1TO: The Wichita Eagle - Re: Response to Aug. 8th County Manager Bill Buchanan Opinion Article.
FROM: Shocker Black & Golds, by Fred Marrs
Date: 15 Aug. ‘06: BARE BONES
T Now then, observe Mr. Buchanan’s profound concern:
“Being a leader means making tough decisions that are not always pleasing to everyone. It also means there is a responsibility to deal with deceiving and dishonest misinformation being spread to the citizens of Sedgwick County....
“The Sedgwick County Commission takes its responsibility as steward of the taxpayers’ money seriously, as do I.” (Emphasis added).
Some folks have said that Mr. Buchanan’s exhibited profound concern is a rare and acute observation that is exhaustively true and profoundly wise; and that it should take its place on this community’s list of recognized and established wisdoms. But the Shocker Black & Golds and our fellow backwoods rabble, believe that if you are going to talk the talk, you need to act accordingly.
What is it then does the County Commission and the County Manager accomplish when it is they are advised that the only accountings provided by Don Beggs for the last 8 years under his watch, is the annual 10 page submittals, that do not properly account for: what the contingency line item moneys are spent for; the Campus land acquisition line item moneys are spent for; the carry over moneys from all line items and how said moneys are subsequently spent; whether or not our mill levy moneys are funding the Marcus Welcome Center; and whether or not our mill levy moneys are in any fashion funding the building of, or servicing the bonds for, the new engineering lab building, that should properly be funded by the state, or if not, at least the WSU foundation. These would seem to significant issues for determination, if you are in fact seriously taking your responsibility as stewards of our taxpayers money.
But even if Mr. Buchanan’s profound concern were a mere principle or law of predilection, rather than, in truth and in fact, a legal oversight responsibility and legal requirement, neither Mr. Buchanan, nor the Commission, nor any one single commissioner with the right to request the accounting documents, has seen fit to ask Mr. Beggs for a proper accounting. Even when their constituents ask for the accounting, the request is ignored and no such accounting is forthcoming. It gravels them, they can not bear it or hear of it, it spoils their pleasure and takes the bloom off of being a commissioner, and they furrow their brow at us from high on the commission bench, when they are reminded of their legal oversight responsibility for the expenditure of our taxpayers’ dollars. No one elected the commissioners, and Mr. Buchanan was not appointed, to be rubber stamps and potted plants for the Mr. Beggs.
So why then do you suspect no such accounting is even requested? Is it fair to suggest there may be some kind of quid pro quo provided to the Commission in exchange for not asking Don Beggs for even the shadow of a proper accounting pursuant to their legal responsibility in their representative capacity on behalf of their constituents? Some think it is possible that the quid pro quo has to do with the new Jabara Technical School project, and that WSU may have agreed to oversee and fund the operation of the Jabara Technical School, using a significant portion of the 1.5 WSU mill levy, thus alleviating the necessity of that funding otherwise by the regular overall County mill levy, and at the same time providing WSU an incentive for diverting WSU mill levy moneys to the Jabara Technical School project, by agreeing not to request accounting documents from WSU on the WSU mill levy. None of us great unwashed rabble paying the taxes know what is the basis for not asking for accounting documents. But then who are we but just common folks, and what do we know? Perhaps the commissioners or Mr. Buchanan, profoundly concerned with his and the commission’s oversight stewardship responsibility for our tax dollars, could bother to tell us, as Don Beggs doesn’t seem bent on providing any additional information as to the expenditure of our tax moneys. “Its my money”, and apparently his view is he doesn’t need to further account for his money, and how it is, and on what, he managed to spend his money upon; nor, how our public tax moneys managed to coagulate and morphosis into his money. Stay tunned, as if the case goes long enough, the truth will out; as they say down south.
