Opinions – Page 128 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Guest column: Legislative session begins Monday in Kansas

Newsletter from State Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist.

by Sen. David Haley

Americans continue to campaign for and ultimately elect our next president this year. But whether the majority of Kansans ultimately support one of today’s respective political front runners (Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump) or not, the microcosm of national party rhetoric and debates will launch and resonate in Kansas beginning Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, as the state Legislature commences for our 155th regular session.

Leadership and some media pundits are predicting a quick session this year. But I am not, personally, as optimistic.

Even after the record setting length (114 days where only 90 days are prescribed) and shameful results (implementing the largest and most regressive tax increase in Kansas history) of the 2015 session, Kansas’ financial woes and social prospects remain dim. Revenue projections yet falter; public school, highway, judicial funding lags.

Frankly, both political parties’ leaders now fault corporate income tax cuts instituted by Gov. Brownback for Kansas’ dismal economy and reduction in overall life quality. With no programs left to cut; no new taxes to raise; a ”quick” session?

As your senator, my record is a strong voice for individual rights; personal freedoms for all Kansans and advocacies that law-abiding citizens have rights to privacy and to remain unencumbered by government. We are entitled to the independence to make personal decisions and to insure that government plugs systemic gaps in income and social inequity so that every legal American is afforded basic quality of life standards; health care, public education, transportation, responsible elected representation, judicial and law enforcement.

Bear in mind that I remain committed to being fiscally responsible and of supporting inclusive priorities for all Kansas which means opposing new intrusive government legislation, protecting 2nd amendment rights, providing our children with good and safe schools, make wealthy entities contribute their fair share, securing real jobs to improve our state economy.. Again, in the vernacular: ”Do you feel me ?!”

Feel free to contact or come see us in the Statehouse as the 2016 Session commences after Jan. 11, 2016. Please mention this column to family members and friends, and feel free to keep me posted on your views of state issues. (You may contact me at 785-296-7376 ; [email protected]; #davidhaleyks ; kslegislature.org.)

Legislative forum

Concerned citizens packed a town hall forum held by the Wyandotte County Legislative Delegation last Tuesday at the West Wyandotte Branch KCK Public Library. For almost three hours, some of the issues raised included : Encouraging youth to be more civicly active in politics; an overview of the KCK Chamber of Commerce’s legislative agenda; reforming foster care policies which remove inner city children from parental or grand-parental custody, care or even contact; enacting medical marijuana ; abolition of the death penalty ; lowering Kansas’ sales tax (at least on food or grocery items, the highest in the nation) ;implementing certain gun control and stronger background check measures ; supporting public school funding to continue the progress in USD 500 (KCK School District) ; an announcement of candidacies for Wyandotte County District Attorney and 35th House District; supporting in state college tuition for undocumented children; reciprocity for Kansas-Missouri doctors and health insurance plans; prescription drug benefit managers and reforming payday loan percentages and comparables on real property appraisals … to name but a few.

Pension obligation bond initiative

I will call for a legislative post audit of the $1 billion pension obligation bond initiative to clarify who Kansas hired and how this worthwhile, but risky, further indebtedness is being managed.

Legislation on filling empty elected positions

I take pride in passing a measure in 2015 that insures the travesty and shame of the record that Wyandotte County holds in the state (of two years) for a vacancy not being filled to an elected position (UG 1st District-At-Large Commissioner / April 2013-April 2015) will never be repeated in Kansas. With my Senate district contained in the unrepresented 1st District-At-Large, I believed this travesty of underrepresentation created and perpetrated by Mayor Holland and the UG Commission was an insult to any voting Kansan. Now, any city or county government must fill an elected office vacancy within 60 days of the vacancy or hold a special public election. Seem obvious to you? It did to the majority of the Kansas Legislature, too. (Kudos again to Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Sly James who, on the first day confronted with a council member vacancy, set in motion procedures to have the elected seat timely filled.)

Proposed legislation on witness identification

Shouldn’t all “eyewitness” identification used to prosecute or convict a suspect have certain consistent benchmarks? Once again, legislation that will amend current law pertaining to eyewitness identification; establishing consistent procedures that ensure the reliability of any photo or live lineup will be introduced. Should the procedures not be followed (or there is any other contamination of the evidence), only the court would determine whether the eyewitness identification is admissible.

Law enforcement camera legislation

This session, I will enhance my previous “dash camera” and “video-taping of all felony interrogations” introduced bill themes now with a bill requiring all law enforcement officers to wear a functioning camera during their respective shifts. Many Kansas departments already detail cameras. Law-enforcement, prosecutors and defense counsel often all agree that an accurate depiction of an interaction between law enforcement and a citizen is often the best of evidence.(The President authorized and has partially awarded $75 million in federal grants available for such equipment. Although KCK Police Department was awarded a $350,000 matching grant from the U.S. Dept. of Justice, the UG rejected the money for concerns of privacy and storage. So, until the policy is perfected, Kansas, and America, must remain vigilant and reliant on avid cell phone camera videos to inform, secure and protect the rights of law enforcement and everyday people alike.

