Mayor Carl Brewer: ‘Be courageous in finding the right solutions’

Mayor Carl Brewer focused on accomplishments and sacrifices Tuesday night during his State of the City address, rather than dwelling on gloomy news such as Boeing’s impending departure from Wichita.

He drew repeated applause from the audience packed into the council chambers at City Hall as he cited highlights like Southwest Airlines’ recent announcement that it will be coming to town, unemployment dipping to a three-year low of 6.9 percent in December and bond refinancing that has cut the city’s debt service by $16.2 million.

At times, he took a pep-rally approach.

Noting that Wichita wasn’t one of the many municipalities across that country that contemplated bankruptcy, he shouted, “We are Wichita.”

Brewer, who is in the middle of his second four-year term, said efforts in 2011 to stabilize the city financially and ask big-picture questions have put Wichita on the right course. He noted that more than $20 million in expenses were cut from this year’s budget.

“We must find solutions in a proactive, not reactive, manner,” Brewer said. “It has required that we act not with partisan agendas but that we continue to be courageous in finding the right solutions for our community.”

Brewer noted that city government has improved its economic position through energy-savings initiatives, and streamlining services and staff. He said staffing realignments have saved $6.4 million.

Learning from the Boeing “experience,” he said, the city will work to strengthen policies that recover money from companies that receive city subsidies and then leave town.

Allen Bell, the city’s director of urban development, has said several Boeing industrial revenue bond issues remain outstanding, including the 2007 issue for $12 million. Bell said the city has issued the bonds to finance Boeing plant improvements and equipment over 30-plus years in order to provide 10-year property tax abatements.

At the same time, Brewer said the city must keep helping business bring in jobs and investment, especially in light of the loss of more than 2,100 Boeing jobs.

He said that through incentives focused on public-private partnerships, nearly $355 million in private-sector investment and almost 1,000 jobs came to the city in 2011.

He also pointed to the city’s recent $1 million commitment to Bombardier Learjet’s expansion at Mid-Continent Airport, which is projected to create 450 new jobs.

“And as you may have heard, other aviation companies are expanding,” he said. “To them we say, ‘We want you. We are open for business.’ ”

Brewer lauded the downtown incentives policy that calls for developers to be significantly invested in all projects.

He called on the Kansas Legislature to approve $5 million in annual financing for Affordable Airfares, a program that subsidizes low-cost airlines in Wichita and elsewhere. Gov. Sam Brownback supports it and has told The Eagle he would continue to advocate for it this year.

In regard to the city’s social needs, Brewer cited the opening of the Homeless Resource and Referral Center downtown. The city is working with United Methodist Open Door and other agencies that serve the homeless in setting up the new center.

“We recognize the need to protect those who are in most need of our protection – the elderly, the disabled, the homeless, the poor,” he said.

Brewer had praise for the city’s law enforcement, noting that gang-related drive-by shootings are down 30 percent and gang-related assaults are down 28 percent.

“Gangs are not welcome here,” he said, drawing loud applause.

In a reference to a 2010 series The Eagle did on home construction problems in the Maple Shade subdivision in southeast Wichita, Brewer recalled how seven months of meetings resulted in new and enhanced housing construction standards “so we will never again see the terrible conditions that surfaced (at Maple Shade).”

Noting that the city’s neighborhood infrastructure has deteriorated, he said the budget for street maintenance will increase from $6 million to $10 million by 2014.

He called for people to attend community meetings to find solutions for the city’s economic future.

“Stand with me in committing to stay the course on nonpartisan politics on this City Council – doing the right thing, not the easy thing,” Brewer said. “Stand with me in moving Wichita forward.”

This story was originally published January 31, 2012 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Mayor Carl Brewer: ‘Be courageous in finding the right solutions’."