District 1 Saturday Breakfast

Documenter name: Debbie Haslam

Agency: Wichita City - District Advisory Board 1

Date: Sept. 7, 2024

Notes

Before the meeting began, there was a protest that occurred by both chalk writing on the sidewalk in front of the building as well as a protester, Bryant Jacobs, who followed Council member Brandon Johnson around with his phone, filming him and saying things to Johnson without any response from the councilman to the protester.

The meeting itself began at approximately 9:35 am with Council member Johnson welcoming attendees and introducing Alex Ziegler from Wichita State University school of business. Ziegler shared information about upcoming micro-credential programs that the WSU school of business will be offering this fall. The funding for this program comes from the Charles Koch foundation, which allows all participants to do so at no cost.  The first set of courses begin on October 21. They will be offered in the evenings and will give individuals WSU credit at no cost. Twenty-two large employers are supporting this program and more information can be found at wichita.edu/spero.

Debbie Haslam, Project Manager of the Wichita Documenters presented next by sharing the purpose of Wichita Documenters. Wichita Documenters was launched in May of 2024 and trains and pays people to go into local government meetings and take notes that are then published. Pay is $16.00 per hour. The notes are meant to be easy to read and cover what was discussed in government meetings. The Wichita Documenters have recently launched a website where all of the meeting notes can be found at wichitadocumenters.org.

Councilmember Johnson then introduced Dante’ Martin, Assistant City Manager. Martin began by sharing information regarding an Ethics Ordinance that was adopted by the City in May of 2021. This ordinance addresses ethics for elected and appointed officials. In March of 2023, the City Council approved revisions and suggested that the policy be made an ordinance.

Martin then shared information regarding research and potential improvements to ensuring healthy food to the community. The City will/has partnered with local corner stores and work with Destination Innovation for this project.  This will be evidenced based and will try to make healthy food both accessible and affordable.

Martin then moved to programs that are designed to impact crime in the area with intention to lower crime numbers. There are 90 plus programs that show impact and many of them may be programs that you wouldn’t necessarily think about.  After school programs were just one that was mentioned.

A member of the audience asked about rehabilitation for those who have been affected by crime.

Martin stated that this is an important factor that we need to do better with. He suggested that communication of programs could be a way to help. We currently do not do a good enough job to communicate what we offer.

Another member of the audience asked about decriminalizing poverty and what can be done.

Martin addressed a program that is showing effectiveness when it comes to individuals with suspended licenses. For example, judges now have the discretion to determine hardship for the individual and can lessen fines or time for someone who would find themselves facing extreme hardship without a license. This is done through a case management program which gives details to the judge through their case manager.

Reggie Davidson, City of Wichita Superintendent of Recreation, shared a big announcement regarding a new League football program. The city will work with the Wichita school district to provide a league at the middle school level. Starting next year, the school district will pay for the coaches of this league. When asked if fundraising will end with this new program, Davidson said that it will hopefully be reduced a lot, but will not end completely. The cost will be $55.00 per year per player and scholarship opportunities will be available. He especially was excited about the academic component that will be part of the program. Coaches, since connected with the school district, will be able to look at each player's academic performance. The program is not exactly like the KSHSAA guidelines, but is similar.  This league is currently a pilot program and could expand to other sports in the future.

Davidson then moved on to the topic of before and after school programs. Several middle schools and elementary schools are currently holding programs for kids. Davidson mentioned that the 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm timeframe can decrease crime by 50% if kids are using the time wisely. He encouraged people to utilize these programs and mentioned Colvin Elementary as a great example for an After school program.

Council member Johnson returned to the podium to speak on several different topics.  He began with the city budget and discussed how one change that has been made is the dirt roads allocations.  This change causes money to require a petition for dirt roads to be paved. The petition must have 80% of the neighbors signatures for approval. This affects the District because a lot of the dirt roads currently in the city are located in District 1.

Regarding the budget, Councilmember Johnson would like to increase the mill levy which is not agreed upon by the rest of the council. If the city does not raise the levy, they will have to make cuts elsewhere. Staff wages across the city need to be raised in order to be competitive. The budget is balanced for 2025, but will be in a $3.6 million deficit for 2026.

An audience member asked why the litigation and legal payouts are not visible. Johnson responded that this information should be seen through the Citizen review board and that she should continue to talk about it and ask questions.

