Letters to the Editor (June 6)

Preserve Medicaid

The American Health Care Act passed by the House of Representatives last month and currently in the Senate makes $834 billion in cuts to the Medicaid program. This is the biggest cut and disproportionately affects low-income Americans.

Growing up, my father worked in construction and my mother was disabled. In no way could they have afforded health care for me. Fortunately, since we were low income, I qualified for insurance under the Medicaid program. Without that benefit, I would not have been able to get eye glasses, go to the dentist or have access to the asthma inhaler I needed.

I urge Kansas Senators Moran and Roberts not to vote for a bill that makes such a large cut to the Medicaid program. Currently, over 400,000 Kansans benefit from KanCare, the Kansas version of the Medicaid program. Low-income children in Kansas will suffer without this benefit. Vote wisely Senators.

Failed leadership?

Research by James Chung has indicated Wichita has transitioned from an award-winning All America City to one unable to attract and retain talented, highly-educated people.

In most organizations this is considered the result of ineffective failed leadership and failed policies.

Although we have seen some accelerated activity on economic and peripheral projects, the central unifying core identity – the soul of the city – has been ignored.

A core area riverfront overall project plan – the centerpiece in the esthetic development of our city – is nonexistent. As a result we end up with developers exploiting our city and building random incoherent embarrassing buildings and atrocious apartment complexes in the heart of our city on what was some of the most beautiful riverside property in the region.

Now we have the reckless talk of bulldozing Century ll and the City Library building.

Meanwhile other cities are growing and energizing their schools and their economies, gaining those cities a huge competitive advantage. This was accomplished with intelligent planning and completing authentic coherent well-designed core development and renewal projects while also preserving buildings meaningful to the character and identity of their communities.

These are cities where city leadership and city “renewal” increased the perceived quality of life, attachment, and loyalty of citizens.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 5:37 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (June 6)."