When former Mayor Carlos Mayans goes to Sam’s Club to pick up a couple racks of ribs, people still put out their hands and open their arms like they did a few months ago. The sprinkler guy comes up to his door with wet hands, eager to shake hands. Letters have filled his mailbox and his supporters, friends and family are as close as ever.
“How can you be saddened by that?” Mayans asked in a wide-ranging conversation with The Hall Monitor on Friday.
People ask if he’ll run for another public office. He tells them the rumors about a run for a state senate seat are just that — rumors. But, he said, “I’m not saying I will never run again.”
He’s been meeting with a lot of people about opportunities in business and other organizations, but he’s not interested in publicizing that, except to say he’s not getting back into the insurance business. For now, he’s trying to find something challenging that he can have fun with, he said. He’s reading Foreign Policy, the Washington D.C.-based global politics magazine, as well as books about American cities and China’s complicated rise. He’s even explored work with the human rights group Amnesty International. “My biggest challenge is trying to rest,” said Mayans, who, as mayor, was known to keep himself so busy he’d just drink a Slim-Fast shake for lunch.
Mayans said he has no regrets about the April election, where he was easily ousted by Carl Brewer. “It wasn’t one thing,” he said. “Not the money, not the media, not the organization. It just didn’t feel right the whole time. But I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”
“How many people can say they’re in the annals of history?” said Mayans, who also spent a decade in the Kansas House of Representatives. “There’s not a lot of people that get to do that.”
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This morning, the race for District 1 officially begins, reviving a political season that ended just two weeks ago with a citywide election. Several people have already made their interest in the seat known, including at least two from the 
Sen. Sam Brownback trails Republican presidential hopefuls Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain by more than $10 million in campaign fundraising, according to recent finance reports. But the Kansas Republican easily leads all presidential candidates in the Sunflower State and the Wichita area. That’s according to 
It looks like the big issue at the Council meeting will be Sunday sales — that’s right, your representatives may let liquor stores sell you a bottle of wine, a fifth of whiskey or a six-pack of brew on Sundays. Sharon Fearey has made it clear she supports it, but she won’t be there Tuesday. And the rest of the Council has been as clear as a pint of Guinness stout on this issue. They say they have no hardline opinions and want to hear what everyone has to say — although the absence of strong opinion says members are probably leaning toward voting in favor of it. Otherwise it probably would have been yanked off the agenda Friday. Which ever way it goes, a group of 6,701 registered Wichita voters could force the issue to a ballot with a valid petition. (For more, 
At least one of the 
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While many organizations in the nation are examining the state of black men in America, Wichita has several examples of black men succeeding in the highest levels of government.
The US Chamber of Commerce released their