The Wichita City Council will try again today to break the embarrassing 3-3 logjam over the vacant District 1 seat. And the spotlight will be on Mayor Carl Brewer, who needs to step up and make a public case for who he thinks is the best choice. If that’s still Lavonta Williams, who received his vote last week, Brewer needs to explain why.
It’s time for Brewer to exert leadership and try to bring the council together. And though council members need to make up their own minds, they should give some weight and deference to Brewer’s opinion, given his standing as mayor and because he is the former representative of the district and knows it well.
Both sides should reject purely partisan motivations for choosing who will fill this nonpartisan seat.
This really should be about who would best serve the city and reflect and represent the concerns of residents of the district.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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13 Comments
Why not put an independent voice on the council. I nominate King David Davis. The entertainment will be endless.
Seems logical to me that Brewer should choose Foster-Brown. Because Brewer knows the district so well, he can use his vote and influence as mayor to address the concerns of his and Williams supporters and Foster-Brown can address the concerns of the more conservative voters in the district. Every body wins!
Sedgwick County Kansas officials should take due notice of what happened to Nifong,there are stark similarities.
Many SG officials from both the bench,the DAs office and local attorneys simply believe they are above the law- which they are not.
Falsifications,falsely sworn oaths,and the exclusion of exculpatory evidence may seem attractive to win at all costs,but eventually the slow wheels of justice reveal those who forsake their sworn oath to uphold the law and they are vanquished.
EXCERPT FROM N.C. NEWS REPORT:
Duke University has reached an undisclosed financial settlement with three former lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, while a judge said late Monday he would order the disbarred prosecutor to leave office immediately.
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Duke had suspended Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans after they were charged last year with raping a stripper at an off-campus party. The university also canceled the team’s season and forced their coach to resign.
“We welcomed their exoneration and deeply regret the difficult year they and their families have had to endure,” the school said Monday in a statement. “These young men and their families have been the subject of intense scrutiny that has taken a heavy toll.”
The allegations were debunked in April by state prosecutors, who said the players were the innocent victims of a “tragic rush to accuse” by Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong. He was disbarred Saturday for breaking more than two dozen rules of professional conduct in his handling of the case.
The players’ families racked up millions of dollars of legal bills in their defense, and appear likely to file a lawsuit against Nifong.
The players said in a joint statement that they hoped the agreement would “begin to bring the Duke family back together again.”
“The events of the last year tore the Duke community apart, and forcibly separated us from the university we love,” they said. “We were the victims of a rogue prosecutor concerned only with winning an election, and others determined to railroad three Duke lacrosse players and to diminish the reputation of Duke University.”
Earlier Monday, Nifong said he planned to leave office next month in a resignation letter to Gov. Mike Easley and to Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, who is overseeing a pending request to remove Nifong from office.
“It is my fervent hope that this action will spare this community the further anguish a removal hearing would entail and will allow the healing process to move forward,” Nifong wrote.
But Nifong’s July 13 departure date wasn’t soon enough for Hudson, who decided late Monday to suspend Nifong from office.
As part of the suspension, Hudson said he would order the sheriff on Tuesday to prevent Nifong from carrying out any duties of the district attorney.
“I have thought about the situation, and this is the way I wish to proceed,” said Hudson, who initially agreed to allow Nifong work until next month.
A disciplinary committee of the North Carolina State Bar concluded Saturday that Nifong had lied to the court, made inflammatory statements about the three indicted players and their teammates, and withheld critical DNA evidence from defense attorneys. After some administrative steps, Nifong will have 30 days to turn in his law license.
Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, said Nifong will still be eligible for his full retirement benefits — a pension and health care — that he accrued while working a state employee for nearly 30 years. But because he served fewer than five years as district attorney, he is not vested in a more lucrative retirement system for judges, prosecutors and the director of the courts office.
There was no word on whom Easley will chose to replace Nifong, who was appointed in 2005. The governor said Monday he would immediately remove Nifong — who has worked in the district attorney’s office since 1978 — if he could.
“You are given a lot of power and you can destroy a reputation in moments with just a few words,” said Easley, a former prosecutor. “This was much more than a mistake.”
Gee, it seems to me that if they’re yelling at each other, then they aren’t busy screwing up everything for the people of Wichita!Decades and decades ago, the city commission would meet on Tuesday evenings, and the meeting televised. They became known as The Tuesday Night Fights, and became a form of entertainment that predicted our fascination with Reality Television. And being paralysed by endless harangues, they did very little to interfere with people’s lives. Seemed quite a workable solution at the time!
There are many ways for Mayor Brewer to demonstrate leadership. Taking the politically expedient way out is not leadership. Since LaVonta Williams would be the only registered independent on the City Council, it seems to me that the true “statesmanship” position is to not ram a partisan political operative down our throats, and promote the supposed nonpartisan nature of City government by electing Willimas.
It’s down party lines.
Joe,
Longwell is a Republican, yet he’s been voting for Williams, an independent.
The other three Republicans won’t let go of Brown-Foster.
I have this suspicion the decision has already been made. :)
Just in: LaVonta Williams has won.
The point remains, it really doesn’t matter. Williams is just going to be one more rubber stamp for city staff. That’s why she supposedly got a perfect score in the DAB interviews… questions and scoring reportedly written by a district assistant. Did she see the questions in advance?Bottom line, same stuff, one different council member.The Community Voice reports quotes Williams as saying that she would be willing not to run for a full term if selected. Brown Foster said she would refuse election under those terms. Perfect set-up in 09 for Brown Foster.
Sounds like someone exerted some leadership skills.
Also sounds like district residents flooded the offices of some GOP council members with pointed commentary.
To answer the Eagle’s question, I hope you agree, Randy, that Mayor Brewer today successfully exerted leadership influence in resolving who would succeed him on the Council. Most important, he did so without being heavy-handed with his fellow Councilmembers, and without insulting those who favored the other candidate – this is such a breathe of fresh air from the previous mayor.
Those of you who always have something negative to say about council members would make me laugh if it weren’t so pitiful. LaVonta is not a rubber stamp for anyone especially city staff.