Winning way forward

With the whole state of Kansas suddenly the shiny center of the political universe, voters in Sedgwick County and Wichita risk being distracted from the crucial local issues and races on the Nov. 4 ballot. But the choices they make on the citywide sales tax and the County Commission races could decide how aggressively and effectively the community moves to reverse its economic fortunes.

Wichita has 20,000 fewer jobs than it had in 2008, with jobs having increased only by 1 percent over the past decade. Its rebound badly lags that of its regional peers, in large part because of the recession’s blows to the aviation manufacturing sector. Another disappointment came last week, with news that the Kansas Air National Guard unit stationed at McConnell Air Force Base could lose 159 of its 552 full-time positions by next October as a result of defense cuts. Action must be taken.

A joint workshop of the Wichita City Council and County Commission last week offered a vision of what the winning way forward might look like – elected officials from the city and county at the same table, sharing an agenda and room with business leaders and the visionary Wichita State University president, John Bardo.

One topic was a proposed analysis and consulting contract to pursue job “clusters” other than aviation for the region, involving WSU with the city, county, Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition and the Wichita Downtown Development Corp. as funding partners. The agenda also dealt with the Brookings Global Cities Initiative and Export Plan, which aims to add jobs and diversify the economy by building on Wichita’s recently weakened stature as an exporting powerhouse.

But will Wichita pass the 1-cent sales tax and, as a result, have the cash on hand to upgrade infrastructure, fund workforce training, and help businesses expand and move here as it tries to diversify its economy? Will it also pump up the water supply long term – no small issue to recruiting many companies – and be able to keep and improve the city bus system and step up street maintenance? Without the sales tax and the $400 million it’s expected to generate over the next five years, Wichita likely would lean more heavily on water ratepayers, cut bus service and get further behind on street repairs. “And with jobs, I don’t know,” City Manager Robert Layton recently told KMUW Radio, 89.1 FM. “We don’t have another funding source.”

What if the sales tax passes but the County Commission takes a hard right turn, which could happen if Republicans Richard Ranzau and Jim Howell both win, respectively, over Democrats Melody McCray-Miller and Richard Young? That could make the county an uncertain partner at best in anything having to do with economic development.

In any case, it was good to see so many of the key players in the area’s economic future asking questions and coordinating strategies for how the public and private sectors and the new WSU can pull together to pull Wichita out of the economic ditch. The Nov. 4 election will determine whether political will and funds are available to do more than talk.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Winning way forward."