South side has new clout at City Hall

Jim Skelton is still the new guy on the Wichita City Council, but to his credit — and the benefit of his underserved southeast Wichita district — he’s not giving ground to his colleagues without a fight or at least without asking lots of tough questions publicly. In recent days, Skelton has shown leadership in calling for a new committee to improve code enforcement and fight blight, in balking at east and west Wichita getting new fire stations before south Wichita does, and in questioning the cost of the airport terminal project and direction of the airline subsidy plan. Add Skelton’s voice to that of District 4’s Paul Gray, currently vice mayor, and south Wichita is at last getting strong representation at City Hall. Let’s hope these leaders inspire more south-siders to get involved, starting at the voting booth.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

3 Comments

  1. JWink
    Posted July 23, 2006 at 12:54 am | Permalink

    Jim Skelton is a voice of fresh air at City Hall. Lets hope he isn’t beaten down by the little cluster of “good old boys” (and girls) at City Hall.

  2. Joe Williams
    Posted July 23, 2006 at 10:48 am | Permalink

    Isn’t his wife a member of the local school board?

  3. ID
    Posted July 24, 2006 at 1:06 pm | Permalink

    She is. She is also very active in the community. Wichita gets a 2 for 1 with the Skelton family.