BTW there is a Schawda in the chamber as well as a member of their legal counsel.

Same with First Management.

Can we say big time conflicts of interests?

Why do so many in the real estate industry and people like EN Engineering whine about taxes and tax dollars and government yet always show up at city hall looking for OUR tax dollars?

Aren't these groups among tax dollar evaders? Aren't these folks known as tax dollar moochers?

Why in the world should any applicant have access to OUR tax dollars without voter approval?

What do we get in return? Perhaps when the tax favors expire the tax dollar moochers suddenly must leave Lawrence and Douglas County. When will these profitable business management corporations learn to stand on their own?

“I think the chamber, the city and the county all were trying to find ways to enable them to stay in Lawrence, but unfortunately we never were really given the opportunity to work out a specific deal,” Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug said

Did the City ever ask 'what will it take to keep you in Lawrence?' Wondering if they ever even sat down together to discuss it. Sounds like a major lack of communication and then they wonder, 'what went wrong?'

The definition of socialism is an economic system with no private property.

Much of what is called socialist is not socialist at all.

Gandolph.

Why?

Gandolph.

Why?

We've subsidized local profiteers at such a basic level for so long, that many people believe that status quo is actually fair and neutral. This is false-what we think of as a level playing field is tilted steeply in favor of local profiteers driving and laughing all the way to the bank.

Taxpayers are over extended on corporate welfare. All we get in return is expanded economic displacement which is a drag on the economy. Meanwhile our taxes and user fees escalate.

jayhawklawrence

In fact, oftentimes, the vibes are very anti-business

Better get your vibe meter checked. It's not anti-business...it's anti-corporate welfare.

Please define the difference between socialism for people and socialism for business.

Just to set the record straight; I couldn't give a rat's behind about the Chamber of Commerce.

I doubt if I know anyone over there. Their politics are a little too extreme for my taste.

But I don't think socialism or its evil sibling, Communism, works very well and the vibes I get in Lawrence from a lot of the chronic complainers seem very out of touch with business reality.

In fact, oftentimes, the vibes are very anti-business.

It is fairly obvious to me that the writing was on the wall when this company was sold to someone in Chicago.

"A deal for a shorter lease wasn’t struck, but Schwada said he alerted local economic development leaders that a deal possibly could be helped along if the city, county or chamber — or some partnership — would agree to buy the company out of its Delaware lease, if necessary.

Sources said that a buyout of the lease likely would have been in the $30,000 range. "

This was the Schwada responsibility not the taxpayers. Blame all on Schwada Schwada Schwada!

All Incentives should come from the real estate industry and the property owners NOT the taxpayers.

The Schwada group are tax dollar moochers moochers moochers! Blame half on the company for looking to get a tax dollar handout. They are all tax dollar moochers.

I cannot afford Schwada or any other tax dollar moochers.

Two points

Attracting jobs by paying a business to come/stay here is stupid unless the cost to all of us is offset by the return on the jobs generated. If they do not pay taxes, the rest of us must pay more. The employees who live here draw services here – supposedly paid for by their taxes – you cannot count those taxes twice. Yes they may frequent other merchants here but who exactly benefits from that – the taxpayers or the merchants?

High end business that employs skilled people must consider the environment offered. If there is an equivalent or better environment nearby we could lose. People in their thirties or older have different interests than people who are younger. Private sector employees are motivated differently than public sector employees. Step back and put yourself in the mind set of a mid years couple with kids seeking a nice home, responsible services and good schools and ask yourself how well we compete with JOCO.

I don't know how you can "blame" anyone for this.

They were bought by a company in Chicago and they are in the automation business. They don't have any ties to Lawrence that make any sense as far as I can see.

You are going to have wins and losses. You have to have more wins to make up for losses.

The biggest problem I see in Lawrence is the negativity and lack of gratitude for the work that some of our community leaders try to do. Talented people are going to want to go elsewhere.

You can't get anywhere in this world by complaining all the time and looking for someone to blame.

dulcinea, it sure sounds like it. Why? Are our taxes too high so that the only way we are competitive is if we exempt businesss from them? Are our rules to tight? have our schools failed to keep up?

A business like this can go anywhere. What do they have over in JOCO that we don't have or what are we doing that their not that drives business to them?

Schwada....

I've had experience with their remodeling in my neighborhood. I learned how little zoning, historical preservation review, and building permits matter to them. They intentionally violated the law with impunity through an un-permitted structure demolition conducted on a weekend.

So Schwada picks up the phone and calls Lawhorn to start spinning tales about how the city and the county have screwed him out of a client.

That's called CYA, a pretty stupid move by Schwada.

Why do corporations want so much welfare and why does the right think corporate welfare is a good use of our tax dollars.

By the time we give them hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax abatements, leas concessions, and other subsidies and tax breaks, they add no more to our economy than a McDonalds.

sounds like olathe put the hard court press on them and they figured out how un-important it was to stay in lawrence

many of us are tired of paying for all of the amenities that we never take advantage of in lawrence.

blame who ever you want but olathe simply wanted to have deeper pockets than lawrence was will to pony up in the same time frame

all we can do is form another task force to study the problem, how insane is that?

It's certainly Schwada's right to insist on whatever terms he likes on his property, but clearly the main reason this company left town lies with that insistence, and the fact that they found a deal on a building they liked in Olathe.

It most certainly would have been inappropriate for the city to buy out the last year of that lease. Once the city becomes the last resort between commercial landlords and their tenants, we're on a slippery slope to the city becoming a (paying) party to every lease agreement in town for those landlords with the biggest political pull at city hall. (and Schwada would be on that list.)

This is "much ado about nothing". Lawrence is not losing a good corporate citizen.

The people who commute from the KC area are not providing any benefit to Lawrence. The ones who live here and commute to Olathe do and that won't change unless they move. The buildings are still here and schwada still has to pay the PP tax empty or full.

This was just another case of a money grab from the taxpayers to benefit a very few.

“We work hard all the time to attract businesses from out of town,” Dever said. “The same effort needs to be put into retaining businesses, too. That means creative packages sometimes need to be put together.”

Um........ so what was this "creative package" that you proposed???

"Schwada said he offered to extend the company’s lease for two years"

"EN Engineering officials wanted a shorter lease."

"Schwada said he alerted local economic development leaders that a deal possibly could be helped along if the city, county or chamber — or some partnership — would agree to buy the company out of its Delaware lease"

"a buyout of the lease likely would have been in the $30,000 range."

"“I personally couldn’t come up with a justification to pay a landlord for a lease for a purpose that wasn’t a public purpose,” Weinaug said."

I think that Mr. Weinaug made a very valid point!