The nightmare after Christmas gift

Window on the West
Opinion column

by Mary Rupert

I was patting myself on the back on Christmas Day because I had figured out a way to get a present to an out-of-town relative fast.

I wasn’t quite sure whether this relative would come into town for Christmas, but as it turns out, a few days before Christmas, I learned she couldn’t be here.

She sent us a gift overnight through the mail, paying more than $20 in postage. I decided to send her a gift card through the website of a major department store. I sent her an email telling her to watch her email for the gift card. I reasoned that I wouldn’t pay that $20 in postage and my gift would still get there in time.

But I was wrong.

A few days after Christmas, she called and said she hadn’t seen the gift card. I went back into my email and discovered a message that said, “Thanks for your e-gift card order.” That’s the message I saw on Christmas Day after I had sent the gift card.

What I didn’t see, because I was very busy that day, was the other message that arrived on my email about an hour-and-a-half after that first one. It said, “Sorry. We couldn’t complete your order.” It explained that my gift card had not been sent and could not be completed. It had a phone number I could call.

So I called the number, some days after Christmas, after my relative’s call, and thought I would just re-send it. Easier said than done, however. First of all, I didn’t know what number to choose on the customer service directory, as the email did not say which department to request, so I chose the wrong one. It asked for some information that I tried to enter, but apparently it was the wrong information for the wrong department. I hit an “O” and someone then told me that a different department handles it, please hold.

The next person said he would look into it and see what’s going on. He thought maybe it had to do with a capital letter “L” I used in one of the email addresses. These people obviously had my information in front of them, and I was asked to verify it. He wasn’t sure why the email address was being rejected. He said I could try a physical gift card from their store and mail it to the recipient. He said he would transfer me to a specialist to assist with this.

So then I was connected to a man with an accent who said he was with the fraud department. I was asked to give out my name, address, email address and the last four digits of my credit card. He asked if I was sending the gift to a family member. He said my information was matching their system so he would release it, and replace the order for me. He put me on hold and music played in the background.

Next, a woman picked up the phone and said she understood that the order would be released, if that’s OK. Then she said something that sounded to me like she thought the order was a “pre-lit tree.” No, I said it was a gift card. She wanted my email address, too, and wanted to verify my name and address again. She had a reorder number for it. She’ll get to it in a few minutes, she just wanted to make some notes, she said. She said she was putting the gift card in the cart, and it was telling her that the item is no longer in stock. She put me on hold for a while.

Then a man picked up and said “Hello, may I help you?” I explained that I was on the phone with a woman who was handling my call, and she was going to put through the order for me again. Then he explained that when they put me on hold, they are really transferring me. He asked for my home phone number, email and address – again. He said he would need to check if the order went through and was finished. I explained to him that one or two people had already done the same thing and may still be working on it. I started to wonder, what if two or three of them put through the same order for a gift card all at once, and I am billed three times for it? I didn’t want that to happen.

I opened my email and checked it to see if I had another message saying that the order had been sent through again, but I didn’t have any messages at all. Then I started wondering if I was being scammed in this call to a phone number that I received on the email message about my order not going through, and I decided to end the call. No order.

After I got off the phone, I went online to the department store’s website, and clicked on “customer service.” After reading some of the information, I found their phone number hidden away in another inside page, and yes, I had been calling the right number for customer service.

But there I was, some days after Christmas, embarrassed because my gift did not arrive by Christmas and especially embarrassed because I told a relative there was a present coming and it didn’t arrive. And I still needed to send something. I was still not sure if I got scammed or not with this phone call, or maybe with the entire situation, but it felt very weird. Why did they want so much information? Why did they want to know the recipient’s name, not just the recipient’s email, and whether it was a relative, what the message was that I had written on the gift card, (It was very unoriginal: “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family,”) and whether I had placed the original order myself?

Next Christmas, I think I’ll go way, way back to avoid all technology, if possible. No more e-gift cards. No more emails. No more phone calls giving out all my information to strangers in customer service. Maybe I’ll knit everyone a scarf. And maybe they can come and pick it up.

Mary Rupert, editor, uses the Internet, emails and social media every day in her work. To reach Mary, email [email protected].

Remembering our readers during the holidays

poinsettia 1 IMG_9002 web illustration
Opinion column
Window on the West

by Mary Rupert

We’d like to take a moment during this busy holiday season to wish you a Merry Christmas.

We are grateful for our readers year-round. We enjoy their comments, and we hope they enjoyed our gift to them of news and information about Wyandotte County.

There are many needy persons and worthy causes in Wyandotte County, and we hope our readers will remember them this holiday season with a gift of their money or time for a worthy cause.

To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].