New small house book goes big for former KCK resident

by Rebecca Tombaugh

Everybody dreams of writing a book and getting it published.

And one ol’ Dotte has gone and done it.

“I still pinch myself,” says Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell.

Kerri — raised, schooled, married, worked, buried her parent in, fought city hall and the entire state of Kansas for “Scruffy’s Bill,” and has lived most of her life in Kansas City, Kan., — has published her book, “Living Large in Our Little House: Thriving in 480 Square Feet with Six Dogs, a Husband, and One Remote–Plus More Stories of How You Can Too.”

Released this month, it’s gone big-time.

Real big.

It was published by Reader’s Digest, and it’s currently listed on Amazon with a whole bunch of five-star reviews.

“This is a great book for anyone interested in downsizing, whether to a tiny house, smaller house, or just uncluttering and staying where you are…” says one reviewer.

“What I love about Campbell’s book is that it takes a straight forward and candid look at life in a tiny house. Her superb writing style really draws you in…” says another reviewer,

Kerri currently lives in Mountain Home, Ark., and came back last week for the book launch party and signing at Prospero’s in Kansas City, Mo. Her next book signing is at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at Books-A-Million at The Legends Outlets in Kansas City, Kan.

“These are my peeps, this is my home,” she gushes.

She’s also had a few articles written about her book, including CountryLiving.com, MSN.com and Today.com. She’s even done a photo shoot for an upcoming article about cooking in small spaces for “Where Women Cook.”

Kerri’s name may be familiar to Wyandotte Countians not just because she’s a Turner graduate but also because she has been a journalist for a couple decades. She wrote for many newspapers and magazines in the Kansas City area, including The Kansas City Star, and The Pitch, and many other publications that have since closed their doors. She’s won a lot of awards, too, for her writing.

But, she says, her first love was covering the news for The Kansas City Kansan.

“They embraced me because I was a native,” she recalls. ”I fell in love with it. I got to cover my own hometown.”

“Our community was a working-class railroad community – the railroads ran right through the end of town. Most men in Turner either worked at the railroad, like my father, or at one of the many businesses that supported the railroad, like my father-in-law, who worked for a company that made wheels for railroad cars.” – from “Living Large in Our Little House

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell answered questions about her new book, “Living Large in Our Little House,” at a recent book launch event. (Staff photo)
Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell answered questions about her new book, “Living Large in Our Little House,” at a recent book launch event. (Staff photo)

Her lucky break getting published started in 2009, when she went to New York for a writing convention and met a woman who was connected to Reader’s Digest. Kerri pitched her book idea to her and she loved it and had Kerri send a query letter. The book was still in flux, but Kerri kept in touch with her, and, in 2014, she felt ready to go forward with it.

“I was so excited,” she said.

“People in the (Tiny House) movement had discovered that the American Dream wasn’t about having bigger homes and accumulating more stuff. It was about living (not just having) and doing what’s important with those you love.” – from “Living Large in Our Little House”

The hardest part, says Kerri, is not the writing.

“Putting yourself out there,” she says.

“The key to Living Large is having enough stuff to live and be happy, but not so much that it is cluttering your life.” – from “Living Large in Our Little House”

She did not know how the book would be received.

“I still pinch myself,” she says.

“In that summer of 2007, when we moved full-time into Our Little House, we had three dogs. … We also had our two senior cats. … All were rescues, or what I like to call ‘recycled’ pets – animals no one else wanted but who fit into our family perfectly.” – from “Living Large in Our Little House”

Since moving to Mountain Home, Ark., she has continued to write as a freelancer. Kerri says she and her husband considered moving back last year. But until the pit bull law is repealed, that might not happen.

“We couldn’t never give up our dogs,” she says.

“We truly learned to appreciate what we have here: a cozy little house we designed and built. We know every nook and cranny, and we know it doesn’t have major structural issues. We love our ‘neighborhood’ of trees and wildlife, and the humans who are here are spaced far enough apart so that we all have room to ourselves.” – from “Living Large in Our Little House”

So now, with one book under her belt, Kerri says she is tossing around a few ideas for a spin-off.

“We’ll see…” she muses.

Editor’s note: Rebecca Tombaugh is a freelance writer and artist in the Greater Kansas City area. She was the managing editor of The Kansas City Kansan at the time that Kerri was a freelance writer there.

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell signed autographs of her new book, “Living Large in Our Little House,” at a recent book launch event. (Staff photo)
Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell signed autographs of her new book, “Living Large in Our Little House,” at a recent book launch event. (Staff photo)

Large industrial project approved for Turner Diagonal

The Unified Government Commission tonight approved a $310.5 million industrial revenue bond issue for a large industrial project on the Turner Diagonal near Riverview Avenue in Kansas City, Kan.

Unified Government Administrator Doug Bach called it “one of the largest economic development projects in our community in a number of years.”

It will house an online sales fulfillment business, developers said tonight, although they did not mention the future tenant’s name.

The location is 130 acres south of I-70 on the Turner Diagonal corridor with access off Riverview Avenue and potential access off 65th Street, according to UG officials. It is located on rocky ground.

