The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

I see that the Greater Warrensburg Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center (GWACC&VC) has a new scheme to pad its coffers. Not content with dues (that I estimate at around $100,000), plus the $100,000 in room tax supposedly used to "promote tourism," the GWACC&VC is seeking to take over the local license bureau to net another $100,000.

The license bureau, what is known as a fee office, has traditionally been awarded as political patronage. Political patronage means that the office, with its money-making potential, is held by someone well-connected with the party in power. For the last 12 years, with Democrats occupying the Governor's Mansion, the office has been managed by a Democrat. I don't doubt that prominent Republicans are interested in the office and might not be happy with the GWACC&VC trying to undercut them. Also, this is the office for the whole of Johnson County, and other areas of the county supported the Governor-elect and his party much more strongly than did Warrensburg.

Political considerations aside, I think that most people just want to see the office run efficiently, as it has in recent years. If the GWACC&VC gets the appointment it will have to provide an adequate and convenient location; there’s certainly not enough space in the Depot even if the Jack Moore Room is converted. That means a separate location. Staff & management is another issue, especially considering the other duties of the GWACC&VC director.

Like any other bureaucracy, the GWACC&VC can find ways to spend every dollar it gets. I’d guess that a good half its income right now comes from taxpayers when you consider the contributions from the city and CMSU on top of the room tax; perhaps its time for an audit of its effectiveness rather than its bookkeeping.