Sylvia Ortiz chose emotional grandstanding on a project in another council member’s district. Share this. Talk about it. Vote like your tax dollars actually matter — because they do.

Sylvia Ortiz’s Maverick Meltdown: Emotional Testimony from Across Town Kills a Deal in District 9

By Henry McClure

Topeka, let’s talk straight.

Every single year you and I hand over $5 million of our sales tax money to Go Topeka and JEDO so they can “attract business” and “create jobs.” Fancy consultants, glossy brochures, taxpayer-funded trips — the whole circus. The pitch is always the same: “We’re open for business!”

Then a real business actually shows up.

Maverik — a growing, no-handout-needed company — wanted to redevelop the long-vacant, weed-choked former Ramada/Holidome eyesore at 605 SW Fairlawn, right off I-70. Private money. 20–50 jobs. New property taxes on a lot that’s produced exactly zero for years. Fresh food, fuel, and a clean gateway for travelers and truckers.

The Topeka Planning Commission did its job. Reviewed the plans. Heard the neighbors. Approved it twice — once with the full truck stop, then a scaled-back car-only version. Data-driven. Reasonable.

On August 12, 2025, the City Council voted 9-1 to kill it anyway.

Only Councilman David Banks voted yes.

And leading the charge with highly emotional, tearful testimony about “kids walking to school” was Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz — from District 3.

Here’s the part that should make every voter in Topeka do a double-take.

The Maverik site and Landon Middle School sit squarely in District 9 — Michelle Hoferer’s district. Sylvia Ortiz represents District 3, which is across town in central Topeka. She doesn’t live in the affected area. Her constituents don’t walk Fairlawn every day. Yet she became one of the loudest voices shutting down a major private investment in another council member’s district.

Meanwhile, Councilman David Banks (District 4) stood alone and voted yes — even though the site isn’t in his district. He showed real leadership and put the broader good of the city ahead of the loudest voices in the room.

Sylvia Ortiz, on the other hand, went along with the mob and voted no on a project that would have delivered jobs, tax revenue, and blight removal benefiting the entire city — including spillover benefits for neighboring districts like her own.

Now let’s talk about that “kids walking to school” argument, because it’s the emotional hook that won the day.

Sylvia and others pointed to children walking from up by the Governor’s Mansion, crossing Fairlawn near the I-70 bridge. Sounds scary. Sounds protective.

But here are the facts USD 501 (Topeka Public Schools) doesn’t want you thinking about:

• Landon Middle School’s own attendance zone map includes the Governor’s Mansion / Cedar Crest area. Those kids are already assigned to Landon.
• USD 501 policy is crystal clear: middle schoolers get free busing only if they live 1.75 miles or more from the school. Closer than that? They walk, bike, or get dropped off. Walking is the default.
• The district expects students to walk up to a quarter-mile to bus stops. There is zero policy saying middle schoolers can’t walk near commercial development or across major roads.

In other words, hundreds of Landon students already navigate Fairlawn and that I-70 crossing every school day. The district designed the system that way. Adding a convenience store on a vacant lot next to an existing pedestrian route doesn’t create some brand-new danger — it just adds traffic to a corridor the school district already treats as safe enough for kids.

Meanwhile, the vacant lot sits there collecting weeds and zero taxes.

This is the same Topeka that brags about economic development while Kansas City’s suburbs roll out the red carpet for Buc-ee’s and Wally’s travel centers. Those cities say yes to private investment, mitigate real concerns, and reap the rewards. We pay $5 million a year to chase growth… then slam the door when it knocks.

David Banks showed courage and stood alone for progress.

Sylvia Ortiz chose emotional grandstanding on a project in another council member’s district.

The vacant lot is still empty.

The $5 million keeps flowing.

And the next time someone from Go Topeka or the City Council tells you they need more of your money to “attract business,” ask them one simple question:

“If you’re so good at attracting business… why did you spend all that time and energy killing the one that showed up ready to build?”

Share this. Talk about it. Vote like your tax dollars actually matter — because they do.

The punchline is on all of us until we demand better.