The project is now called RELP Turner LLC, and previously a different commercial-industrial development plan was approved last year at the site, according to UG officials.

The building now has a total of around 2.3 million square feet available in a single building, and includes a mezzanine area that expands the 856,000-square-foot area on the first floor. A previous plan from NorthPoint Development called for three smaller buildings at the site.

Jonathan Stites of Seefried Properties in Dallas, Texas, is managing the construction phase of the new proposal. The new owner of the development will be USAA Real Estate Co. of San Antonio, Texas, and they have a tenant in mind, said George Brajkovic of the UG’s economic development department.

Besides approving the $310.5 million resolution of intent to issue industrial revenue bonds, the commission amended and assigned the development agreement, and terminated the previous community improvement district.

The previous three-building project would have created about 600 new jobs, but this project would create more than 1,500 new jobs, according to Brajkovic. The building should be built within one year, he said, and there is a Kansas Department of Transportation grant of $7 million to redo the area infrastructure around the building.

The project has a 100 percent abatement. There will be a payment in lieu of taxes of $5,000 a year for 10 years. The project has a local, women and minority business enterprise provision, with a $1.68 million payment if goals are not met. Also, if there are not 1,000 jobs provided for 15 years, there will be a payment of $1.5 million, according to Brajkovic.

Brent Miles of NorthPoint Development said it was a unique circumstance.

“We’ve obviously invested a lot in your community, and have had a great track record in your community,” Miles said. “When approached about a potential sale, the first answer was absolutely no.”

But when they heard about the project parameters, they changed their minds, he said.

“This is a big project for your community, obviously it’s beneficial to us in a sale as well, but this is a big deal, when you look at the scale of a $300 million-plus project,” Miles said.

He said calling the ground a “goat path” was an exaggeration of how good the site was.

“There’s 30 to 38 feet of cut and fill across the site. We’re moving just under 1 million cubic yards, one of the largest dirt-moving projects,” Miles said.

Jonathan Stites of Seefried Properties in Dallas, Texas, said they have done several projects like this in the past several years.

“They’re exciting because they do have such an economic impact, both from a development-cost standpoint, but also because of jobs, a real impact in the community,” he said. “That’s always exciting to deal with because it’s more than just a big box.”

The building will serve the user as a great opportunity to generate commerce for the area, he said. It will have a lot of employees and some high-tech operations inside. The mezzanines will be for a lot of that high-tech, and material handling equipment, he added.

Greg Kindle of Wyandotte Economic Deveopment Council recalled planning for a development three years ago.

“We took a chance and pitched what was then known as Turner Woods,” he said. “We didn’t land that project, thank goodness, because what you have before you is such a substantially better project than what you had before you three years ago.”

The project was fast-tracked from a Monday night, June 6, standing committee meeting. Developers then said the reason they wanted it advanced quickly to Thursday night’s agenda was that they were trying to meet building deadlines, trying to get the building finished.

RELP Turner LLC, a real estate investment company, was registered as a limited liability company in the state of Delaware on June 1, 2016, when it was incorporated, and paperwork as an out-of-state corporation also was filed in Topeka on the same date. It lists its resident agent as Peggy Siefkin of San Antonio, Texas, at the same address as the USAA Real Estate Co.

Kansas Supreme Court rules in favor of KCK school district in Gannon case

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled today that the state of Kansas had not met its burden to show that recent school finance legislation brings the state’s public education system into compliance with the Kansas Constitution.

At issue was whether school funding was equitable in Kansas. The decision is considered a victory for those who brought the Gannon case, including the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools, the Turner Public Schools and also other districts including Wichita and Leavenworth, as well as several others.

“The State has not shown that the hold harmless provision and the diluted extraordinary need provision will cure the increased disparities going forward,” the court ruled today. “The State has the burden of proof in this remedial phase and, after review of H.B. 2655 and the legislative record, we hold it has not carried its burden.

The court today gave the state the same date as it stated earlier – until June 30 of this year – to come up with a new school finance law.

“We take no issue with the stated goals of budget certainty and recognize the political realities of the legislative branch. But we must review lawmakers’ efforts for conformity with the Kansas Constitution, which demands that school districts have reasonably equal access to substantially similar educational opportunity through similar tax effort,” the court ruled. “We conclude the LOB funding mechanism under H.B. 2655 is an ‘unsuccessful attempt to equitably, i.e., fairly, allocate resources among the school districts.’”

The ruling could result in a special legislative session.

House Democratic Leader Tom Burroughs, D-33rd Dist., issued the following statement in response to the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling in which K-12 school finance system was declared unconstitutional.

“For years, Gov. Brownback and his Republican allies in the legislature have refused to adequately fund our schools,” Burroughs said in the statement. “Today, the Supreme Court finally said enough is enough. Kansas school children deserve better. The legislature should take whatever action is necessary to keep our schools open, something Democrats have been calling for all along.”

