It appears that a Kansas legislator from Douglas County isn’t the only one who has trouble getting information from the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp.

In February, State Sen. Tom Holland of Baldwin City asked KTEC President and CEO Tracy Taylor for a variety of information from the agency including compensation figures for staff members and minutes from KTEC board meetings. Although both of those records should be easily accessible, they weren’t among the pile of documents Holland received. Neither were answers to many other questions he had asked.

Now, an independent evaluation of KTEC, released Thursday, indicates that Holland wasn’t the only one left in the dark. Among problems cited in the 121-page report was that board members said they didn’t get enough details about KTEC investment issues prior to making decisions. The report concluded that there was an appearance that KTEC executive management controls board members’ access to information. Some of those interviewed in the study reportedly referred to KTEC as a “black box” when it came to transparency and funding.

That is not something you want to hear about an agency that has handled hundreds of thousands of dollars of state money.

Last month, Holland introduced legislation that would have abolished KTEC and moved its functions to the Kansas Department of Commerce and state universities. Thursday’s report said the agency shouldn’t be dismantled but that changes are needed. Rolling KTEC’s functions into another agency, the report said, “would force Kansas to relinquish its place in the ‘technology race’ and risk falling further behind.”

That apparently means that the state already is behind, probably at least in part, thanks to KTEC.

Another observation in the report may ring a familiar chord with people who have dealt with Taylor and KTEC. “KTEC may be guilty of compulsively branding itself,” the report said. “KTEC should not unnecessarily promote itself but promote the Kansas entrepreneurial climate and legitimate successes.” No one promotes himself — or pays himself — better than Taylor.

Especially in the last several weeks, Taylor has spent considerable time making the rounds and letting people know how valuable KTEC is to the state. Perhaps that time could have been better spent actually working on projects to benefit the state.

The report released Thursday may help KTEC avoid dissolution for now, but the message of this report is clear: KTEC is not currently doing the job it needs to do for Kansas. State officials should demand transparency, closely monitor KTEC’s progress and not hesitate to move the agency’s duties elsewhere if it doesn’t change its ways.