County challengers on whether they’d join or defy current majority

Three is the magic number in Sedgwick County. And “majority” is the magic word.

You need the votes of only three of five county commissioners to pass budgets and other major policies.

For the past year and a half, contentious commission votes have often, but not always, fallen along a 3-2 split that favors more conservative commissioners Jim Howell, Richard Ranzau and Karl Peterjohn. That majority wants to lower county debt and focus on core government services. They’re also more inclined to be skeptical of federal grants and of the effectiveness of public health programs.

One member of that majority, Peterjohn, is up for election this year. His challengers, Republican David Dennis and independent Marcey Gregory, say they would not be inclined to side with Howell and Ranzau if they were to defeat Peterjohn.

“Not when we’re worried about things like the zoo, when we’re worried about health care, we’re worried about bonding the roads,” Dennis said. “Those are issues that I am not even close to the current majority on.”

The picture gets a bit murkier when you consider the other 2016 commission race. Democratic Commissioner Tim Norton, who often sides with Republican commissioner Dave Unruh on split votes, faces a general election challenge from Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita.

O’Donnell, a conservative Republican in the Legislature, says he differs with the majority on some issues. But he wants to transcend the 3-2 dividing line.

“It’s broken right now. The status quo at the county is not working,” he said. “It’s too rigid. These 3-2 divisions are too rigid.”

District 3 challengers: Dennis, Gregory

District 3 is heavily Republican and includes much of west Wichita, as well as towns like Goddard, Cheney and Colwich in the western half of the county. Peterjohn has represented the district since 2009 and is running for a third and final term.

Dennis, the former state education board chairman, said he wanted “a conservative Republican alternative” to challenge Peterjohn. He said he and his wife considered a campaign more seriously “when we kept seeing what was happening with the current majority.”

“If not me, who?” Dennis said. “And that other ‘who’ did not show up.”

Gregory, the mayor of Goddard, is gathering signatures to land on the November ballot as an independent candidate. She ran and lost to Peterjohn as a Democrat in 2008, when he first won the seat.

Both Dennis and Gregory say they would have voted against the 2016 budget last August.

The majority voted for that budget, saying it reduced the county’s reliance on paying for roads with debt, focused on core government services and held property taxes level. The county shifted to paying for road and bridge maintenance projects with cash from its reserves instead of borrowing to pay for it.

Norton and Unruh voted against it because they opposed cuts to public health, arts, economic development and recreation. Public health was cut roughly $500,000. Exploration Place saw a $35,000 cut. And the Sedgwick County Zoo did not receive an expected increase in funding based on previous funding and operating agreements. Those agreements are now under negotiation.

“We made some cuts that hurt a lot of people, and … my property taxes didn’t change but a few dollars,” Dennis said.

Asked if he was treating this election as a referendum on the majority, Dennis said, “I’m running against Commissioner Peterjohn, but this is the only chance we have for two years to change the majority.”

“I really believe they’re more libertarian than Republican,” Dennis added.

He said his stances on county issues most closely resemble those of Unruh.

Gregory says she, too, most closely aligns ideologically with Unruh.

She said she would “absolutely not” side with commission members voting to turn down grant money and cut public health programs.

“That’s so short-sighted. I would laugh if it wasn’t so sad,” Gregory said.

She also was critical of the commission majority’s resistance to bonding regular road and bridge maintenance.

“I’m all about keeping this community strong and vital and growing, and I don’t think that the three in the majority right now share that vision,” Gregory said.

District 3 incumbent: Peterjohn

Peterjohn touts his record and the current majority as a whole. He repeatedly champions the county’s support for the property tax lid on local governments that requires voter approval of certain property tax increases.

“We’ve put some policies in place with debt and the mill levy that … are fiscally responsible and working toward voter empowerment,” Peterjohn said. “We’re looking hard at federal grants as opposed to rubber-stamping them.”

Peterjohn says he understands why some people could see the District 3 race as a referendum on the current majority.

