Meitzner dedicated to family and community

Paul Meitzner's customers at his drapery and upholstery business in Wichita came from all sorts of means and backgrounds.

That became a learning opportunity for Pete Meitzner, the oldest of seven children.

"Dad had an incredible ability to treat people so equally," said Meitzner, 55. "He instilled in us to treat people fairly regardless of race, shape or size."

That's one of the approaches Meitzner wants to take to the City Council. He finished second in the District 2 primary in east Wichita and will face Charlie Stevens on April 5.

Meitzner sees getting accurate information as a foundation for treating people fairly.

"I'm not afraid to ask questions," said Meitzner, the managing partner for a consulting firm in the telecom industry. "When the facts are on the table, I believe reasonable people with a decent amount of intelligence will come to an agreement about what is the right thing to do."

Meitzner, who describes himself as a conservative Republican, said his business experience and family background have taught him "that the harder you work, the luckier you are."

Family work ethic

He draws on the work ethic of his family.

Grandpa Max Meitzner was a drafted 15-year-old who fought for Germany in World War I. Pete's other grandpa, Joe Curry, grew up near Dwight Eisenhower in Abilene and fought for the United States. He died from the effects of being gassed in the war when Pete's mother, Kitty, was 18.

Shortly after the war, Max Meitzner came to America through Ellis Island, worked as a laborer in New York and saved enough money to bring his wife and daughter over to join him.

One of those early jobs was repairing upholstery, laying the foundation for a business that Max would start in 1935 in Wichita. His son, Paul, would run it for the final 57 years of its existence, right up until about two months before he died last summer.

Kitty would often tell her husband to take some time off. "But Dad just wanted to go to the shop," Pete Meitzner said.

Not that it was all work around the Meitzner home. The family attended and served at their parish on South Pattie, St. Margaret Mary. And then there were those lively visits from Kitty's five older brothers.

"We grew up with great laughter," Pete Meitzner said. "Family is important to us."

Meitzner and his six brothers and sisters helped their dad with the work. But Paul Meitzner was adamant about his children not following him into the business.

He wanted his children to feel free to pursue their own careers, Pete Meitzner said.

After Paul and Kitty worked hard to pay the tuition so their children could attend Kapaun Mount Carmel High School, all seven children went to college. But that bill was on them.

Pete Meitzner paid his way through Wichita State University by working part-time at Boulevard State Bank and then stayed on full time.

Shortly after leaving the bank in 1985, he and Pizza Hut co-founder Dan Carney tried a couple of entrepreneurial adventures, including a Laundromat-bar combination in Florida.

"We worked hard for less money and lost," Meitzner said.

Telecom ventures

In the late 1980s, Meitzner, Carney and other partners became involved in the telecom business. With the breakup of AT&T, the timing was right.

They eventually created T-Netix, a firm that sold communications, data services and investigative tools to correctional institutions. Meitzner was the firm's national sales manager and later president.

By 1994, T-Netix went public. It was a $300 million to $400 million company with 600 employees when it was sold to other investors in 2004.

"Some of our competitors would say we just got lucky on a sale," Meitzner said, "but I knew for a fact we had outworked them."

T-Netix was based in Dallas, but Meitzner worked out of Wichita for most of his 15 years with the company.

Since 2004, Meitzner and several partners have done consulting work for telecom companies.

'A very spiritual man'

Through all that, he said it has been important for him to stay close to family and community.

He and Suzi, his wife of 30 years, have two children. Erich is a sophomore at Kapaun; Natalie is a freshman.

Meitzner is also president of the advisory board for the Lord's Diner.

"Pete is a very spiritual man, very dedicated to his faith," said Wendy Glick, executive director of the Lord's Diner. "His presence on the board is reflective of that."

He said he will draw on his community involvement and business experience to work for what's best for the whole city.

Meitzner said he will sharply scrutinize economic incentives for businesses, but he wouldn't automatically dismiss any of them without consideration.

"A lot of them are really investments (for the city)," he said. "We need to combine business sense with common sense to make the right decisions."

He said he agreed with the council recently voting to approve a community improvement district, or CID, for Cabela's, which plans to build a store in northeast Wichita.

A CID allows a business to add an additional charge of up to 2 percent to a customer's bill to pay for construction, landscaping and other projects. The extra charge can last up to 22 years.

"Cabela's has done its homework . . . they know this community," Meitzner said. "They're not just showing up to break ground."

He doesn't buy the argument that businesses will come to Wichita because of incentives and then move to another city that offers more money.

"First of all, I'm more focused on making sure the good businesses we have here — both large and small — feel good about not only staying but even expanding," Meitzner said. "That is the first priority."

He said existing businesses are the best attraction for others to come to Wichita.

"We should let people come and kick our tires, check us out," he said. "There's a lot of brain power and business sense in this town."

This story was originally published March 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Meitzner dedicated to family and community."