Boys ranch stance key difference in District 5 candidates for Sedgwick County Commission

Rep. Jim Howell would reopen the Judge Riddel Boys Ranch, post haste. Richard Young would not, saying Sedgwick County can’t afford to do so.

Howell, a Republican, has said repeatedly that closing the boys ranch was a mistake. As a legislator, he pushed for money for the program from the state.

Young, a Democrat, initially said he too would support reopening the ranch. But after talking with county leaders, including County Manager William Buchanan, Young said he is convinced the county can’t afford to subsidize the ranch on behalf of the state. He said the boys ranch was not great government.

Their stance on the boys ranch is one of the key differences between the candidates for Sedgwick County Commission in District 5, which covers the southeast part of the county, including Derby.

Howell, 50, is wrapping up his second term as a state representative. He has said he’s running for county commission because he wants to solve problems closer to home.

Young, 67, is a former mayor of Rose Hill. He said he is running because he doesn’t want to see the majority of the commission flip. If Howell is elected and Commissioner Richard Ranzau retains his District 4 seat, Ranzau, Commissioner Karl Peterjohn and Howell could form a new majority.

Howell campaign

Howell has brushed off speculation that the board’s majority would flip if he were elected, saying he would not necessarily align himself with anyone in particular. But he also has said that he would like to see the commission get back to more conservative roots.

Howell served in the Air Force during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He has more than two decades of aviation experience in Wichita, which he thinks would serve him well as a commissioner. He has worked primarily in flight test instrumentation. He was laid off from Boeing in January and now works a contract job for Cessna on the Scorpion program.

Howell, who has lived in the district for 42 years, was vice chairman of the Kansas House’s general government budget committee, which he said has prepared him for local government.

The boys ranch is top of mind for Howell.

“I expect that’s going to be one of the first things I work on. After we elect a chairman and vice-chairman, I hope the next thing out of my mouth is ‘I’d like to make a motion to reopen JRBR,’” he said. “I’m going to get that done right away.”

Howell said in an earlier interview with The Eagle that he had his own troubles as a boy and could have ended up in a place like the ranch.

As a state legislator, he drafted a bill that orders a new cost study of youth residential centers and requires more accountability.

But he said the county worked against his efforts by not testifying in support of the bill – the county offered neutral testimony – and by offering retention incentives, or bonuses, to ranch staff members before the ranch closed.

“What I experienced … was extreme disappointment in our county government,” he said in an earlier interview. “I frankly am angry about the fact that they’ve made the decision to close JRBR.”

Jobs and the economy also are overriding concerns.

“As I drive around the district, there’s a lot of vacant buildings,” Howell said. “Two of the largest neighborhoods in my district, Planeview and Oaklawn, need a lot of support from the community. Economic issues are certainly the priority everywhere.”

District 5 has a lot of blight, he said, and he expressed concern about the smell of a sewage treatment plant that has plagued residents.

“I feel like I have a lot of connection to this area,” he said. “I guess I see this has not been fought for enough.”

He said he would work to find a business to take over the vacated Boeing plant.

“We’ve got to find somebody to fill that space. Otherwise it’s just going to go downhill,” he said.

Young campaign

Young served three years as vice chairman of the Rose Hill Planning Commission and four years as a member of the Rose Hill City Council. He then was mayor of Rose Hill for four years. His term expired in 1993.

He said his local government experience would serve him well on the commission.

He calls himself a “moderate candidate” for the commission.

“I saw what was going to be a real problem coming up, and nobody was doing anything, so I did,” he said when asked why he is running.

That problem, Young said, is Howell, who defeated Derby Mayor Dion Avello in the primary. Young said he wanted voters to have a choice. Young did not face an opponent in the primary.

“The county commission would flip from three moderates to three right-wings,” Young said. “I think we could see a lot of layoffs and cuts in county services.”

The current majority is made up of Tim Norton, a Democrat, and Republicans Jim Skelton and Dave Unruh. Unruh, who is up for re-election but has no opponent, has said he considers himself a conservative, not a moderate. Skelton, a former Wichita City Council member, decided not to run for re-election before the primary.

Young was born and raised in Wichita, graduated from Wichita West High School and spent a few years in the Army Reserve, he said. He lived about 20 years in Rose Hill and moved back to Wichita in 1997. He said he has lived in District 5 for 17 years.

He worked about 30 years shooting aviation movies and videos and retired from the former Raytheon Aircraft. He said he re-enlisted for one year as a photojournalist during Desert Storm.

He has written several books, including mystery thrillers and guides to aerial photography.

Young is concerned about unfunded mandates from the state and how state budget cuts are affecting the county.

The economy is also a worry.

“The metro area has been flat since the Great Recession,” he said.

Young said he would be open to providing economic incentives to businesses.

“There’s a lot of ways to incentivize businesses to expand,” Young said.

He said he would like to see the county offer grants to businesses that hire people who are homeless and have been unemployed for a long time.

“I think both of those are prime candidates for some type of help,” he said.

Young said he also would support tax abatements for business and could support tax-increment financing districts. Such financing allows new tax revenue generated by a project to be used for development costs.

“I think that should be on a case-by-case review,” he said.

This story was originally published October 22, 2014 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Boys ranch stance key difference in District 5 candidates for Sedgwick County Commission."