Brewer’s response today comes after Bob Weeks, a local blogger who has pressed the city on the issue, called the International Sister Cities Conference a “junket” that the city should not pay for in a tough economic climate.

“Even in good budget times, I would argue these trips should be avoided,” Weeks told council members this morning.

Weeks said the city estimates the cost of the trip at $4,000, which includes airfare for Miller and Kelly Harper, a non-city employee who is president of the Wichita Area Sister Cities.

Weeks referenced the city’s call for residents to make sacrifices as the city faces a $13 million budget deficit, which is leading to layoffs and cutbacks in many departments.

Miller didn’t comment. But Brewer said the trip is an important “social and economic exchange.”

He said the trip serves two purposes: One is to seek any new businesses that may come to Wichita or conduct business here; the other is to visit one of Wichita’s sister cities, Orleans, France, which Brewer said is an hour from Paris.

Previously, that would have been two trips, Brewer said, noting that the city is trying to cut back on city council travel.

Brewer said Miller and Harper will pay for all expenses besides airfare.

The trip, Sept. 21-27, has a rigorous schedule, Brewer said.

“They don’t get to sit on the beach,” he said. “They don’t get to sip pina coladas.”

Brewer said the situation is similar to a married couple going through tough times. He said you shouldn’t get a divorce just to save money — just like the city shouldn’t decline an invitation to the Sister Cities conference just because of a tight budget.

Vice Mayor Jim Skelton said a recent trip he took to Germany with aircraft industry leaders has led to some business between Wichita and a company in Germany.

Still, Skelton acknowledged Weeks’ complaint.

“We do need to watch international travel and provide an extra level of scrutiny, especially when the city is laying people off,” he said.

Louie and John J. Marks face probation when they are sentenced on May 18. Another family member who apparently did not donate, Bobby Marks, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for stealing scrap metal and selling it back to the family business. (For more on the scrap metal case, see a story in today’s Wichita Eagle by Tim Potter and Ron Sylvester.)

Carl Brewer was sworn in today as mayor at the Wichita City Council meeting. He adds to the diversity of local government officials. African-Americans are serving as city manager, assistant city manager, city spokesman, chief of police, assistant county manager and director of the city’s visitors and tourism department.

It’s a line-up that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

The swearing-in comes days before the National Urban League plans to release its State of Black America report, which will focus on the status of black men in America. Sen. and presidential hopeful Barack Obama even wrote the forward to the report, which is set to be released April 17.

“Although many black men are doing well, glaring gaps continue to exist between black men and their white counterparts,” a press release for the report reads. “These gaps are caused and aggravated, in large measure, by the underperformance of a disproportionate number of black men in a variety of areas and for a variety of reasons.”

At his neighborhood city hall, he got hit with TV interview after TV interview after Hall Monitor interview this afternoon. He even picked up a cold somewhere along the way. It’s not getting any less hectic. He’s setting up meetings with the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce (to talk about bringing in new businesses), City Manager George Kolb (to talk about a citywide wireless internet system), newly elected Council member Jeff Longwell (to get to know him better) and others.

Saturday morning, he’ll be at Ryan’s Grill Buffet & Bakery, 3323 N. Rock Rd. (See map.), for his monthly breakfast with community residents — only this time near record attendance is expected. Some of them are likely to be people who want to fill the District 1 seat Brewer is leaving. “I think you’ll see who’s interested if you come there,” Brewer said.

(People interested in petitioning for Brewer’s seat can learn how the city fills vacancies here. See the full city ordinance here.And see a map of District 1 here.)

Here’s a glimpse of people’s reactions to the now-pressing question:

Asked about the vacancy, former mayor Bob Knight pointed to Rip Gooch, the former state senator and former City Council member. Gooch, however, said, “I’ve done that.” He said maybe his daughter Bonita Gooch, publisher of The Community Voice, could take it on. She has a background in public administration, he said. Several people have urged her to step in, he said. Rev. Titus H. James came up too. He’s the pastor of North Heights Christian Church.

Brewer said there’s “an ocean” of good people who could fill his seat. He said many of them are on his District Advisory Board. Lavonta Williams seems to be high on the list. She appeared in Brewer’s campaign ads, boasting Brewer’s neighborhood clean-up efforts. She’s also a teacher and is on the Visioneering diversity task force. James Thompson’s name also surfaced — as did the rest of the DAB, which includes: Gerald Domitrovic, Shane Dundas, Treatha Brown-Foster, Steve Roberts, Debra Miller-Stevens, Inga Taylor and Shontina Tipton.

Tell us who you think will be able to get 100 signatures, support of the DAB and four votes from the City Council.

Now a poll has been taken by KWCH Channel 12 and The Wichita Eagle. It shows Brewer up 22 percent over Mayans in the race for mayor. The automated phone survey polled 470 likely voters and was conducted by Survey USA a week before the April 3 election.

Of those asked, 58 percent plan to vote for Brewer, 36 percent plan to vote for Mayans and 6 percent said they were undecided or planned to pick someone else, presumably a write-in. There’s a 4.6 percent margin of error. In the poll, Brewer leads among all age groups as well as among men, women, black and white voters.

And he’s not just talking about the wireless that City Manager George Kolb has discussed with the Council to allow city workers to do work on the road. (See the PowerPoint here.) The Council decided against that plan with Sedgwick County and the Wichita School District. But Brewer says this idea would allow access for anyone with a computer — not just government employees.

It’s a popular idea nationwide. For example, the Los Angeles Times recently reported that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to make L.A. the biggest wireless network around. Also noteworthy, a story in The Eagle this week pointed out that large wireless networks also have their problems with privacy.