mcre Media .......[Henry McClure Publisher]

September 20, 2026 Joint Economic Development Organization Mayor Spencer Duncan City Manager Dr. Robert Perez Topeka City Council Shawnee County Board of Commissioners I am a citizen of Topeka and Shawnee County. I demand that you terminate the service agreement with GO Topeka now — give the 180-day notice the 2019 instrument requires if you must, and stop every unauthorized payment today. JEDO’s own audits state the deal: JEDO pays GO Topeka $5 million a year to carry out an economic-development program designed to expand employment, strengthen the tax base, and diversify the city and county economy. Either party may terminate. Cash and real property under the program revert to JEDO. That is the off-ramp. Use it. Why the contract must end The half-cent is a special-purpose tax. K.S.A. 12-187(g) put the purpose on the ballot. Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2001-014 allows sales-tax money for economic development only if the electorate approved that use. A...

Two boards, two kinds of blame JEDO members (mayor’s voting seat, Hiller, Cook as commissioner) are public officers. They vote the tax work order. Kansas ouster, cash-basis voidness, and misuse-of-public-funds analysis starts here. GO Topeka directors (Perez, Duncan if they sit there, Cook in his second seat, Chamber people) are private fiduciaries spending a public grant. They are not “the City.” They do not automatically forfeit a public office when the nonprofit writes a bad check. Personal liability for a volunteer director in Kansas is narrow. That split is the first thing a court will say. Do not write as if every banquet vote is a felony by the whole Chamber board. Write the stack. What voters can do that is actually legal 1. Political. Elect different JEDO votes. Demand the City and County terminate the service contract (audits: either party may terminate; cash and land revert to JEDO). Demand the GO Topeka board remove officers or stop the line. That is the Lawrence sequenc...

From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com> Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2026 11:18 PM To: Kevin Cook <kevin.cook@snco.us>; Bill Riphahn <bill.riphahn@snco.us>; aaron.mays@snco.us <aaron.mays@snco.us>; countyclerk@snco.us <countyclerk@snco.us> Subject: Re: Notice — unauthorized use of half-cent sales-tax funds; dual role; KORA request attached as Exhibit A Kevin Cook Commissioner, Shawnee County Voting member, Joint Economic Development Organization Member, GO Topeka Board of Directors 200 SE 7th Street Topeka, KS 66603 Commissioner Cook: You are a lawyer. You are an officer of the court. You hold a JEDO vote and a seat on the GO Topeka board that spends the money JEDO votes. That is not a hobby. This letter puts you on notice, in both capacities, that the economic-development slice of the Shawnee County half-cent tax has been used for grants, contributions, sponsorships, scholarships, meals, and banquet tables the 201...

Karen Hiller Member, Topeka City Council Voting member, Joint Economic Development Organization 215 SE 7th Street Topeka, KS 66603 Councilmember Hiller: This letter puts you on notice, as a voting member of JEDO, that the economic-development slice of the Shawnee County half-cent retailers’ sales tax has been spent, for years, on uses the voters did not approve. You are also on notice that I am submitting, with this letter, a Kansas Open Records Act request to the City of Topeka, Shawnee County, and JEDO for the twenty-five-year record of meals, hospitality, grants, contributions, sponsorships, and scholarships paid from that tax, together with the service agreements and any legal opinion on whether those payments were authorized. The request is Exhibit A. A copy is being sent to the City Clerk, the County Clerk, and the County Counselor. K.S.A. 12-187(g) required the purpose on the ballot. Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2001-014 allows sales-tax money for ...

This is a request for public records under K.S.A. 45-215 et seq. Please produce electronic copies of the following records in the possession of the City of Topeka, Shawnee County, or the Joint Economic Development Organization, from January 1, 2001 (or the earliest date the records exist) through the date of your response. A. Spending All payments, invoices, check registers, credit-card statements, and reimbursement files charged to half-cent sales-tax or JEDO/GO Topeka public funds for meals, food and beverage, hospitality, banquet or awards tables, event tickets, and related travel. All grants, contributions, sponsorships, and scholarships paid from those funds, including payee, amount, date, and stated purpose. The list of grants/contributions/sponsorships/scholarships Molly Howey provided on or about May 6, 2024, covering 2022 and 2023, and the same class of list for every other year. Annual GO Topeka Budgets and Business Plans adopted by JEDO, including every line ...