Someone screwed up. It’s as simple as that.

Deciphera is a Lawrence-based, privately owned company with a very bright future. Its scientists are working to develop cancer-fighting drugs, and test results, to date, have been very encouraging.

The head man in this effort is Dan Flynn, a professor of medicinal chemistry at Kansas University. He is a top-flight individual, committed to excellence and eager to keep the company in Lawrence and in Kansas.

Word about the potential success of the company began to spread, and soon, investors in other parts of the country made it known they would like to own a large share of the company IF the company would move to another part of the country.

Some individuals, outside the Deciphera family, learned of the effort to lure the company away from Lawrence and immediately initiated efforts to try to keep the firm and its scientists here and connected to KU.

Flynn does an excellent job of representing the company. A year ago, he did a superb job in telling the Deciphera story to a group of Kansas legislative leaders. He visited with several directors of the Kansas Bioscience Authority; a Lawrence city commissioner was alerted to the situation, as was a City Hall official. Eventually others became aware of the company, its potential and the possibility of Lawrence losing the firm.

It is a company well worth fighting for, but no one among those who first went to work trying to figure out how to keep the company here, did anything out of line.

City and county officials realized the importance of offering financial support. The early leadership of the Kansas Bioscience Authority worked out a plan that would have been beneficial to all parties – Deciphera, Lawrence and Douglas County – but along the way, new KBA leadership created some bumps that caused delays, worries and some changes in the original plan.

Granted, some games were played along the way with various individuals or business interests trying to get a better deal one way or another.

But, again, nothing was out of line.

It looked as if all the internal wrestling had been solved. Even if it was not what had been in the original blueprint, it was an agreement that would keep the company in Lawrence. A building in East Hills Business Park would become the headquarters; a wet lab was to be provided to help startup or incubator companies, and there was land for future expansion.

Everything looked good. The clock was ticking and Deciphera officials needed the space as quickly as possible to make the necessary modifications and install equipment to allow them to move ahead with their testing and work with various pharmaceutical companies.

It looked like the company would be able to squeak by timewise, get into the building and plan on bigger and better things, both for the company and for the city and county.

Then, something happened. This writer doesn’t know who triggered this unnecessary and unfortunate action, but someone, some group or some office entered the picture and apparently asked the Lawrence City Commission to authorize a tax rebate plan for Deciphera without going through the normal formalities for granting such tax relief.

So far, who made the request or initiated such action is unknown.

It is known, however, that it was a dumb and wrong thing to do. Hindsight is great, but the merits of the situation, the importance of keeping Deciphera in Lawrence, the potential of this company and the involvement of individuals such as Flynn, all combine to present a story and picture that should merit generous, but fair, concessions by the city and/or county. Other cities would pay dearly to attract Deciphera.

There may have been some on the business side of Deciphera who, over the course of deliberations, may have tried to squeeze out an even sweeter deal for themselves or the company, but the city certainly has the smarts not to give away the keys to the city or resort to questionable financial dealings to hold onto the firm.

This being the case, it is obvious someone or some organization asked for the tax rebate at the last minute and wanted to do it behind the scenes.

This is wrong, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t important to keep Deciphera in Lawrence. It means someone tried to overplay his or her hand and wanted to get something done out of the public eye.

It is hoped this won’t result in a delay of the Deciphera project or the company deciding to relocate their facilities, but what was done was wrong. People trying to do things in a less-than-open manner usually find themselves in what should be embarrassing situations. This also applies to those who are less than honest when trying to sell their ideas to others.

Look at the manner in which KU officials, KU Medical Center officials and a handful of Kansas City power brokers secretly devised a plan to give away the strength and excellence of KU Hospital, and even KUMC, for the benefit of Kansas City’s St. Luke’s Hospital.

KU Hospital officials were kept in the dark; Kansas legislators were snubbed, threats were made, and some less-than-honest claims were made.

This continues to cast doubt and suspicion on what KU and St. Luke’s officials are trying to pull off at the expense of KU Hospital and the people of Kansas. There still is no agreement between KU Hospital and KUMC.

In the Deciphera matter, scientists such as Dan Flynn are top-flight, and it would be great to have the company remain in Lawrence. There are many, many companies and brilliant scientists and researchers trying to find a cure for cancer, and, eventually, there will be some great discoveries and advances. Think how thrilling it would be to have a Lawrence-based company involved in this medical breakthrough.

Again, someone screwed up in the current Deciphera situation. It is hoped the fallout from this mistake will not detour or cancel Deciphera’s plan and that some individual or group won’t try to make a major issue out of it primarily to polish their own image or pat themselves on the back while Lawrence loses this bright, innovative company.

However, someone should get a sharp slap on the wrist for trying to sneak something through City Hall that should have been open to the public for study and consideration.