Mayoral and Ward 3 Primary

With everything going on recently about that proposed community center there were same changes in the upcoming primary election to be held August 6, 2019.  Will cover the non-primary elections in a separate post as they are to be held November 5, 2019.

Mayor's Primary: 

Michelle Distler has filed for reelection
Ajay Sood has filed
Dawn Tubbesing (served on council as Kuhn) has filed
Stephanie Meyer has filed - withdrew from running for her Ward 3 council seat to run for mayor

Ward 3 Council Seat:

Dawn Rattan has filed
Kurt Knappen withdrew from the 2 year unexpired seat to run for the full four year seat
Nick Reed has filed

Interesting item.  Nick Reed apparently filed for the Ward 3 seat at about the same time that Stephanie Meyer switched over to running for mayor.  Hmmmmm, was he her hand picked "replacement"?  If so, the only thing I can say is that he might want to visit Gall's at 9200 Marshall Drive, yes, in Lenexa.  They have a full range of LEO gear.  He might want to pay particular attention to the items listed at https://www.galls.com/stab-armor#products_scroll as these items could protect against being stabbed in the back.  Just a thought.

The Crying Has Started

Wow, looks like Hillary Clinton syndrome has spread to Shawnee.  The crying by some current and former elected officials about the failure of the bond issue for the proposed community center has started.

First, let's look at some numbers:

Turn out for the mail ballot election:  19,951 of 43,019 registered voters 46.38%  This is a significant number for two reasons.  First, mail ballots in other JoCo cities have in the past pulled 30-35% of the registered voters.  In most previous Shawnee local elections (council/mayor) only between 10-15% of the voters actually vote.  The final vote of 72% against to 28% for was a wipe out.  Next week we should see the breakdown by wards.  With only 5,559 voters voting yes, it seems incomprehensible that any ward showed a majority of folks voting to approve.  I would be willing to bet that the item was even voted down in Ward 3, the home of the numero uno cheerleader for this project, Councilmember Stephanie Meyer. 

Failure of the proponents of the item to fully comprehend Question 35 contributed, IMHO, to the lopsided victory.  We have heard about how 67% of the folks wanted a new community center. But question 35, in the same survey indicated that 52.5% of those surveyed were unwilling to pay increased property taxes to finance its construction.  This item is/was on the city's web site but one had to dig to find it.  Also, in the city's literature pushing the project and their info tours, no mention of this item was made, until a citizen brought it up.  This was like asking somebody if they wanted a new Mercedes.  They would probably say yes.  Ask them if they would be willing to take on the payment for it would probably result in a negative response.

The surveys, studies, hiring of the consultants, cost of the election, etc. probably came close to a half million dollars.  The only positive to come out of that expenditure is that the people have spoken.  Take that back, the people have shouted at the top of their lungs.  Now, let's put this item to rest.

The original concept for the land which was purchased over a decade ago was to build a third swimming pool.  It then morphed into this monstrosity.  This property has been off the tax rolls for too long.  Let's sell it to a developer who is willing to build something that would bring in money to the city. 

No New Community Center or Property Taxes - Vote NO! Destroys The Vote Yes at the Ballot Box

The unofficial results are in regarding the $38 million bond issue to build a new community center in Shawnee.

NO...............14,380     72.12%

Yes.................5,559     27.88%

46.38% of the registered voters responded.  Usually in a mail ballot election the number is 30% to 35%
Tremendous outpouring.

This was a total, unequivocal repudiation of this boondoggle, and of those high profile individuals who supported it.  But more on that after the official certification.  I definitely want to see the breakdown by ward.

One thing that has come out of this election is that the people of Shawnee have shown that they will not allow the few to control the many.  No longer will you hear, "it doesn't matter what I think, it will happen anyway"

There is a new dynamic in Shawnee....................

Right now, I am extremely euphoric.  More to come after the certification.

It's Not Too Late To Vote

Have you voted in the mail ballot election concerning the proposed Shawnee Community
Center?  Well, if you haven't, there is still time to vote.  It is too late to mail it in, but you can hand deliver it, anytime (yep, even at midnight) between now and Tuesday 5/21/19 at 12 noon. They have very functional drive up drop off boxes

The election office  is located at 2101 E. Kansas City Rd. Olathe, KS 66061, just a couple of blocks south of Bass Pro Shops.  And with all of those American Flags outside of the building it is hard to miss.  Anyway, to make it easier for you spot, there are some pix below.       
We can stop this boondoggle and waste of taxpayer money.

