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Group calls on Gabel, Peterjohn to drop out

BY ROY WENZL

The Wichita Eagle

A group of Wichita small- business owners Thursday called on Craig Gabel to quit the Sedgwick County Commission race because of his past personal problems and police reports involving multiple women.

Sheryl Wohlford, a business owner and co-founder of the business group, said Gabel's legal and personal troubles disqualify him from serious consideration for the County Commission.

The Eagle reported Sunday that police reports show at least seven women had called police to complain about Gabel between 1995 and 2005.

Gabel, reached for comment, said, "I don't quit," and that it's up to voters to decide whether he's qualified to hold office.

"I don't understand these people," he said. "They are crazy."

The group, Wichita Means Business Alliance, was founded this week to take a position on the County Commission race.

It also called upon another commission candidate, Karl Peterjohn, to quit the race, and return or give away the $1,000 that election records show Gabel and his company gave to Peterjohn's campaign.

Peterjohn, when asked about Gabel's contributions, said he had not been aware of them until Thursday. He immediately said he would donate the money to the Sedgwick County Zoo, "to reaffirm my family's long commitment to the zoo."

Gabel, a Republican, said the money he gave Peterjohn was for the primary campaign, when Peterjohn defeated incumbent Republican Tom Winters.

"I don't know why these people are hammering on Karl," Gabel said. "You'd think they'd want someone who worries a lot about taxes, and that's Karl."

The Wichita Means Business Alliance is composed of a dozen small-business owners. The group is co-founded by Ray Frederick of Frederick Plumbing & Heating, an outspoken critic of Peterjohn.

Frederick is also chairman of the Wichita Independent Business Association, which has nearly 1,000 Wichita businesses on its roster.

WIBA, in spite of Frederick's opposition, has endorsed Peterjohn because of Peterjohn's long opposition to tax increases, a fact that Peterjohn pointed out when told of Frederick's new group.

Most of the alliance's members are Republicans, Frederick said.

But the group is endorsing the two Democrats running for the commission: Marcey Gregory in District 3 against Peterjohn, and incumbent Tim Norton, in District 2, against Gabel.

"I am a lifelong Republican and a third-generation business owner," Frederick said. "But we are endorsing the candidates here that will do the best for business in Wichita."

Peterjohn, in accepting the money from Gabel for his campaign, made a mistake in doing so, Frederick said.

The group said in a news conference Thursday that its main concern is the affect this election will have on small businesses and the community's economy.

Most of the group's concerns, Frederick said, involve Peterjohn, who Frederick said could endanger local business. Peterjohn opposed a county tax increase that supported the new technical training center scheduled to open near Jabara Airport in 2010.

Local aircraft companies pushed for the $54 million training center, which was partially financed with a county tax increase. The companies have said it is crucial to future decisions about whether to keep their companies and their billions in payroll in Wichita.

Peterjohn, who has often said how much he appreciates how the local aircraft companies boost the local economy, opposed that tax increase.

Reach Roy Wenzl at 316-268-6219 or rwenzl@wichitaeagle.com.