in workforce and research?

Makes some sense to me. Just wish we could get a bio-lab or something similar in or around Cowley County!

More Tea-hrt trouble

Tiahrt's tea party strategy is apparently not working. He's way behind in the latest SurveyUSA poll. With the race two months away, can he close the gap without a huge gaffe by Moran? (he doesn't seem like a gaffe-prone pol)


But Tiahrt is on the offensive.

Attempting to make Moran look like a Pelosi Democrat just doesn't pass the smell test. Moran might have NOT voted for a large tax break once, but there just isn't enough there for that characiture to stick.

Ghosts of Lowe's

Great follow up by Andrew Lawson on Tuesday's controversy over creating a redevelopment district. Things seem to have gotten personal again. The ghosts of Lowe's three years ago haunts this deal.

I wonder whether the new majority wouldn't be wiser to back off a little now (especially if they indeed they need 4 votes to enter into an development agreement) and wait for spring 2011.

Trouble for Tiahrt?

If this poll is true, Tiahrt is moving backward. He's trying hard to bring down Moran's favorable rating, blasting away at every opportunity. But it apparently isn't working. CAVEAT - this is an internal poll done FOR Moran, so needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Both, frankly, have gone a big cookoo trying to suck up the perceived influence of the tea party sentiment. But Tiahrt more so than Moran. In fact Tea Party Express has endorsed Tiahrt. (he can't stop telling people that) If Tiahrt losses, and losses big, will that signal that tea party was overhyped?

If he wins, will that signal the tea party has muscle?

Blight, right?

You're going to want to read this entire story. Robust debate, including accusations of personal gain.

This whole debate masks the true conflict - whether to use financial incentives to bring retail-type businesses to town. In the end, they need 4 votes to do so. Doesn't look like they have them, so probably the next election (spring 2011) will hinge mightily on this issue.

Tipsy on tea

So Tiahrt is throwing his lot in with Rand Paul and elevating the Tea Party Express. Below is his press release last night.

It's probably safe for Tiahrt to jump as far right as he has because there's no significant Democratic opposition in Kansas for Senate. (if he can get past Moran) But can Paul and the Tea Party stand up to general election scrutiny in places where you have to actually appeal to independents and Democrats? Paul, for example, has some pretty unorthodox ideas, like opposing the Americans with Disabilities act. The Tea Party Express appeals to the hard right base of the party, but its titular leader goes way off the reservation, like saying Muslims worship a Monkey-God and calling Obama a Nazi.

The Republicans will obvious gain seats in November. But will it be able to bring in the tea party sentiment or be run over by it?


TIAHRT CONGRATULATES PAUL; CHEERS TEA PARTY VICTORY


WICHITA, KS - Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard) congratulates US Senatorial candidate Rand Paul (R-KY) today as Paul secured the GOP nomination in Kentucky by defeating KY Secretary of State and establishment candidate, Trey Grayson.

"Congratulations to Rand Paul and to the Tea Party activists in Kentucky and across the nation," said Tiahrt. "The Tea Party Patriots are making a difference in every state and in every election this year, as they force establishment candidates to answer for their irresponsible and sometimes reckless past votes. I am honored to stand with the Tea Party activists across the nation today as we witness another of the many shockwaves bound to hit Washington this year."

Tiahrt and Paul were featured in a Wall Street Journal article Monday, May 17th discussing how conservative candidates were the beneficiary of conservative and Tea Party activists moving the Republican Party to the right. Both Tiahrt and Paul have been endorsed by the Tea Party Express and other high profile conservative groups.

The article can be found here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/capital_journal.html