Johnson then shared his personal thoughts on the budget by stating that core services, such as transit, public works, fire and police are necessary budgetary spending. He also would personally include libraries and parks into those core services.

The mill levy is a property tax and the city shares the 1% sales tax with the County. Johnson expressed that he doesn’t agree with sales tax being used for operations. He shared that he feels sales tax should only be used for special projects. In the end, Johnson believes that the city should go with what the community wants regarding the mill levy.

In response to the library and parks comment, Davidson shared several improvements that have been made to parks recently. He also talked about the artwork in these spaces and how amazing the work is.

Johnson mentioned both the work happening at Glen Dey (previously Grove) Park and the remodeling of the Brewer Center. 

The remainder of the meeting saw Councilmember Johnson address questions from those in attendance.

A question was raised regarding the Contamination site at 29th and Grove and it was shared that $1.5 million has been allocated for screening and testing and another $1 million can be given as a match. Johnson strongly reminded everyone to get screened so that all affected can be identified. Union Pacific, the organization found responsible for the spill, has been contacting homeowners in the area to get their air quality tested and Johnson encouraged people to get this tested as well. They are also supposed to put devices into the ground to manage the contamination. Johnson wants to see these in the ground and functioning before he leaves office.

Questions then centered around the emergency shelter going into the previous Park Elementary school building. The hope is to have the building ready for winter by Thanksgiving and they will continue the work after winter. When asked about how “locking” them all together is helpful, Johnson explained the different programs that will be a part of the fully functioning MAC and that the hope is to help with this problem.

He also ensured that security will be in place and that lighting will be established to create a safer environment. The training of the security was unsure, but Johnson hopes that a strong training program will be in place.

Councilmember Johnson then moved on to the issue of parking. The original parking plan focused on the idea that someone is paying for parking. It is either the city, the business owners or the citizens. By creating a parking plan that brings paid parking, it creates a “modernization of parking downtown”. In order to bring this modernization, it costs. Some businesses in the area, particularly those in Old Town, are paying too low. One concern that the city has heard is that parking prices will surge during busy times or big events. Johnson said that this is already happening and that he would like us to get on the front end of these things. He supports the current plan and feels that there is a larger discussion around management of the plan. Several stated that they have not had a good experience with Car Park, the for profit management company, and that is a concern.
Regarding other issues, evening council meetings are going well and hope to increase the number, or at least keep the quarterly plan. Douglas Ave. will move to bike lanes and although traffic congestion was a stated concern, the lanes will make things more walkable and bikeable. If the lanes go to East High, concern was raised about buses out front and lack of room for cars and bikes.

Another audience member asked about the city making things accessible to poor people. Poor people spend money and are nickel and dimed. He also suggested that the Q-line be expanded. Johnson agreed that things can be difficult and that the city is focusing on ways to help. As far as the Q-line is concerned, it would need more private sector support to lengthen its coverage. The need to improve transit is clear, but the expense to do so is high. Wichita could increase to 75 buses but the cost is $1 million each. They would then have to increase the number of drivers to fulfill those routes.

Councilmember Johnson mentioned Amnesty Day and how he would like to see another one soon. He would also like Amnesty on this day to extend to child support. The last Amnesty day had thousands of people attend and only about 700 were able to get their fines/charges dropped before the funding ran out.

An audience member asked about the recent Short-term rentals ordinance that was passed. This ordinance was encouraged through a shooting that happened in Crown Heights at a well known rental home. One concern from Johnson is that the ordinance is difficult to enforce.

To conclude the meeting, Councilmember Johnson shared an update on the drought. Cheney Reservoir continues to drop and is now down 7 feet. The city has seen good results in usage through the water usage rules set forth. The city can identify how much people are using through the water meters on homes. There is a rebate program in place that gives rebates for things like barrows.

The next breakfast will be held at the Atwater Community Center on Saturday, October 5.  

Summary

1. The monthly DAB 1 breakfast was well attended and covered a large number of topics from Councilmember Johnson.
2. Union Pacific is encouraging residents to get their air quality checked in response to the spill and contamination at their facility near 29th and Grove.
3. Councilmember Johnson shared his thoughts regarding the budget and says that he is encouraging an increase of the mill levy.

Follow-Up Questions

What are you left wondering? Ask up to 3 of your own follow-up questions…

1. Why is the contamination of soil at 29th and Grove not more of a strong headline for our city? We should be talking about this more.
2. Are there other football programs in the city that will be good competition for the new league or will the league play themselves?