Strip clubs, sex toys, skinny dips: This week in Kansas has it all
The No. 1 issue in the state of Kansas remains the damage inflicted by Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts and his so-far unfulfilled promise of an economic rebound. But distractions are popping up fast and furiously, many of them with curiously bawdy overtones.
Strip club raid
Reports emerged last weekend that Paul Davis, the Democratic candidate for governor, was present at a Coffeyville, Kan., strip club, in the company of a scantily clad female employee, when it was raided 16 years ago.
Davis explained that he was 26 and single and visited the club with his boss at his law firm. Authorities confirmed he had nothing to do with the raid and had broken no laws.
Davis has since established himself as a solid citizen and thoughtful public servant. If visiting a strip club in one’s 20s reveals a fatal “lack of judgment,” as Kansas Republican Party leaders contend, they need to start grilling their own candidates about bachelor parties.
The more intriguing question is how a 16-year-old police report emerged in such detail. This is Kansas, after all, which until recently has refused to even release records, explaining the evidence used to charge people with crimes.
By the end of the week, reporters had discovered that a state employee named Timothy Keck — chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and deputy chief counsel for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment — had requested and received reports on the raid from the Montgomery County sheriff on the same day as the Coffeyville Journal. The contents of the documents somehow ended up on the Washington-based Politico website.
It turns out the Brownback campaign found out about the newspaper’s request and asked Keck to look into the matter. Now that is evidence of a lack of judgment. Kansas law allows some leeway for state employees to handle campaign-related work, such as scheduling for officeholders who are also candidates. But employees paid by Kansas taxpayers shouldn’t be digging up dirt on political opponents on work time.
Sex toy auction
It was good news when Shawn Sullivan, Brownback’s new budget director, announced he’d found $101 million in savings to close a predicted $238 million funding gap in the state budget, even if some of the “savings” are temporary, such as lower-than-expected health care costs for employees.
But Sullivan’s news was much eclipsed by the Kansas Department of Revenue’s contribution to deficit reduction. The department has seized inventory from a tax-delinquent business, known as Bang, which operates adult stores. The owner has arranged for an auction company to sell off the inventory of sex toys, lingerie and sex-themed media Monday at a warehouse in Kansas City’s West Bottoms.
It’s more than a little strange to think of a state benefiting from the sale of things like a “fantasy love swing” and vibrating thongs. But Bang owes $163,986 in taxes, and the Kansas budget needs all the help it can get.
Party in the wrong place
Sticking with the partying and poor judgment themes, we move to a barbecue fundraiser held Tuesday in Topeka to encourage teachers to support Davis.
Nothing wrong with that, except its location — the home of state Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier. Her husband, retired teacher Richard Green, organized the event along with the local leader of a state teachers’ union.
Beier didn’t attend. Neither did Davis or his running mate, Jill Docking.
Doesn’t matter. It was a partisan political event at the home of a member of the judiciary, who is supposed to be as far removed from politics as possible. The “informational session” at the Beier-Green home, which suggested a donation of $20 to attend, only stoked GOP accusations that most Kansas Supreme Court justices are in league with more liberal elements in Kansas politics.
How revealing
Kelly Kultala, the Democrat running against Kevin Yoder for U.S. Congress, made a splash this week, so to speak.
She released an ad featuring seemingly nude people at a pool party, complaining about Yoder’s record in Congress. (He voted to “strip” education funds, for instance.)
The “nudists” are actually Kultala campaign volunteers, and weren’t really naked during filming, a spokesman said.
The ad is a spoof on Yoder’s lowest moment in his two terms in Congress — when he had to apologize for plunging naked into the Sea of Galilee during a congressional fact-finding expedition to Israel.
You knew this was coming. The only reason more hasn’t been made of Yoder’s unwise skinny dip up until now is that two years ago he faced only weak opposition from a Libertarian candidate.
This story was originally published September 26, 2014 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Strip clubs, sex toys, skinny dips: This week in Kansas has it all."