Letters to the editor on local attractions, public incentives and groceries

Support for attractions

During Wednesday’s Board of County Commission meeting, Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell joined his fellow commissioners to publicly show support for all Sedgwick County attractions and to send this letter to the Wichita Eagle clarifying his previous statements. “I need to correct and clarify my statements after Tuesday’s En Banc meeting. My intent was not to disparage Visit Wichita, the Sedgwick County Zoo, Tanganyika or any other entity, but rather that we all should work together as a team to represent our communities throughout Sedgwick County. I am glad to hear that these entities are working together and intend to continue to do so for the betterment for our community. I regret that my comments expressed showed lack of knowledge on my part and I certainly apologize.”

The Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners would like to publicly show support for all Sedgwick County attractions and amenities, to include the Sedgwick County Zoo, Tanganyika Wildlife Park and Visit Wichita. On its website, Visit Wichita prides itself in being a regional destination marketing organization. It promotes experiences/attractions in Wichita but also promotes Tanganyika, Field Station Dinosaurs and Rock River Rapids in a variety of mediums. Visit Wichita is currently promoting the Attractions Passport, a new program encouraging residents and visitors alike to get out and experience area attractions — when visitors visit six attractions they can enter to win prizes. “There is significant collaboration and we are proud to promote all the wonderful things there is to do in the Wichita area, to drive visitors and be an economic driver for our city, region and state,” said Susie Santo, Visit Wichita president and CEO.

A few recent examples include the following:

• Rock River Rapids was featured alongside Tanganyika, Wichita YMCAs and parks in a blog post.
• Field Station Dinosaurs and Tanganyika are one of 12 attractions featured in our Wichita Attractions Pass, which is being promoted all summer long.
• Tanganyika, along with the Sedgwick County Zoo, is featured in our Places, Faces, Hearts video series.

Essentials

In my experience, golf is not an inexpensive activity. Participants past the high school level need discretionary income to enjoy it. Dining out has become increasingly expensive, $6 glasses of wine not withstanding. The city of Wichita wants to give away $10 million to promote more of these activities, made even more expensive by increased special taxes.

If golf was a good investment why have they closed their courses?

Meanwhile essentials like grocery stores are closing and food deserts are expanding. Places that people without discretionary income have to spend their money. Is the city trying to keep up with the Jonses? Do only the millionaire developers have the city’s ear? Pursuing “growth” at the expense of the health of your inner core seems unhealthy. Anyone smell fish?

Food desert

The next time the city or county contemplates the new round of publicly incentivized real estate swindles, they should really find a developer that wants to open a grocery store in the near northeast side. This food desert situation is a disgrace to both Kroger and Walmart, both of which depend on citizens of northeast Wichita for a portion of their profits.

Enough with the suburban sports complexes and riverfront development!