Guest Blog: Oppressive Government at its Finest

I want to preface this blog by saying that I am not and never have been a smoker. In fact, one of my children has chronic lung disease and second hand smoke can kill him. With that being said, I still believe that a smoking ban in Topeka is wrong. I will not debate the health issues that go along with smoking and second hand smoke. Smoking kills people and wastes millions of dollars in health care costs related to smoking and second hand smoke. What I will debate is the interference and oppressive behavior of our government on every level. Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Blog: Clean Air, the only standard that is acceptable

I support this ordinance because it aims to protect the workers who are exposed to unsafe levels of second hand smoke for extended periods.  I know some may say that they choose to work in these environments. But, as a true capitalist I will contend that the most productive worker should be in the job that best suits their abilities and if we alienate the portion of the labor pool that cares about their health, then we introduce inefficiencies to a free market economy and the city is not developing an environment that is conducive to maximizing efficiency and fostering growth. Read the rest of this entry »

Topeka Transit: What is the long term solution?

As I am sure many of you have seen in the news recently, Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority Board is both asking the city for a mill levy increase, as well as cutting Sunday & evening service (http://cjonline.com/news/local/2009-06-16/cuts_in_transit_service_nearing).  I am happy to see the City Council limited the mill levy increase to only one year, but I do not see the TMTA board coming up with long term solutions, so they are not back next year looking for more money again.  A city the size of Topeka should have a public transportation system, but it should also not cosume huge amounts of tax dollars.  At this point to come to a long term solution, it seems the entire operations of the TMTA need to be reviewed.  Read the rest of this entry »

City Manager for the Day

In April, my family (Aaron, Travis, Denise, Ryan, and Gwen) and I attended an event to raise money for The Capper Foundation called An Evening As A Child.  This event, at the Expocentre, was a fun event filled with food, games, wine, live auctions, and silent auctions.  It was at this fundraiser, that the events of June 12, 2009 were set in motion.

I was walking through the silent auction, wanting to see what auction items were available, when I saw it… It was the chance to bid on an item called, Spend a Day with the City Manager.  How awesome was this for an auditor and TransformTopeka board member, like myself?  I wrote in a bid with less than 5 minutes left in the auction.  A nominal donation to The Capper Foundation, and it was done.  Little did Norton Bonaparte know what he was getting himself into by placing this item on the auction block… Read the rest of this entry »

A Thankless Job

I personally know 7 active duty police officers (5 of them are with the Topeka Police Department).  On a personal note, I wanted to be an Law Enforcement Officer for many years, but dreams changed through the years.  Following some of the recent negative press that the Topeka Police Department has received, I thought it would be a great opportunity to ride-a-long with an officer and talk about the positive.  I contacted my friend’s husband (an officer with TPD) and was told that anyone can do this, and to contact the shift commander to schedule one.

On Friday April 17, 2009, I had the opportunity to ride-a-long with an officer in the Topeka Police Department during the 2nd shift.  Our day began in the Shawnee County Courthouse.  Occasionally, officers are subpoenaed to testify in cases that they responded to.  The officers were there to testify in a domestic disturbance case, but were relieved of their duty when the victim didn’t show up.  We, then went to the station (3rd and Monroe) to get me signed in and start the shift.  During the 8 hour shift, we pulled over two speeders (and issued citations), responded to two domestic disputes, responded to a shoplifting call, filed a dog bite report, and set up a speed trap.  But there were three related calls that were most intriguing. Read the rest of this entry »

« Older Entries