Wichitopekington

A jail consultant who didn’t meet the goals of a $124,616 contract, referred to a Sedgwick County official as “Mr. CYA” and wrote an e-mail the sheriff deemed deceptive will soon receive notice that the county is cutting ties with her firm.

Commissioners — including three who previously voiced support for consultants Nancy Insco and Allen Beck and voted to give them more money — agreed unanimously Wednesday to terminate the county’s contract with Justice Concepts Inc. of the Kansas City area.

Insco and Beck had asked to for more time — until May 31 — to finish a contract that expired last June.

But their relationship with the county had deteriorated, county leaders acknowledged.

Justice Concepts “helped us facilitate a beneficial expansion of pre-trial services with the city of Wichita and they’ve pointed us in some other good directions,” public safety director Bob Lamkeytold commissioners Wednesday.

But he said there also had been “some disappointments,” particularly about the timeliness of accomplishments and reports. Read More »

Five events in January at Intrust Bank Arena brought in $816,125 in gross ticket sales, according to a report from assistant Sedgwick County manager Ron Holt.

Attendance at those events was 34,362. The average attendance per event was 6,872.

The average cost per ticket for those events — a Brad Paisley concert, a performance by the Harlem Globetrotters and three Wichita Thunder hockey games — was $22.94.

In February, the arena handled 14 events attended by 59,252 people. There were 51,906 tickets sold that month, bringing in $1,692,407 in gross ticket sales. The average price per ticket was $32.61.

The average attendance at the arena in February was 4,232.

Sedgwick County commissioners voted unanimously this morning to end a relationship with jail consultant Justice Concepts Inc.

The county had hired the Kansas City-area firm in August 2008 to reduce its jail population by 25 percent. The consultants failed to do so and failed to deliver reports during their work. Their contract expired in June.

Justice Concepts had asked the county to allow it to continue its work until May 31 to receive final payment of its $124,616 contract.

But commissioners agreed the county’s relationship with Justice Concepts had deteriorated. The Wichita Eagle recently published several e-mails obtained under the Kansas Open Records Act in which consultant Nancy Insco referred to a county official as  “Mr. CYA” and used language such as “screw us over.” “CYA” is an abbreviation for “cover your ass.” Read More »