It can take some doing to get the Legislature and gubernatorial administration to serve the interests specific to Wichita. Not coincidentally, no Wichitan has been elected governor since 1951-55 (Ed Arn, in photo) or speaker of the Kansas House since 1949-50 (Dale M. Bryant). And as we found out in researching a Capitol quiz in the Sunday Eagle, no Wichitan has ever been elected president of the Kansas Senate. What’s keeping Wichitans out of these top, agenda-setting jobs? The drive? The pay? Lack of ambition and leadership skills? Or the rest of the state’s antipathy for Wichita?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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11 Comments
Look at the quality of the people Wichita sends to Topeka as compared with the rest of the state. Also look at the fact that they are fragmented. That is why Wichita gets short shrift in Topeka.
Ben, I notice both parties recognize the number of votes in your town though. Look at the Lt.Governors nominated or elected. It must be written somewhere that the lite gov has to be from Wichita. I think JoCo doesnt want you all to run things, but they damn sure want your votes to win the elections.
No, it is because the Wichita delegation has always been too fractured – and dumb – to even think about working together for the common good. Sort of like the city council and the county commission.
What’s interesting is the Topeka folks are even necessarily grateful that we voluntarily take a back seat here in ICT. If you ask them for any money, they always (used to any way) scoffed and said why don’t you get some money from Boeing. “We don’t have those resources up here.” Boeing was at times a generous company, but it was not like they were set up to social welfare program. And Boeing is not around any more.
We need new voices and ones who can cooperate and not waste time on wedge issue polictics, i.e “horse manure.”
“not even necessarily . . .”sorry, I am sick today.
Elaborating laws requires a certain level of political werewithal. Living in the hinterlands of Western Kansas among the packing houses and the massive illegal alien population does not foster the political acumen or contacts to promote political influence necessary to wrangle a substantial and juicy post. Sorry. Reality is cold. Wichita lacks political relevance.
I agree with Carlos to a point. But the history of Kansas shows that their is antipathy and envy for Wichita.
This is not uncommon. Many states have large cities that doesn’t have much influence in their state legislatures. Capital cities are just the same. Nothing but small government centers and more than half of them in the USA are totally and economically dependent on state government. Topeka is one of them.
Wichita is different, because the area state legislators are basically average people. Only a few have name reconigition, the rest are part-timers. I mean, average sheet metal employee from Boeing is a state legislature in Wichita.
Topeka and the N.E. of Kansas, you have to be an elitist to get anywhere and to run for office. You have career government individuals just looking for their next promotion. And it doesn’t matter the party.
For instance, Ron Thornburg (Secertary of State) has been working in that office since basically High School. And we can go on and on. But people up there are career government people.
Wichita’s deligation is relativly a freshman group. There has been only a few that have served for more than a couple of terms. Majority of them were elected after 2000.
That can be good in a way or can be bad in a way. But Wichita has always focused on business. It is the commerical and industrial powerhouse of the state.
I know most of the state, generally has envy or even a little hatard of Wichita, because it is growing and consuming all people who are leaving the rural areas.
While Wichita may not spearhead the state government or have much political relevance, it will always get its way. Wichita gets what it wants without working hard for it or having career politicans.
Reality is cold Carlos! Wichita is the shining star of the state. The rest are just blips and pit stops. Topeka can try to act like a big fish in a little pond, but they fail to realize that Wichita is the angler with the hook and net.
It just might be that the rest of the state thinks that there is enough taxation without putting aWichita spendthrift in a position of authority. Or they realize that Wichita/Sedgwick County don’t really care what their constituents want or need.
“While Wichita may not spearhead the state government or have much political relevance, it will always get its way. Wichita gets what it wants without working hard for it . . . ”
Ahem, JoeW., riddle me this: why did we pay 10-11 cents a kilowatt for electricity in Wichita for the last ten years while Topeka paid 20 percent less, even though Westar was the sole provider of electricity to both areas?
Because Topeka had the career politicians that made it happen and Sedgwick County had bupkis.
“But the history of Kansas shows that their is antipathy and envy for Wichita.”
That is so damn funny. You know people in far western say “eastern ks hates us”, Salina feels left out, Dodge and Garden point out they are closer to other states than Topeka, Hays says Topeka thinks western ks begins at Wannamaker road, etc. Waaa, waaaa, waaa. There would be that famous Kansas persecution complex.
Kansas…as whiney as you think.
Proudlib. Uhmm! You have proof of that. Last I heard is that we are paying less. Remember when Bon Knight neogotiated that and it upset the North part of the state.
And this recent round of price hikes that Westat ask for, again, Wichita is going to pay less.