A more honest Q&A with Dr. Spiehs - Part 1
Article - 9 minute read
The Lawrence Journal-World, a left-leaning newspaper and the main news source in Lawrence, Kansas, came out with a Q&A for the candidates up for Douglas County Commissioner District One on Sunday, October 16. Instead of publishing the candidates’ words verbatim, however, they instead created a “story” using misrepresentative wording to make the Republican candidate Dr. Justin Spiehs come off poorly to readers. They further asked biased personal questions specifically for Dr. Spiehs and added other information that had nothing to do with the questions asked. Due to this, The Kansas Constitutional is publishing verbatim Dr. Spiehs’ answers to the exact questions asked by The Lawrence Journal-World. You can read the Lawrence Journal-World article here for comparison.
What’s your current employment situation?
What LJWorld said,
“He said he is retired and plans for the county commissioner role to be his only full-time job if elected.”
What Dr. Spiehs actually said,
I’m retired. When I’m elected, my one and only full time job will be county commissioner which will allow me to focus all my time, energy, and effort on improving the county. Since you are asking about my employment I assume you will also be asking current Commissioner Democrat Patrick Kelly about his job as USD497’s Chief Academic Officer where he developed and implemented the inappropriate Gender Identity and Human Sexuality curriculum for all K-12 students in the district, meaning adults talk with kids about sex beginning at age 5. This is grooming and I want to know why he feels it necessary to discuss sexual issues with children and why that thought would ever even cross his mind.
How did your employment at Washburn end?
What LJWorld said,
“In describing the end of his employment there, Spiehs said he was “wrongfully offered a terminal contract” for opposing so-called “critical race theory propaganda” circulating among faculty in his department.”
What Dr. Spiehs actually said,
I stood up in opposition to Critical Race Theory propaganda circulating among faculty in my department. In my opinion, I was then wrongfully offered a terminal contract. Check out this article from The Kansas Constitutional newsletter titled “Justin Spiehs: Right-wing extremist or phantom of the Left-wing mafia?” by Ian Brannan where I discuss this issue. The article can be found online at: https://ksconstitutional.substack.com/p/justin-spiehs-right-wing-extremist?s=w
Are you party to any ongoing criminal or civil cases that the LJW hasn't reported on?
LJWorld did not mention this in their article.
What Dr. Spiehs said,
I’m in consultation with my legal council about a potential lawsuit against Washburn University based on actions by the university that led to the end of my employment as a professor there.
With the understanding that you're currently on probation, what would you say to voters with uncertainties about whether you're in a stable enough place to serve in office effectively?
What LJWorld said,
“When asked what he would say to voters with uncertainties about whether he’s in a stable enough place to serve in office effectively, Spiehs did not answer but rather encouraged people to look at his YouTube channel.”
What Dr. Spiehs actually said,
I’d say check out my YouTube channel titled “Dr. Justin Spiehs” at https://youtube.com/channel/UCKCbhGLPiy7TsIfoHp3QLCA to learn more about me, from me directly, and decide for yourself.
With the Panasonic battery plant coming to Douglas County, do you see the commission needing to strike a balance between impending population growth in areas like Eudora and the desire to protect agricultural land?
What LJWorld said,
“Spiehs said he thinks the County Commission has done such a poor job managing the county in recent years that most, if not all, of the future employees coming to the area to fill an estimated 8,000 jobs won’t end up living in Douglas County. He didn’t expand on that any further, using the rest of his answer to this question to criticize Kelly for not debating him.”
What Dr. Spiehs actually said,
That plant is coming to De Soto which is not in Douglas County, therefore this question is just another example of inaccurate garbage put out by LJWorld, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Chad Lawhorn and his newspaper. That said, I think Democrat Patrick Kelly has done such a poor job of managing Douglas County these past 4 years that most, if not all, of those future employees resulting from the 8,000 jobs created by the battery plant won’t end up living here in our county, sadly. What a shame. Talk about a missed opportunity. Good job, Patrick Kelly. By the way, Patrick Kelly oversaw the loss of 300 jobs in Douglas County in just the past year alone. Also, I’ve been challenging Patrick Kelly to a debate for months now but he declined every time because he knows his positions on the issues are extremely bad and that I would expose him on the debate stage. I’ve also challenged LJWorld and Lawrence Times to host debates with all three of the county commissioner candidates but they have been silent on that as well. My offer to Patrick Kelly, LJWorld, and Lawrence Times still stands.
At least one major developer (NextEra) has been exploring not just a solar project but also a wind farm in southern Douglas County. In terms of larger-scale renewable energy development, are you open to it? If so, what do you need to see in a proposal to be comfortable it'll fit with what neighbors in the area want?