T At the recent City Council meeting, Aug. 1st, adopting councilman Carl Brewer’s put Resolution, Mr. Brewer contended both Don Beggs and the Board of Regents had to make the decision re reinstating football at WSU. Just because Don Beggs, in seeking to get help for the responsibility for his unmeritorious rule by fiat authority upon which basis he is blocking and denying the return of football to WSU to solve our 20 year old loss of traditional student problem, is willing to advise councilman Brewer that in addition to himself, the Board of Regents has to make the decision re football, doesn’t make it legally true. The truth is, the Board of Regents has no subject matter jurisdiction over athletics for WSU, WSU-ICAA, KU, or K-State. The Board of Regent contributes not a dime to WSU athletics and has no subject matter jurisdiction over sports at WSU, KU, or K-State. While Don Beggs, in seeking to expand responsibility for his unmeritorious rule by fiat position, may claim a role for the Board of Regents in determining athletics at WSU, apparently the Board itself wants no part of the issue, or of claiming subject matter jurisdiction over athletics at WSU, K-State, or KU. In response to an open records request, if the Board of Regents did claim any subject matter jurisdiction over WSU, WSU-ICAA, KU, or K-State athletics; for identification of any document by which the Board of Regents claims evidences Board of Regents subject matter jurisdiction of athletics, or any document which refers to statutes, case law, or other authority, by which the Board of Regents claims evidence Board of Regents subject matter jurisdiction of athletics at WSU, WSU-ICAA, K-State, or KU; the General Counsel of the Board of Regents responded on August 8th:
“I have searched for any record, as defined by K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 45-217, that might be described or included by your request. No such records have been located in the possession, custody, or control of this office. Sincerely, Mary D. Prewitt, General Counsel.”
So, if the Board of Regents claims subject matter jurisdiction over athletics in Kansas, it isn’t evidenced by their response which appears to impliedly deny any such subject matter jurisdiction, or at least in fact denies any statute, case law, or other authority, or any document whatsoever, that the Board of Regents would rely upon to make any such assertion of subject matter jurisdiction over athletics at WSU, WSU-ICAA, KU, or K-State.
Accordingly, the responsibility for why we can’t have football at WSU, lies solely at the hands of President Beggs, and his own little patch of sovereignty.
T The word is that Don Beggs turned down a $10,000,000 gift for the return of football at WSU, by way of refusing to name the unnamed field after the contributor, and further saying he would have to “think about it”, in response to the question of whether he would even agree to meet with the contributor. Lets see, $10,000,000 cash; plus the equivalent of a $25,000,000 endowment fund by putting the football and Title IX scholarships on the mill levy; and now you are up to $35,000,000. Perhaps other major contributors would then contribute another 10 to 15 million, for a total of some $50,000,000 and we could then accomplish a contingent ticket sale drive to raise another $3,000,000. And it would all be real money, but God forbid we should allow the ball to start rolling, as we might then be committed to reinstate football and solve our 20 year old loss of traditional student problem. Only one man stands in his little patch of sovereignty precluding the reasonable possibility. And for what stated reason, do you suspect?
T The woman president of Old Dominion recently determined to reinstate football at Old Dominion with a current endowment fund of $5,000,000 and with a view of an ultimate $10,000,000 endowment fund for football. Where is such leadership at WSU? Perhaps she didn’t have to make any commitments to obtain her regal sovereign status. Some folks contend that Chancellor Hemenway and/or his surrogate KU chairman and KU co-chairman of the WSU selection committee, Frank Sabatini and Dr. Steve Jordan, hand picked and requested Don Beggs to apply for the position of President of WSU, upon the representation that he would be chosen if he would commit not to reinstate football at WSU, not to compete with KU for traditional students in Wichita, and to not compete with KU for state capital improvement budget moneys, but rather rely upon the 1.5 WSU mill levy for capital improvements. But what do us common rabble know? Don Beggs struggles to obtain a miserable $145,000 out of the state capital improvement budget, towards a $10,000,000 new engineering lab building that we Sedgwick County taxpayers apparently have to debt service the bonds on, thereby effectively being taxed twice compared to all other taxpayers in the state; while Chancellor Hemenway presently obtains $130,000,000 towards $185,532,000 in projects presently completed, with $435,346,000 in total in projects presently approved. There seems to be some kind of coadunative relationship that exists between President Beggs and Chancellor Hemenway that accounts for these facts and statistics, some say. We get the extreme miserable drippings from the State Capital Improvement Budget; are required to be double taxed to fund any capital improvements for the last 42 years; and we are limited by a contrived mission statement – developed when the Board of Regents was monopolistic controlled by KU – to an “urban” university notwithstanding KU sets in a valley of 81,000,000 people, and less than 30 minutes from Kansas City, and with K-State within the city limits of Manhattan, by which “urban” status it is meant that we are not deemed to be deserving of competing for even our own high school students seeking a traditional college experience with football, home coming, marching band, fraternities and sororities, etc. We are tired of genuflecting to the KU herd and their interest. It is time to move on in the best interest of WSU, and in resolving our 20 year old loss of traditional student problem.
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cc: County Commission
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