Letters on racial tensions, Peterjohn, Dennis, Tabor, Hawkins, pro-life guide

Which response is best to racial tensions?

Two recent articles caught my attention. Both pertained to the killing of police officers and racial tensions.

The first article was about how the president of the Kansas Senate somehow assigned blame to President Obama, a truly startling assertion (July 21 Eagle). I noticed her party affiliation and decided her conclusion was simply an application of the tired, old GOP vitriol.

The other article (July 22 Eagle) was about the Wichita police chief and how he had been invited to the White House because he, along with other sensitive Wichitans, had staged the First Steps Community Cookout in an effort to ameliorate the growing tensions caused by the shootings.

So on one hand we have a key state legislator making a highly questionable assertion that is insensitive, inflammatory and offers no chance of improving the problem. On the other we have an important Wichita public figure who has adopted a positive, constructive activity that offers a solution to that same problem.

Who is deserving of praise? Kudos, chief.

Re-elect Peterjohn

Do you want to keep your property taxes at the lowest possible level while ensuring responsible government spending? Then Karl Peterjohn is your candidate for the Sedgwick County Commission, District 3.

Peterjohn has been an advocate for accountable government spending for decades. He promotes equitable taxpayer rights. He looks critically at every expenditure the county makes to determine the best possible outcome for us, the taxpayers.

President Reagan slashed taxes and regulations, which resulted in millions of jobs being created and the biggest economic boom in decades. The principles espoused by Reagan are truly convertible to state, county and other local forms of government. After Peterjohn earned his master’s degree in economics at Ohio University, he worked for the state of California under then-Gov. Reagan, helping to safeguard sound fiscal policies.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Peterjohn for a few years and recently enjoyed meeting his two children. He is very personable, and I have watched him listen to the concerns of citizens in our community, then act in the best interests of all of us.

I highly recommend the re-election of Karl Peterjohn to the County Commission.

Vote for the zoo

Will we save our zoo? Because the Aug. 2 primary vote is also a referendum on the future of our beloved zoo.

Over the past week, many people have expressed their anger at Sedgwick County Commissioners Karl Peterjohn, Richard Ranzau and Jim Howell for wanting to change the long-standing zoo operating agreement and risk damage to this great asset.

We’ve been angry before when they broke their funding agreements with the zoo and Exploration Place. We were angry last year when hundreds of people provided input to not cut these budgets and Peterjohn ignored his constituents.

Unless there is a change in leadership, Peterjohn, Ranzau and Howell could take over our zoo and kick out the private-sector nonprofit organization that operates it. So being angry isn’t enough. We need to take action, and that means voting for David Dennis for Sedgwick County Commission, District 3, on Aug. 2.

If you live in west Wichita or western Sedgwick County, you must help make change happen. Vote in advance now, or vote on Aug. 2. Find out how and where: sedgwickcounty.org/elections.

Vote for David Dennis and protect our zoo and our future.

Choose Tabor

Toward the end of May 2014, a small legislative forum was held in Augusta. At the end of that forum, I asked Sen. Ty Masterson, R-Andover, about the revenue shortfalls in the previous months. Masterson’s response was that the state would be fine.

In the succeeding months, Kansas failed to consistently achieve the revenue projections and has had to shift funds around to fill budget holes. More than $1 billion has been swept from the highway fund to plug budget shortfalls. Other funds have been shifted to cover deficiencies.

The state constitution calls for a balanced budget to be set by the Legislature, and lawmakers failed to do that this year. They left it up to the governor to make budget cuts. Masterson was part of that failed process as Senate Ways and Means Committee chairman.

It is time for new leadership. A remarkably well qualified candidate for Senate District 16 is Troy Tabor of Andover. He has been involved in the community, serving on numerous city and school district committees. He is currently a member of the Andover City Council.

It is time to choose a new leader for District 16, and that choice is Troy Tabor.

Despicable ads

At a recent Republican candidate event, Renee Erickson, running for the Kansas Senate District 31 seat, said that she was not recruited by any lobbyists or anyone to run, and I believe her. She said she could not be bought by anyone, that she was beholden to no one. She said she had only a small amount in her campaign fund and could not possibly afford to send out expensive ads.

However, there have been at least six very vile, hateful postcard ads full of ugly untruths and misinformation sent out against Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick.

Erickson said she had nothing to do with the ads, and I believe her. I am sure she did not compose them or see them before they were sent. As acknowledged on the cards in very small print, they were sent by Kansas Chamber of Commerce political action committees and by Americans for Prosperity. These organizations lobby strongly in the Legislature.

The fact is, if Erickson is elected, she will have been bought by these organizations and much will be expected of her.

Please don’t be fooled by these deceitful ads and more that may come. McGinn’s voting record defies the false statements in these despicable ads.

Bad endorsement

“If Kansans don’t approve of the state’s fiscal management, they shouldn’t vote for the lawmakers who helped create the damage.” So The Eagle editorial board wrote recently (July 20 Now Consider This). But the next day the editorial board endorsed Rep. Daniel Hawkins for District 100 (July 21 Eagle Editorial).

According to the record in the “How they voted” feature (July 17 Eagle), Hawkins voted the Brownback line on every key issue he was eligible to vote on. As chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, he has been instrumental in preventing Kansas from extending Medicaid coverage to thousands of needy citizens, also a Brownback position.

Hawkins was No. 1 on the list of lobbyists’ largesse for early 2016 (April 5 Eagle) and No. 2 last year (through August 2015). In addition, he billed the state taxpayers for his December trip to get marching orders from the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Here’s hoping the editorial board can do a little more research from its own archives before endorsing for the general election.

Pro-life guide

Because Women for Kansas is promoting its voting guide (July 20 Letters to the Editor), Kansans for Life has decided to promote our guide. You can visit voteprolife.net and see which candidates have publicly committed to stand up for pro-life values.

Our website also includes proof that the Kansas Constitution never included nor was meant to include a right to abortion; evidence that what some groups call “merit selection” of judges is actually filled with backroom political deals and leads to an overly political Kansas Supreme Court; and a demonstration by House Republicans about why the print media are suffering a slow, painful death.

If you, like a majority of Kansans, oppose tearing a living, unborn child limb from limb, our voting guide can help you find like-minded candidates. And in case you’re wondering, these include the conservative women left off of certain other voting guides.

Letters deadline

Letters to the editor about the Aug. 2 primary must be received by 1 p.m. Thursday to be considered for publication.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on racial tensions, Peterjohn, Dennis, Tabor, Hawkins, pro-life guide."