What LJWorld said,
“Spiehs didn’t answer this question directly, instead spending most of his answer criticizing Lawrence Mayor Courtney Shipley for the car that she drives. He said he thinks the push for green energy is “just another way for Democrat politicians to virtue signal” and stoke fear in the community in order to take more tax money, and that the community should spend its time focusing on other issues that impact taxpayers.”
What Dr. Spiehs actually said,
The Democrat’s push for green energy is just another way for Democrat politicians to virtue signal while also stoking fear in the community in order to take more tax money. For example, at the September 20th city commission meeting, Democrat Mayor Courtney Shipley approved a proclamation calling for October 2nd to be “Lawrence Drive Electric Day”. The proclamation reads “Petroleum-fueled vehicles are responsible for over 50% of our local greenhouse gas emissions and are a contributing factor to air pollution and climate disruption, threatening the health of our citizens and the sustainability of our planet”. That evening, Mayor Shipley drove off in her humungous, unnecessarily oversized, gas-guzzling (16mpg), Suburban-sized four-door GMC Yukon SUV. Clearly she doesn’t believe any of this green energy stuff herself but we’re all expected to pay more in taxes to support something Democrats don’t even take seriously themselves? No way. All of the local politicians on our city and county commissions and the USD497 school board are Democrats (with one RINO) and are all exactly the same as her. As a community, I say let’s spend our time focusing on more important things that actually impact taxpayers lives and that we all recognize are serious issues.
In the wake of the 2023 budget being passed, there's been a lot of conversation about whether there could've been any further tax relief for folks in Douglas County — especially given the county's fund balance savings, which weren't used to lower the mill levy this time around. With that in mind, how do you approach the budget process next year if property values spike again?
What LJWorld said,
“Spiehs said he would like to cut into the expected $42.8 million the county has saved in seven key county funds supported by property and sales taxes, plus the $12.6 million accumulated via the county’s one-cent sales tax. He also said he wants to propose a modified “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” policy that caps how much money the county can collect in property taxes, refunds taxpayers with surplus tax revenue, caps county spending, and puts any tax increase requests on the ballot for the community to vote on.
Spiehs said he’s also in favor of putting the county’s 1994 one-cent jail expansion sales tax and the quarter-cent mental health sales tax back on the ballot so the community can vote on eliminating or suspending them, reducing them by a certain percentage, or capping how much money they can collect with any surplus money being refunded to taxpayers.”
What Dr. Spiehs actually said,
I want to cut into both the $42 million county savings fund and the $12.6 million that has accumulated from the county’s one-cent sales tax revenue. That’s $55 million Patrick Kelly could have used to reduce your property taxes but didn’t. He has contributed to the 70% increase in Douglas County’s property taxes over the past 20 years while the Kansas average is 8%. Additionally, I will propose a modified-TABOR policy that 1. Caps how much money the county can collect in property taxes, 2. Refunds tax payers with any surplus tax revenue, 3. Caps how much the county can spend, and 4. Puts any tax increase requests on the ballot for the community to vote on. Furthermore, I will propose putting both the 1994 one-cent jail expansion sales tax and the quarter-cent mental health sales tax back on the ballot, so that the community can vote and decide if they would like to do the following with one or both of these taxes: 1. Eliminate them, 2. Suspend them for a period of time, 3. Reduce them by a certain percentage or 4. Cap how much money can be collected with any surplus money refunded back to the taxpayer.
Do you support an expanded, 5-member commission? Do you think it'll be an effective way to create more representation for people outside Lawrence, or does it just give more opportunity to end up with an all-Lawrence commission?
What LJWorld said,
“Spiehs said government expansion costs taxpayers more money, so he’s against an expanded commission. On top of two additional annual salaries for commissioners at $41,226 each, Spiehs expressed concern that county staff would also have to grow to accommodate the larger commission. Spiehs referenced the salaries for the Douglas County administrator and assistant administrator positions, which county spokesperson Karrey Britt confirmed are $196,581 and $106,330, respectively.
“Imagine now paying for another administrator or another assistant administrator and then an assistant to the assistant administrator,” Spiehs said. “It would be endless.”
What Dr. Spiehs actually said,
Government expansion costs the taxpayers more money and therefore I’m against it. If the commission is expanded, the commissioners would then say they have to increase your taxes in order to pay for 2 new commissioner salaries, at a minimum. Then, because the commission grew in size the commissioners would say that staff would also have to grow in size in order to accommodate the larger commission. Did you know the County Administrator makes $227,122 a year? The assistant County Administrator makes $101,365 a year. Imagine now paying for another administrator or another assistant administrator and then an assistant to the assistant administrator. It would be endless. Additionally, I oppose expansion because increasing to 5 commissioners is just another way the political elite try to change the rules mid-game in order to stay one step ahead of the citizens. In doing so, the political elite are ensuring they stay in power indefinitely. The system therefore is designed to keep the elite in power. Let’s not feed into that system any longer, Douglas County.
