HAWVER: Development deal gets complicated

This economic development business is getting curiouser and curiouser.

The big deal now, of course, is Cerner Corp., which wants state assistance to bring a giant office complex to Kansas City’s Village West development in Wyandotte County. Cerner currently operates on the Missouri side of the Kansas City area.

But what started out as just a “how can we help” from Kansas has grown exponentially in complexity and in political criticism.

First, nobody’s against 4,500 high-paying jobs coming to Kansas. That’s for sure. But the negotiation for those jobs has gotten complex because the state has made its final, take-it or leave-it offer to Cerner, and apparently was putting together that offer while Kansas Secretary of Commerce David Kerr was being considered for Missouri’s top eco-devo job, which we learned last week that he got.

Immediately, conservative House legislative leaders — the same ones who were virtually disarmed last session by moderate Republicans  and Democrats — roared without any proof that Kerr may not have used his best efforts on behalf of the state  he will be leaving.

Gov. Mark Parkinson defends Kerr, says that he, Kerr and Secretary of Revenue Joan Wagnon put together the best offer Kansas can make for the Cerner deal. The whole point of economic development, of course, is to grow the Kansas economy, and you can’t do that if you offer a developer more money than the jobs are worth. That just makes sense.

But, this Cerner deal is complicated by Cerner officials’ ownership of the Kansas City (Missouri) Wizards soccer team. Most of the state’s offer for Cerner is for a soccer stadium that doesn’t have anything to do with Cerner’s business of creating computerized medical records management equipment.

Because most eco-devo bargaining now is, if not outright extortion, at least a lesser-included offense, you have to wonder why the state is contributing a dime to construction of the soccer arena. And, you probably have to wonder whether Cerner stockholders care about a soccer team owned by Cerner managers that’s not going to contribute to their dividend checks. And you probably have to wonder whether those stockholders want their company to be used as a lever to get a soccer stadium built.

That soccer stadium probably is the key to this whole deal — it’s where most of the state’s money is pledged. Which is a little curious, isn’t it?

We don’t know yet whether Cerner is taking Kansas’ offer, but we’re certain Kerr isn’t going to juice up a Missouri offer, having crafted the Kansas deal. Playing both sides of the state line would be unethical, and it would kill Kerr’s eco devo career.

Curious? It sure is….

Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. Visit his Web site at www.hawvernews.com