Our elected Idiots

The ongoing saga of the "Why Not Dodge" campaign. Its crap like this that makes me want to run for commissioner.


Web-posted Aug. 11, 02:23: PM
Agreement allows tourist organizations to seek sales tax dollars
By Eric Swanson
Dodge City Daily Globe

Local tourist attractions can apply each year for a portion of the "Why Not Dodge" sales tax revenues under a new agreement between Dodge City and Ford County.
The Dodge City and Ford County commissions voted 6-2 Wednesday to approve the agreement, which sets up a mechanism for tourist attractions to request sales tax dollars. Dodge City Commissioners Mike Nelson and Jim Sherer were the only officials to vote against the agreement.

Sherer said after the meeting that he opposed the agreement because he thought the commissions should complete the projects that were originally supposed to be funded by the sales tax - including the proposed special events center - before considering other projects.

Under the agreement, the city and county will put up to 15 percent of their sales tax dollars each year into a special account. The money in that account will be used to fund requests from local organizations that attract visitors and promote the area's Western heritage.

The actual amount allocated to the account will vary from year to year, depending on sales tax revenues and other projects.

All requests will be submitted to the Community Facilities Advisory Board - a new version of the Family Facilities Advisory Board - for review. The board will assign funding priorities to each request, then submit that list to the city and county commissions for final approval.

Once the CFAB submits its list, the commissions would have 15 days to decide by a majority vote whether to approve or deny the requests.

But the organizational funding account was not the only item on the commissioners' agenda. They also approved, on a 6-2 vote, a proposal to change the board's name and its membership.

The only commissioners to vote against that proposal, which amends the interlocal agreement that set up the FFAB, were Nelson and Ford County Commissioner John Swayze.

Swayze said changing the board would not solve the problem he saw - the commissions' apparent unwillingness to accept the board's recommendations.

"They can do all the work, and if someone in this room doesn't approve of what they say, we don't listen to them," he said. "We can put commissioners, we can put all kinds of different people on this board. But until we start following what the interlocal agreement says and let the FFAB board do their job, we're just wasting our time."

But Ford County Commission Chairman Kim Goodnight said he thought changing the board's makeup would bolster the commissioners' role in making decisions related to sales tax expenditures.

"I do believe this is a better blueprint," he said.

The newly organized board will consist of one city commissioner, one county commissioner, four at-large members and the chairperson of the Dodge City/Ford County Development Corp. The at-large members will be appointed by a majority vote of both commissions.

Nelson said he thought putting elected officials on the board was a mistake.

"I think it's pretty clear that if you look at it, we got to this point by not being able to move forward due to political concerns," he said.

The commissions also approved - this time on a 7-1 vote - a separate proposal to expand the interlocal agreement's definition of what constitutes a "related public project."

Nelson cast the only dissenting vote.

The original interlocal agreement said sales tax proceeds could be used to fund projects if they were related to the original "Why Not Dodge" projects - Dodge City Raceway Park, the Legends Park softball complex, sports fields at the St. Mary's complex, improvements to the Civic Center and the special events center. But the agreement did not include a specific definition of what constituted a related project.

The new proposal includes six definitions of related public projects:

% Improvements or renovations to any of the existing "Why Not Dodge" facilities, which will include the special events center since that was one of the projects listed in the interlocal agreement.

% Building new entertainment- or recreation-related projects.

% Improving or renovating existing tourist attractions.

% Giving financial aid to local tourist attractions that promote the area's Western heritage.

% Building infrastructure projects to improve access to the existing facilities.

% Building a new county jail, subject to voters' approval.

Adding the jail to the list does not commit the commissions to building a new jail with sales tax money, but it does give them that option if they decide to pursue it.

Dodge City Mayor Terry Lee said he supported the idea of adding a county jail to the list of related projects.

"This is an 'us' thing, and we need to pull together on this," he said.

Dodge City Commissioner Ed Kimminau said he would agree to put the jail on the list, but only if it were subject to a public vote.

But Nelson objected to the idea of expanding the definition of related projects to include a new jail.

"No one's going to sit here and say we don't need a jail," he said. "No one's going to say that. But to call a jail in any way, shape or form an entertainment venue designed to make Dodge City the entertainment capital of western Kansas, and a family facility, is just nuts."

Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or e-mail him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com