“I’m trying to view it as I’ve got a proven track record of conservative fiscal accountability, performance and transparency that I think has performed well for eight years and I’m willing to continue to do it for the next four (years) if the voters will give me that privilege,” Peterjohn said.

Peterjohn also says taxpayers should be better represented on the zoo board, pointing out that the county provides about 40 percent of the zoo’s revenue but has less than 10 percent of the voting power on the zoo’s nonprofit board. Gregory and Dennis disagree.

District 2 challenger: O’Donnell

Norton, the longest standing commissioner, will face O’Donnell in District 2, which includes parts of south Wichita and all of Haysville and Clearwater. He says it will be his last campaign for the commission.

O’Donnell is leaving the state Senate after one term. He says he worked with people on both sides of the aisle in Topeka and will do the same if elected to the commission.

“I can work with people regardless of their political leanings and their party identification to do what’s right for the people that I’m privileged to represent,” O’Donnell said.

The county budget process last summer was “not handled properly,” he said.

“I personally believe that some of the public discussion was harmful coming from the bench,” O’Donnell said. “But I absolutely understand that the commission is trying to be fiscally responsible and stay within our budget. I don’t think anyone in Sedgwick County dislikes the idea of taking on less debt.”

He also says he would have voted against last year’s budget, citing cuts to Wichita Area Technical College and to Project Access, a program that provides donated medical care to underinsured Sedgwick County residents.

But he complimented the majority for its support of the property tax lid. Sedgwick County lobbied for the tax lid while other city or county governments opposed it.

“This is a piece of legislation that … allows voters to have a voice in their property tax increases,” O’Donnell said. “We have to keep property taxes low in Sedgwick County in order to be competitive.”

District 2 incumbent: Norton

Norton said he decided to run because he thinks he can make a difference and “that people still maybe wanted me around.” He said he still enjoys the office even though the commission is different politically.

“Sometimes the conversation goes a different way than I think it should. We take some paths I don’t think are right. And that’s the way these boards and politics work,” Norton said. “I’m certainly not going to give up on what I think is right. I tend to lean toward making government work for everybody and not just a few. And I’m going to continue down that path to be part of the conversation.”

Norton cited his work toward partnerships with the National Center for Aviation Training and WATC, as well as his support for the county health department and Child Advocacy Center.

“I think we’re making some major strides in job training and workforce development,” Norton said. “It’s no mystery to people that I’ve advocated for … maternal child health, women’s health and chronic disease prevention.”

Norton said he was worried about the county’s stances on paying cash for roads and capping property tax revenue.

“A lot of these imposed restrictions limit your ability to provide good government,” Norton said. “And I’m not talking about expensive government, or out-of-control spending government, but just good government that provides for the citizenry and the common good of everyone.”

A ‘diverse ideology’

Chairman Jim Howell, whose election in 2014 represented a shift in the commission, rejects the notion that he’s part of a rigid voting bloc with Ranzau and Peterjohn.

“The reality is I’m independent. I’m not committed to any person. I have my own principles, my own values,” Howell said. “I’m going to vote what I think is best regardless of what anybody else does.”

“Peterjohn tends to go with Ranzau, and Unruh tends to go with Norton. And it kind of leaves me in the middle of saying ‘which way am I going to go?’ ” Howell said. “I think I’ve got plenty of evidence to show I have gone out on my own and voted with all kinds of people. There’s been no characterization that I would say has really put me in the camp of anybody at this point.”

Howell cited his budget proposal from last summer that fell between the recommended budget and a proposal from Norton and Unruh, which would have averted some of the budget cuts.

“We have a dividing line. We’ve got basically two to the left and two to the right, and it puts me in this awkward position,” Howell said.

“We have a diverse ideology and values up here,” Howell said. “We’re all not the same person. Everybody’s willing to address these issues independently, and I think that’s healthy.”

This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 3:29 PM with the headline "County challengers on whether they’d join or defy current majority."