Research hub plan advances; Johnson County Commission must place the three-campus initiative before voters

The three-campus initiative - costing more than $75 million - would focus on cancer research in northeast Johnson County, food safety in Olathe, and business, engineering and technology degree programs in south Overland Park.

Absent from the ceremony at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus was any of the seven members of the Johnson County Commission. That body must place the tax measure on the ballot before voters can decide its fate.

Supporters say they know what they're up against.

"I'm hopeful this will get on the ballot, but I'm not blind either," Bob Clark, University of Kansas Edwards Campus vice chancellor, said this week.

Commissioners - who meet on Thursdays and had an earlier luncheon commitment - have made a wide range of comments on the proposal.

At first, the triangle received a cool response.

Commissioners then took a "neutral" position, acknowledging the proposal's merits but saying the county had more pressing public safety needs such as jails and a crime lab.

Most recently, Commission Chairwoman Annabeth Surbaugh deemed the idea "fabulous," but made no promises.

Ed Eilert, the former mayor of Overland Park with a reputation for penny-pinching, has been the commission's lone voice of support.

Clark acknowledged the importance of public safety but expressed hope that those needs would be met without sacrificing the triangle.

"We need to make a compelling argument to four members of the County Commission, and I think that's going to happen. If we do what we need to do, I think they will be fair."

Supporters such as former Senate president Dick Bond and Mary Birch say the triangle is the kind of visionary thinking that built Johnson County Community College and made the college an economic engine for the state.

Detractors, such as House Majority Leader Ray Merrick say the triangle is an ill-timed effort by the elite.

Under the bill signed Thursday, commissioners would be required to determine within two years whether to ask voters for a tax increase to create the triangle.

If the tax is approved, a seven-member oversight authority will disburse funds evenly to the three facilities and monitor spending.

If the triangle gets on the ballot, possibly in November 2008, the next hurdle is with Johnson County voters.

"Ambiguous" and "hazily defined" ballot initiatives - Bistate II for arts and sports three years ago and last fall's soccer complex - are the ingredients for failure, Clark said.

Both measures were defeated.

"I fully expect this group (the Triangle Advocacy Council) has learned from those experiences," he said.

The challenge for supporters, Clark said, is to reach the "silent majority" that typically supports education but doesn't write letters to the editor or speak out in public.

"There's a certain momentum that's developing," Clark said.

"Safer. Smarter. Healthier" is the catch phrase that triangle backers hope will catch on with the public.

At the same time, opponents are getting their message out.

Merrick wrote this:

"This proposal assumes that wherever there is enough money to lobby the public and its leaders with slick marketing and influential figures, there is a way to fund pet projects on the backs of taxpayers."

He described the triangle as "nothing more than a government-subsidized personal dream project" that "ties the hands of county government."

Sen. Julia Lynn, an Olathe Republican, all but apologized in a letter to her constituents for supporting the triangle bill.

"I am not confident my vote was the correct one, as I am concerned that every time an idea comes along, good or bad, they run to the voters to pay for it," she wrote.

"It is safe to say that this bill was not my favorite of the session."

A RESEARCH TRIANGLE IN JOHNSON COUNTY University of Kansas Cancer Research Center Focus: Cancer cures and prevention, with Phase I clinical trials Where: Northeast Johnson County Cost: $25 million Kansas State University National Food Security Research Institute Focus: Food safety, agricultural science Where: Olathe Cost: $28 million KU Edwards Campus Business, Engineering and Technology Center Focus: Molecular bioscience, engineering, business, applied science Where: Overland Park Cost: $23.3 million Funding options Two-tenths of a cent sales tax Two-mill property tax Combination of both The legislation Authorizes countywide tax election What's next The Johnson County Commission must decide whether to put the tax question on the ballot. Target election date is November 2008.

@ Go to KansasCity.com for video from the bill-signing.