To the editor:

I’m afraid our city leaders, who should know better, have lost track of one of the most basic facts of life around here. It is that Lawrence is a wonderful town, and that living and working in Lawrence, Kansas, is a great gift and a great privilege. The thought that we have to pay companies in back room deals to get them to stay here is ridiculous. The city’s mishandling of Deciphera improperly gifted the company and improperly presented Lawrence.

Perhaps the intent behind this rebate was to give all Lawrence residents whose taxes are funding this fat gift the right to become shareholders of the company once it goes public with an IPO. This won’t happen, of course, but otherwise, what’s the point? How could we have thought that establishing a precedent that both costs taxpayers so much now and in the future would help Lawrence? And worst of all, how could it be that no one thought enough of Lawrence residents to even involve them in the process?

It sets a horrible precedent. Lawrence is too fine a place to start getting in the habit of giving away the store. Let’s have the self-respect that living in a great town allows and let’s have the respect for its citizens to make the kind of decisions we need to make to keep Lawrence the great place it is.

D. Wayne Parkinson,

Lawrence