                                          

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

The mail ballot election for the proposed Shawnee Community Center is what we are referring to.

All ballots have to be in to the JoCo Election office by noon next Tuesday, 5/21/19. Postage has been prepaid. If not mailed by Friday 5/17 we'd like to suggest that they then be hand delivered to the election office 2101 East Kansas City Rd, Olathe. Just a couple of blocks south of Bass Pro. There is a convenient drive up lane where you do not even have to get out of your car.

Let's all pull together to defeat this "want" because our city has many more important "needs".

Our city needs better infrastructure in many neighborhoods. We are talking sidewalks, street repairs, storm water drainage, curbs, etc.

Our city needs a replacement for fire station 71 and a new squad 75 station.

Our city needs our public safety departments to be fully staffed. At all times.

Check with your friends, family, neighbors and see if they have voted yet. If they haven't, please remind them that there is no in person voting on this election. The only way to make your voice heard is by voting.

Watch the Highway Signs

The city council’s move to create a “new Shawnee” west of 435 diverts critical resources away from the heart of Shawnee.  Let’s keep Shawnee one community working for all of us. Vote No!

 

 

 

 

If you haven't mailed back your ballot time is getting short.  The ballots need to be received at the JoCo Election office NLT Tuesday 5/21/19 at noon (not postmarked).  To be on the safe side, if you do not mail them back by Friday 5/17/19 please hand deliver them 24/7 to the election office.  There is a drive up lane with a drop box.  You do not even have to get out of your car. It is located just a few blocks south of Bass Pro at:

 

2101 East Kansas City Road
Olathe, Kansas 66061   

 

 

Why Shawnee Can't Compete With Lenexa

Many folks want the proposed community center to be approved. One reason heard often is because "Lenexa has one". So what? Lenexa has a commercial tax base that is close to double that of Shawnee. If a person has time they can drive all over Lenexa and see the commercial buildings (that pay twice what a residential owner pays). 

We won't even talk about how Lenexa planned theirs for 20 years and saved towards it. For those who don't believe me about the commercial tax base please view the image below. This is from a presentation that the Shawnee Finance Director gave to the Council Committee three days ago (5/6/19)

It shows Shawnee's commercial base as 25.6% and Lenexa's as 47.1% In Shawnee the burden will always mostly fall on residential owners. I think if you click on the image you might be able to view it larger.

Uncle Alan - In the Spotlight - Again

Remember Alan (former mayor Jeff Meyers' uncle by marriage) Willoughby?
Remember how his appointment to fill an open seat on the city council ended up with a KOMA investigation and the JoCo DA issuing a letter of rebuke?
Remember how he wound up back on the Planning Commission?  How his nephew(by marriage) broke a tie vote to appoint him to that position.

Well, it looks like Uncle Alan found a way to get back in the spotlight.  And, IMHO, not in a good way.  Remember, he is a sitting member of the Shawnee Planning Commission.  What did he do?  He sat on the dais, at the PC meeting on Monday 5/6/19 wearing a "Vote Yes" t-shirt in support of the proposed community center ballot initiative.

This is so wrong.  If he wants to wear that t-shirt outside of city hall fine.  If he wants to wear it while grocery shopping or elbow bending at a local pub that is fine.  But to wear it while performing his duties as a PC member is out of line.    I am calling for either his resignation or his removal by the city council.

Now for those who may doubt that it happened here is a picture of it.  Click to view a larger version.

Shawnee vs Lenexa Rec Center Salaries

Now this is absolutely amazing.  At last Monday's informational meeting the salaries for the proposed community center were again brought up.  it was noted that Shawnee proposes a variety of positions, of which 12 full time employees will earn in excess of $52K per year.  The top dog would get $70K.  These are amounts that are substantially higher than what we pay our starting PD & FD personnel.  The reason for these high salaries we were told was because these are degreed positions.

Well, I guess then that we must higher substantially more qualified personnel than Lenexa does (keeping in mind that Lenexa is the Jones certain folks are trying to keep up with).  How can I say that?  Easy.  Gotta love KORA requests. Lenexa only has 3 full time positions that pay over $50K per year at their center.  And their top dog is at $64K.

