Thursday, September 30, 2010

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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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

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.

Monday, September 20, 2010

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.

Friday, September 17, 2010

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.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

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.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

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.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

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.

Monday, September 6, 2010

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.