Ranzau wrong to bring boys ranch into zoo debate

Before the Sedgwick County Commission wisely voted 3-2 Wednesday to use $5.3 million of the county’s $60 million reserves to help the Sedgwick County Zoo expand its elephant exhibit, Commissioner Richard Ranzau pushed reopening the Judge Riddel Boys Ranch as an additional and comparable funding priority. Ranzau’s continued advocacy on behalf of the ranch is admirable, but it was misplaced in the zoo debate. As County Manager William Buchanan told The Eagle editorial board last week, the well-regarded ranch for teen offenders was “an ongoing operational” problem in that the state wouldn’t adequately fund its own corrections program, forcing the county to subsidize as well as run it. That was neither fair nor sustainable. Buchanan added, though, that the county is working on other strategies that might pick up where the boys ranch left off. – Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Ranzau wrong to bring boys ranch into zoo debate."