The charts are shown below.  Click on them to see larger size images.  The first one is the Ballard* King proposal for Shawnee and the second one is from the City of Lenexa..

BTW, since the mail ballots just arrived, remember please to vote NO

Chamber President Responds - And I Reply To that

On May1 I posted a copy of an email I sent to Ann Smith-Tate, President of the Shawnee
Chamber of Commerce.  Just scroll down to see that.  Ms. Smith-Tate did reply and her reply (unedited) is shown below.  Her responses (in red) were interleaved with the original email, as such the complete item is posted.

I have also replied to her response.  That item is listed at the bottom of this post.

Original Email with Ms. Smith-Tate's response:

Ray,

Please see my responses to your questions below.

Regards,

Ann

From: Ray Erlichman
Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 4:23 AM
To: Ann Smith-Tate
Subject: Chamber endorsement of proposed community center

Good morning Ann,

I  have a few questions concerning the recent endorsement of the chamber board for the proposed community center.

1.  In view of the money that the chamber receives from the city (actually that is taxpayer money, the city has no funds of its own) do you think it is ethically correct for the chamber to actually take sides on this issue?

Additionally, do you feel it is proper for the chamber to be a distributor of Vote Yes t-shirts and signs?

To be clear the Chamber of Commerce or its divisions do not receive any general fund allocations.  The EDC contract with the City is solely funded through the impact fees paid by Waste Management to the City of Shawnee for the express purposes of supporting economic development and infrastructure improvements in the city.  Visit Shawnee receives its funding from the transient guest tax which is fully paid by visitors staying in our hotels and is legislatively restricted by the state to be used to promote tourism.

Our board, which is comprised of community and business leaders, fully recognizes that ultimately the voters of Shawnee will determine the fate of this proposal, however they made the decision to endorse the measure because they felt it was important to address needs that have been identified through citizen surveys and provide a venue where citizens can access a variety of fitness and wellness activities such as the pool, indoor turf and court, classes, track and playgrounds.   Additionally it was discussed that the development of this community center aligns with the overall strategies of the board to enhance community development.  As such, the board of the chamber has historically weighed in on issues it felt were important to the future development of the community. This instance is no different.  

2.  What explanation does the chamber board have for its members who will wind up in a competitive situation with the proposed community center and would be funding that competition?

The chamber has members from a variety of industries including fitness and health. I’ve reached out to any members who have expressed concern from the Board’s endorsement and we’re working with them directly to address their challenges, that said it is important to note we also have members who fully support the initiative and see it as a compliment to their services.   As with all members, we will to strive provide the best value for their investment in our organization.

3.  The chamber board indicated that it thought the proposed community center would have a positive effect on neighboring businesses.  Which businesses do they feel will be positively affected?  Would the board support the addition of new businesses like Lenexa has, within close proximity to the community center?  Such businesses to include a major hotel, restaurants, retail and also the construction of modern upscale apartment complexes.  Many of those apartments have rental rates equal to or higher than many mortgages.  What would be the reaction of the residents of that area to that type of additional development?  Would the chamber support that?

We can’t speak specifically to future business developments or discuss current projects that are confidential in nature , however my years of experience in economic development have shown that an investment such as this  would have a major positive impact in any community.   It is believed that this amenity in our community will move Shawnee forward, especially in terms of the long-term vision for the “Valley of Champions.” The board will always be supportive of additional development and business expansion as that is the primary mission of our organization.

Since this item is of major importance to many residents of the city a copy of this email will be posted on my blog.  In all fairness, your reply will also be posted there.

Thank you for your time,

Ray

 

My Response this morning, 5/5/19

 

Ann,

First, let me say thank you for your response.

It is noted that you did not answer the question about the Chamber distributing signs and t-shirts.

Now, let’s get to the meat of what I find to be a troubling comment of yours.  Your comment that no general fund allocations were used.  That is a  dance around the fact that any funds that come into the city’s coffers belong to the taxpayers, not the government.

So, let’s take it step by step.  The monies received from the hotel task have to be spent to attract tourism.  But those funds do NOT have to be spent with Visit Shawnee.  Shawnee can choose to enter into an agreement with virtually any organization that can provide the same services.

