Posted on Tue, Jan. 27, 2009

e-mail	print	RSS	reprint
AIM	Digg it	del.icio.us	Facebook

Candidate joins District 1 race

BY DION LEFLER

The Wichita Eagle

Postal worker and former union president Ricky Ransom has become the third candidate to join the race for the District 1 seat on the Wichita City Council.

Ransom, 40, enters a race that already includes appointed incumbent council member Lavonta Williams and former planning commissioner James Barfield.

The deadline to file for City Council is noon today.

Ransom said he joined the race because "I think it's just a natural progression for myself. I've always been a leader, ever since I was in high school."

Born in California and reared in Mississippi, Ransom joined the Army after high school and served for seven years. He suffered a service-related disabling back injury, but has gone on to work for the past nine years as a mail handler at the postal facility near Mid-Continent Airport.

He served as president of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, Wichita Local 297, from February 2005 until May 2007. His most recent activism with the union came when he represented a fellow worker on an equal employment opportunity complaint in July 2008, he said.

Williams and Barfield are both better known and have longer records of public service. But Ransom said the situation he faces now is much like when he ran for union president. He had not held any formal union post before beating a five-year incumbent for the top job, he said.

As for city priorities, Ransom said he doesn't understand why recent city manager searches have had to involve national recruiting.

"Every time we go out to get a city manager, we get burned in the end," he said, citing the case last year when manager-designee Patrick Salerno accepted the job and signed a contract, then backed out.

Ransom said he believes the council should look locally first. "If you just can't find someone that's qualified from within, then start an outside search," he said.

The primary is March 3 and the general election is April 7.

Reach Dion Lefler at 316-268-6527.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@