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt this evening issued the following statement in response to the latest school finance decision, Gannon v. Kansas, announced by the Kansas Supreme Court just before 5 p.m. today:

“In its latest decision, the Kansas Supreme Court concluded the Legislature has cured the constitutional infirmities in the capital outlay funding system. But the Court once again rejected the Legislature’s good faith efforts to cure what the Court identified as constitutional inequities in equalization aid for local option budgets,” Schmidt stated.

“To put the current situation in context, the State of Kansas annually spends roughly $4 billion on K-12 public schools with another $2 billion coming from federal aid and local revenues. At most, what remains at issue in this case is less than $40 million, possibly much less. This struggle between the Court and the Legislature is now narrowly focused on less than 1 percent of the overall school budget.

“I am distressed that the strain and uncertainty caused by this dispute persist even though more than 99 percent of the school-funding system for next year has been approved and accepted by both the Court and the Legislature. The Legislature specifically asked the Court to sever and disable only that part of the school funding system that the Court thinks remains out of compliance, but the Court instead chose to strike down the entire funding system,” Schmidt stated.

“All agree that Kansas schools, teachers, parents and kids need certainty that schools will open next fall, but today’s decision undermines that objective. There is no good reason a Court order about less than 1 percent of the education budget should close the schools,” Schmidt stated.

Gov. Sam Brownback issued a statement following the late-afternoon release of the Kansas Supreme Court ruling in the Gannon v. State of Kansas “education equity” case.

“It is unfortunate that the Kansas Supreme Court has put at risk the education of Kansas students and livelihood of teachers across the state by threatening to close schools on June 30,” Gov. Brownback said. “The court is engaging in political brinksmanship with this ruling, and the cost will be borne by our students.

“We will carefully consider the implications of the Court’s ruling and its disregard for the proper role of the Kansas legislature.”

The Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools statement:

“The Kansas Supreme Court has once again ruled in favor of Kansas school children. In a ruling published today in the Gannon vs. State of Kansas school funding case, the court found that Senate Substitute for HB 2655, passed in March by the Kansas Legislature, is unconstitutional. HB 2655 was passed by the legislature in response to a Supreme Court ruling in February that SB 7, more commonly known as the block grant bill, creates inequity between school districts, and is unconstitutional. The court ruled today that the legislature’s action in passing HB 2655 did not solve the inequities created by SB 7, and thus SB 7 remains unconstitutional.

“Here are some of the key points in the decision:
• The Supreme Court ruled in February that SB 7 does not cure the inequities found in the Gannon decision.
• Senate Substitute for SB 2655 does not remedy the inequities found in SB 7
• The Court has once again given the legislature until June 30, 2016, to correct these inequities.
• If the legislature does not cure the inequities in SB 7, then the entire school funding system is unconstitutional, and schools will not be able to open in August.

“The Supreme Court has once again affirmed that the Kansas constitutional requires equity in school funding across the state,” said Superintendent Cynthia Lane of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools. “The court has laid out a clear path to equity, and I hope the Legislature will fulfill its constitutional obligation, and act to keep schools open.”

“KCKPS was part of a group of school districts which went to court after the Kansas Legislature, in March of 2015, passed a block grant bill which cut an additional $50 million in funding for schools across Kansas, and froze funding levels for schools for the next two budget years. These reductions were on top of the cuts that school districts across the state have seen for the past seven years. The Shawnee District Court ruled SB 7 unconstitutional in June 2015, and the state appealed to the Supreme Court. In February, the court upheld the District court finding that SB 7 was inequitable, and ordered the Legislature to cure the inequity by June 30, 2016.

“District officials are still evaluating the impact of the decision, and will need to wait to see how the legislature will implement the court’s order. Nevertheless, the decision is good news for the 22,000 children in KCKPS, and the more than 450,000 students across the state.

History of school finance litigation

“KCKPS was a lead plaintiff in the original lawsuit filed in 2010 in Shawnee County District Court, which argued that the legislature was providing constitutionally inadequate levels of funding for schools in Kansas. A three-judge trial court ruled in January 2013 for the plaintiffs, finding that the cuts reduced per-pupil expenditures far below a level ‘suitable’ to educate all children under Kansas’ standards.

“To remedy the funding shortfall, the judges ordered that per-pupil expenditures be increased to $4,492 from $3,838, the level previously established as suitable. Rather than comply, the state appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court, which ruled funding levels unconstitutional. In 2015, the legislature passed and the Governor signed a block grant bill, which froze funding levels for two years, and eliminated equalization for capital outlay. It was this change that was appealed up to the Supreme Court, which divided the case into two parts, equity and adequacy. The court heard arguments on the equity portion in November, and issued its ruling today. Oral arguments in the adequacy portion of the case are not scheduled until this spring.

“This is not the first time the state has been involved in litigation for providing inadequate funding to schools. In 1999, school districts filed suit in the District Court of Shawnee County, Kansas, alleging the financing system established by the state Legislature did not meet the Kansas Constitution’s requirement to ‘make suitable provision for finance of the educational interests of the state.’ The court ruled in favor of the schools in that case, which also went to the Supreme Court. In 2005, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling.”

The decision is online at http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/SupCt/2016/20160527/113267.pdf.