Letters on sales tax initiative, officer shooting, Brownback

Vote ‘yes’ and align, educate, activate

I recently returned from the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce’s city-to-city visit to Austin. I also had the opportunity to hear Jim Clifton, the CEO of Gallup, speak at the chamber’s annual meeting last fall. And I’ve enjoyed attending the first two sessions of Fuel the Fire, Wichita’s newest speaker series.

The same three themes have emerged from all of these opportunities to learn from experts in their fields. Jump-starting Wichita’s economy requires community alignment, an investment in education, and activation. The “invisible hand” won’t fix our economy. We must take action.

Shaping a more positive future requires investments in a long-term water plan, street maintenance, transit and a proactive jobs plan. Let’s not miss the opportunity to say “yes” to these investments on Nov. 4. I’m voting “yes” for the five-year sales tax. I encourage Eagle readers to join me.

Why to vote ‘no’

Here are my top five reasons to vote “no” on the sales tax referendum:

▪  To request $400 million without the best solutions available is counter to conventional wisdom.

▪  The jobs fund does not have an identity and exhibits a startup approach. Historically, startups simply perform under a 50-50 probability to eventually be successful.

▪  The water-supply source should be looked at on an annual basis, mainly because of efficiencies associated with technological advances.

▪  The individual taxpaying citizen in Wichita will feel the pinch associated with a 1-cent sales tax increase.

▪  To commit five years out without any assurances of future positive results of the four bundled items enumerated conveys too much uncertainty.

Lacked balance

An article about the fatal shooting of Icarus Randolph by a Wichita police officer lacked a perspective of balance (“Marine’s family: Cop let situation escalate,” Oct. 5 Eagle).

First off, let me say I have an enormous amount of empathy for Randolph’s family. It is truly a disgrace that our country has not done more to care for the men and women who have placed themselves in harm’s way to defend it.

However, I find it an unreasonable expectation that an officer should be able to “talk down” or de-escalate any situation he is placed in. Randolph’s own family and loved ones were unable to calm him, but an officer was expected to diffuse a situation with an individual he had never met because of a few hours of training?

The article included background on the fatal shooting of Karen Jackson, another mentally ill individual who was shot by Wichita police officers after failing to follow commands. But I would have included the story of Sgt. Kenneth Eugene Snider, who also responded to a call to a mentally ill individual.

Here is a short synopsis: In 1997, Snider and three other officers of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic disturbance in the Oaklawn neighborhood. Snider was the first to enter the house and began trying to calm the occupants. As two other officers arrived, one of the occupants ran for the back door. During the ensuing struggle, Snider was stabbed in the shoulder. He died an hour later.

Great for Kansas

After doing much independent research regarding this gubernatorial race in Kansas, I have concluded that for the good of Kansas we need to re-elect Gov. Sam Brownback. He is doing a really great job digging us out of the huge hole left by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

We simply cannot afford to go backward with Democratic candidate Paul Davis.

We need more people working, paying taxes. Brownback is putting more people to work in private-sector jobs, not government jobs. We need more people producing, generating income rather than doing nothing and sucking on the rest of us workers/taxpayers.

Income is up. Income taxes are down. Kansas’ new small-business starts are up. Employment is up and will continue to increase. More Kansans are working today than at any time in history. Private-sector unemployment is among the lowest is the region. With more people working we have a larger tax base and will have greater revenue production to fund Kansas.

If we want true successful growth, more private-sector jobs, more income, more take-home pay, fewer taxes, better education and improved business climate for Kansas, we must vote Brownback for governor.

Move or die?

I have multiple myeloma. This is a type of cancer affecting antibody-producing plasma in the bone marrow, so it is sometimes called bone cancer. It hurts. And it’s expensive.

Some of the drugs I have taken are priced at $10,000 per month. With Medicare and drug insurance, I have been able to do very well and have not had huge drug bills. I think Medicare is keeping me alive.

Gov. Sam Brownback wants the state to take over Medicare in Kansas. Do I have to move to another state or die if Brownback gets re-elected?

Correction

“Take a bold step forward at zoo” (Sept. 17 Letters to the Editor) was submitted by several former Sedgwick County commissioners. Carolyn McGinn, Mark Schroeder, Ben Sciortino and Tom Winters were incorrectly included on that list.

This story was originally published October 8, 2014 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Letters on sales tax initiative, officer shooting, Brownback."