Here’s what Tuesday’s City Council meeting looks like: Pray, Pledge of Allegiance and then ceremony (swear in the new mayor), ceremony (swear in a new council member), ceremony (tribute to Bob Martz). Oh, and once the new Council lineup is in place, they’ll dive into several issues.
Here are the hottest items:
- Pick a new vice-mayor to replace Paul Gray, who is finishing his one-year term. (See procedure here.)
- Vote to sign an agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers to do a massive, $4.5 million flood protection project on the Cowskin Creek that will essentially cut a 300-foot wide overflow shelf into the shoreline. City drainage engineers say it could reduce flooding by more than a foot in some residential areas during the type of downpour that comes about once every 100 years. (See previous Eagle story.)
- Consider a $45,000 contract for drug and alcohol testing of transportation, police and fire employees. That kicks in some new random tests agreed the unions agreed to about a year ago, and it comes at a time when both the police and fire unions’ men and women are working under an expired contract.
- Decide whether to OK a $67,225 remodel of the planning department’s meeting room that includes audio/visual components.
- Rename Harvest Park, 9500 Provincial Lane, as “Bob Martz Park” in honor of former District 5 City Council member Bob Martz, who died of an apparent heart attack in January.
- Vote to rezone an oddly shaped swath of land near McConnell Air Force Base to “Air Force Base District” as part of the city’s massive rezoning around the base to show military officials who may be preparing the next round of base closures McConnell is prepared for future expansion and has terrorism safeguards.
See the full agenda.
As people sipped Coronas and sodas and mingled among the crowd at Carl Brewer’s campaign party Tuesday night, I was working the scene, trying to find out who’s going to fill Brewer’s shoes in District 1. We’ve got a list of potential contenders and we’re hoping you’ll add to it by clicking on the “comments” link below. The right person will need 100 signatures from district residents, an affirming vote from the District Advisory Board and a majority vote of the City Council.
Read More »
Want to see the face of victory or defeat? How about listen to a consolation or victory speech? How about free pretzels and punch? It all happens Tuesday night — when candidates rise and fall.
Carl Brewer’s watch party will be at 7 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott in Old Town, 820 E. 2nd St. Mayor Carlos Mayans’ party starts at 7:30 p.m. at The Broadview Hotel, 400 W. Douglas. Les Osterman isn’t planning on a party. Sue Schlapp’s party will start at 7 p.m. at BG Bolton’s Sports Grill, 11423 E 13th Street. Paul Tobia will be at his home.
School board candidates Karl Peterjohn, Cindy Duckett and John Stevens will have a watch party at Oscar’s Sports Box at 353 N. Mead. Jeff Davis, Barb Fuller, and Betty Arnold, will be at the River City Brewery at 150 N. Mosley. Kevass Harding will make an appearence there but will spend most of the night at his church with his supporters at 1502 N. Dellrose.
We will hit as many of these places as possible. Stay tuned.
Mayoral candidates Carl Brewer and Carlos Mayans say those people with shopping bags, tickets and a dinner plate on their heads don’t make much sense to them.
“I probably would have used something a little different myself,” Brewer said, laughing. “I’ve never been able to figure out exactly what the catch was to it.”
“I think you said it all, it’s a little different,” Mayans said.
Their comments came during the candidates’ last face-to-face debate on KNSS NewsRadio 1330 this morning after host Gene Countryman asked whether the taxpayer-funded signs, which are on billboards all over the state, were a good idea.
“It just seems baffling to me,” Countryman said. (Get a podcast of the show here.)
The Greater Wichita Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Greteman Group, which made the ads, also took some heat in 2004 when the ad campaign was first displayed. The slogan — “We got the goods” — didn’t sound right to some grammar hawks. Ad writers, however, said the casual wording was intentional — like the “Got Milk” campaign.
In February, Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Bill Gale predicted 20 percent of registered voters would cast a ballot in the primary. Only 13 percent of those registered showed up. Given general elections have better turnout, Gale is sticking with 20 percent again Tuesday. It probably won’t help that the National Weather Service forecasts a slight chance of thunderstorms for Tuesday. Rain tends to keep voters home. But a barrage of last minute campaigning might counteract it.
Read More »
Want lower taxes, better jobs, accountability, economic growth, personal freedom and limited government? The Sedgwick County Republican Party says their folks can do it — even in the non-partisan offices of mayor, city council and school board.
That’s the message in a recent Sedgwick County Republican Party mail-out flier that says “Wichita wins with Republican principles.” It lists Republicans Carlos Mayans, Sue Schlapp, Paul Gray and both Paul Tobia and Jeff Longwell for city races. Also on their list: Cindy Duckett, John Stevens, Karl Peterjohn and Jeff Davis for Wichita School Board positions. Then, the tiny asterisks: “*We encourage you to support the candidate of your choice.”
It’s not just the Rs showing their party colors, though. Mayoral candidate Carl Brewer, a Democrat, has also had help from his party — most notably from former Lt. Governor Tom Docking, who was one of three prominent Democrats to endorse Brewer in a letter sent to local Dems.
For more on the partisan nature of non-partisan elections and list of candidates’ registered party affiliations, see this previous post.
Ask Mayor Carlos Mayans about polls, and he’ll tell you he hasn’t taken any in six campaigns (five for state representative, one for mayor). A self-described populist, he says there’s only one real poll — Election Day. Mayoral candidate Carl Brewer, meanwhile, spent $14,000 on polling and phone banks.
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.
We reported in The Eagle today about Mayor Carlos Mayans and City Council member Carl Brewer supporting cameras in police cars. Both men supported it in their comments. But, as Sunflower Community Action members are pointing out this morning, that’s not the full story.
Mayans asked Brewer to make a motion on the cameras during budget negotiations last year, but Brewer didn’t. Later, Mayans made a motion of his own to shift $150,000 from the city’s long-term spending to start a pilot project. Brewer voted against that. Only Mayans and Paul Gray supported it. See the full minutes in a PDF file here.
WSU football isn’t Carlos Mayans’ favorite topic these days, since it’s led to such outcry from other City Council members. But Mayans still stands behind Wichita State University football as a way to boost the school’s lagging enrollment.
“It’s no secret that Wichita State University has lost students, in part, because of not having football,” Mayans said, responding to a question at a voter forum Sunday. “This is not a true, full university. The football would bring a return of… more African American students,” he said. When he said that, someone in the crowd at the Tabernacle Baptist Church said “that’s stereotyping.”
“Football is economic development to the city,” Mayans said. The 1.5 mills of tax money was intended to pay off buildings and now those buildings are paid off, he said.
Mayan’s opponent, City Council member Carl Brewer, has criticized the idea from the start. He response to the question was to say a mayor has “more things to do” instead of trying to convince a university’s president to start a football program. “We have other things to be doing,” he said.
He’s not giving details. Not about who he’s talking to. Not about what type of wireless system they’d try to bring in. But mayoral candidate Carl Brewer has said he’s in discussions with an undisclosed company about a wireless internet deal that could allow Wichitans to browse the web while having a picnic at the park or sipping coffee at home.
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.