Opinion

OPINION – Surprise resignations begin the process of healing

L&T STAFF OPINION

During last night’s Seward County Commission meeting, Commissioner Presephoni Fuller read her resignation letter effective immediately. She said she and her family were planning to move to a home they recently purchased in Florida.

Following her resignation, Chairman Scott Carr announced he would be resigning earlier this morning, and Tammy Sutherland-Abbott followed suit.

For Sutherland-Abbott and Carr, recall efforts were under way after they both signed grant application letters that required matching tax dollars but took those actions without a vote of the commission.

OPINION – Despite lessons of history, we are still targeting Jews

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

My grandpa Dude loved to watch television shows about history, especially about World War II.

He had a set of video tapes called “News Reels” that were actual news reports that were shown in movie theaters during World War II.

It seem bizarre today to watch Adolf Hitler and his motorcade driving down the streets of Paris to roaring crowds as he passed by the Arc d’Triumph. At some places along the route flowers were being tossed.

How could Hitler be welcomed into a country he just conquered to such applause?

In many cases it comes back to a hatred of Jews.

Hitler hated Jews. Hated them.

It wasn’t a religious disagreement. It was an idea that being Jew was not even human.

OPINION – The right way to do Christmas

THE POSTSCRIPTS, Carie Classon

I know there are a lot of opinions about the right way to do Christmas.

My husband, Peter, feels the holidays are too commercial — too much time spent in preparation, too much added stress buying everyone presents. I know there are people who stand in long lines for sales and put debt on their credit cards, and I don’t think this is what the holidays are supposed to be about. I understand Peter’s point, and I can imagine a Christmas that was nothing more than a good meal and time with family.

But I don’t feel that way.

OPINION – Wichita should reallocate spending rather than add a new (rushed?) 1% sales tax

GUEST COLUMN, Dave Trabert, Kansas Policy Institute

The Wichita City Council seems poised to rush a proposal to the ballot for a 1-cent sales tax to raise $850 million over seven years for several new projects. That at least implies that imposing a new tax is the only way to fund “public safety projects, property tax relief, and revitalizing Century II and the surrounding area, among other things” without having first (or ever) doing a thorough performance-based budget review.

If the measure goes to the ballot, we’ll dig into the specific proposals over time, but property tax relief is a non-starter. It looks good on paper, but it won’t happen. The State Legislature gave money to cities and counties for theoretical property tax relief with its Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction program. The Legislature last funded it in 2003, when the average county tax increase was 7.6 percent. LAVTR merely gave local officials more to spend. Without LAVTR, county property taxes averaged a 3.8 percent increase over the last five years.

OPINION – SEARCH grant can help your town plan for future

GUEST COLUMN, Val Ankeny, Center for Rural Affairs

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program is helping rural communities with resources for feasibility studies, preliminary design, and technical assistance on proposed water and waste disposal projects.

USDA Rural Development’s Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) program was designed for communities in rural areas of 2,500 or less with limited financial resources. By covering predevelopment costs, the program ensures that communities aren’t left behind simply because they can’t afford the first steps.