Now, let’s go to the impact fee paid by Waste Management.  I think it is time you got a true history lesson on that item.  I was there when it first came up, you were not.  Initially, the former city manager, Carol Gonzales wanted the entire impact fee to go to “Economic Development”.  Fortunately there was enough pushback at the time from the council where the monies were split 50/50 (approximately $1.5 million each) towards economic development and for street improvements.  Even with that split, the city still needed a designated sales tax increase for our streets.  There have been various suggestions over the years to change the split with more going to streets.  Ironically, that would be very easy to do.  How?  There is no ordinance, policy etc. setting the split.  The split was decided at a budget session of the council as a “will of the council”.  As such, the split can be changed at any time without having to go through any long drawn out processes.  There were many who voiced concerns that the “economic development” portion of the split would become a “slush fund”.  Did this concern become reality when monies from that fund were used to finance the various changes regarding the train whistle situations out west?  For the record, I did speak favorably at the council to using those funds for the B&B Theater project. 

The economic development funds do NOT have to be spent with the SEDC.  They can be spent with any organization that could provide the same services.  Maybe it is time to again push for a change in the split of the impact fee so that more can be accomplished for our street problems.

And maybe it is time to look for organizations to replace both the SEDC and Visit Shawnee to handle those functions.

Again, just because the monies paid to the Chamber do not come from the general fund does not mean that they are not city (taxpayer) monies.

I will keep my word, and your response will be posted without editing, on my blog.  Additionally, so will this reply to you

Ray

 

Why Was City Staff Notified of Advocacy Social Media Pages Being Ready?

My favorite four letter word is.................KORA.  For those not familiar with that, it is the Kansas Open Records Act.  Basically, it is the Kansas equivalent of the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Something was bothering me about whether city staff was really educating the public or were they participating as advocates of one side of the community center issue.  I had previously advised the city manager that it was my opinion that staff was acting as advocates, especially with the snail mailed brochure which highlighted only the good and left out the bad and the ugly.

So, I submitted a KORA request for certain emails.  One of which is shown below.  Click on it to see a larger version.  My question now is why did the company that is handling the Shawnee Community Center Advocacy Project (that is how it is listed on their web site) notify certain city staff that two social media sites promoting the project were ready?  Also, there appears to be coordination with the contractor for the project regarding this matter.  Is the city assisting in coordinating for an approval of the project?  Doesn't the contractor stand to make millions if the voters approve the project?  Does the contractor's front man stand to get a special bonus if the project is approved by the voters?

Who are the players in the email shown below?:

Jayne Siemens, President, Venice Communications, a firm specializing in media relations
Julie Breithaupt, City Communications Manager
Tonya Lecuru, Deputy Parks Director
Eric Danielson, Business Development, Science and Technology, J E Dunn
Stephanie Meyer, Ward 3 Councilmember, City of Shawnee

Email to Shawnee Chamber Regarding Its Endorsement of Proposed Community Center

The following email was sent this morning to Ann Smith-Tate, President and CEO of the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce.  As stated, I will be happy to post her reply here.

Good morning Ann,

 I have a few questions concerning the recent endorsement of the chamber board for the proposed community center.

1.  In view of the money that the chamber receives from the city (actually that is taxpayer money, the city has no funds of its own) do you think it is ethically correct for the chamber to actually take sides on this issue?

Additionally, do you feel it is proper for the chamber to be a distributor of Vote Yes t-shirts and signs?

2.  What explanation does the chamber board have for its members who will wind up in a competitive situation with the proposed community center and would be funding that competition?

3.  The chamber board indicated that it thought the proposed community center would have a positive effect on neighboring businesses.  Which businesses do they feel will be positively affected?  Would the board support the addition of new businesses like Lenexa has, within close proximity to the community center?  Such businesses to include a major hotel, restaurants, retail and also the construction of modern upscale apartment complexes.  Many of those apartments have rental rates equal to or higher than many mortgages.  What would be the reaction of the residents of that area to that type of additional development?  Would the chamber support that?

Since this item is of major importance to many residents of the city a copy of this email will be posted on my blog.  In all fairness, your reply will also be posted there.

Thank you for your time,

Ray