We Johnson Countians have just been through a sales tax election. The stakes were high; the county desperately needed additional money to build and operate correctional facilities, a juvenile services complex and a crime laboratory. The voters responded on Aug. 5 by passing the one-quarter cent proposal, proving once again that public safety is a high priority here.

As important as that tax is, it pales in comparison to the sales tax issue that will be on the general election ballot Nov. 4. The one-eighth-cent tax vote for our proposed education/research triangle is one of the more significant public decisions in half a century, in the opinion of a longtime supporter of education.

“It’s a watershed,” said Fred Logan, Leawood, chairman of the campaign committee that is working for approval of the tax.

Logan, who was asked to place the election in historical perspective, should know.

This is, he said, the seventh tax-related election in 10 years in which he has a leading or high-visibility role. He is a former member of the Johnson County Community College board and chairman of the Republican state committee.

The civic leader said the other milestones are creation of the county library system in 1952, the community college in 1967 and the K-12 school unification plan in 1968. Johnson County’s emergence as a regional economic power and our immense growth is linked to these forward-looking ventures.

“This (the triangle tax) is going to join them,” Logan observed, adding that the proposal fits into the pattern of solid support of education at all levels in Johnson County.

No question, the triangle plan would take our education and research sectors to a new and unprecedented level and build on many impressive current ventures.

The most recent one to be added is Kansas State University’s National Food and Animal Health Institute to be located on the K-State Innovation Campus in Olathe.

“The Johnson County Education Research Triangle will be the catalyst that allows the facility to be built, the research conducted and the degrees offered,” said Daniel C. Richardson, campus CEO. “It will also provide the incentive to attract federal and private monies to this campus.”

The triangle initiative would greatly enhance the world-famous animal health corridor between Columbia, Mo., and metropolitan Kansas City by generating research and providing scientists for the manufacturers of vaccines and other medications. More than 100 companies are located in the region. Some 37 of them maintain U.S. and international headquarters here.

The triangle would mesh with recently established scientific projects. One, the Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University, is considered the most advanced of its type in the world. The Kansas Life Innovative Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., is another.

Passage of the tax would help impress federal officials who are considering Kansas State as the site for a $451 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. It would show them that Kansans are indeed committed to building their state into a top-flight place for education, research and development. Manhattan is one of six locations being evaluated for the federal installation.

Fitting into the pattern of scientific research and development, too, is the Kansas Bioscience Authority, with headquarters in Olathe. Its purpose is to attract world-class scientists to the area, support bioscience business startups and help attract and expand bioscience enterprise. The state Legislature established the authority in 2004.

Officials at the KU Medical Center say that establishment of the triangle would boost the KU Cancer Center’s attempt to be designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute, according to David Adkins, vice chancellor for external affairs at the center.

It is the university’s top priority.

The designation would, among other advantages, provide care closer to home for patients and families across the state, increase access to advanced care and improve the potential to attract and retain world-class physicians and nurses.

The initiative would be a large boost for bioscience-related companies in Johnson County. About one-half of all the commercial firms in the field in Kansas are located here.

In addition to the healing and cures that are expected, the triangle would be a boon in another way.

“This is about jobs and this is about economic impact,” explained Bob Clark, vice chancellor of KU’s Edwards Campus in Overland Park, in public comments on the issue.

As an example, Clark said his campus has brought in more than half a billion dollars in its relatively short life.

“The triangle initiative will double that impact in less than a decade,” Clark added.

Kansas’ advances in the biotechnology field are being recognized. A national magazine that focuses on site selection placed our state in the top 10 in the nation: fourth in bioscience investments, fifth in bioscience research funding, 10th in education climate and the highest concentration of employment in research, testing and medical laboratories. We placed 13th in educated work force.

Imagine how we could improve our standing in biomedical pursuits if the sales tax is approved.

Contact Bob Sigman at 385-6034 or e-mail bsigman@sunpublications.com.

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