The Kansas Department of Administration has finished compiling a list of state assets that is 90 pages long. It now needs to determine which of those assets could be sold and what their values are. Lawmakers are unlikely to support selling major assets, such as the Kansas Turnpike. The state also should avoid a fire sale or selling assets that it will need to lease back. But no doubt there is property or equipment that is unneeded. Not only could selling it help the state reduce its budget shortfall, but it could put property back on the tax rolls.
It was difficult to imagine that the University of Kansas athletic ticket scandal could get worse for the university — but then it did. The person KU put in charge of restoring integrity to the sports ticket office was accused last week of being part of the scheme to steal and resell tickets to football and basketball games. A federal grand jury indicted Kassie Liebsch, KU’s director of ticket operations. Also indicted were the former director of ticket operations; that person’s husband, who was a former department consultant; the former Williams Educational Fund director; and the former head of fundraising. Two other former employees have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with authorities. To its credit, KU is trying to clean up the mess — including by pushing out former athletic director Lew Perkins. But Liebsch’s indictment was another black eye.
“You can pretty much say or do anything you want, because at the end of the day you don’t have to make it add up. When you’re governor, it has to all add up.” — Gov. Mark Parkinson (in photo), comparing Gov.-elect Sam Brownback’s experience of being a U.S. senator to being a governor
“I know enough about myself to know it would be ridiculous to say there’s a zero percent chance.” — Parkinson again, on whether he might seek public office one day
“I’m suffering from CMS-induced paranoia. I hope you can treat that as we go further.” — Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., complaining to Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about the lack of time to question him at a Senate hearing
“If this were a reasonable, marketable idea, one that will truly entertain the American viewing public, why did we never get treated to a season of ‘Bob Dole’s Kansas’?” — Daily Caller writer Renee James, questioning the value of the “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” TV series
Many Wichitans will sympathize with the historic preservation board’s view that the historic Coleman Co. factory at Second and St. Francis should be saved. But while the board can vote with its heart, Wichita City Council members were using their heads Tuesday in approving the building’s demolition. The site’s history of code violations and costly problems with soil and groundwater pollution require resolution, not further delay. The deal that led to Sedgwick County’s purchase of the property in August offered the best hope for action on the eyesore. City Council member Janet Miller had a good idea Tuesday that deserves action, too — that elements of the historic structure be incorporated into the design of the 500-space parking lot going in at the site.
