Sales tax opposition group hosts mayoral candidate forum

All 10 candidates for mayor appeared together for the first time Tuesday at a forum hosted by the Coalition for a Better Wichita – the Koch-funded group that formed in opposition to last fall’s proposed sales tax.

Candidates answered questions about the qualities that make a good mayor and what their priorities would be.

But they didn’t talk about how they voted on the failed sales tax proposal. No one asked that question.

The 1-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax would have collected about $400 million over five years to help pay for a new water supply, streets, transit and job development. It was defeated by voters 62 percent to 37 percent.

“I frankly would have liked to have seen someone say ‘Tell us how you would have voted on the sales tax and why,’” said Russell Fox, political science professor at Friends University, who attended the forum.

“Why is that important? It’s important because the sales tax debate – however you want to argue about how it was administered, how it was sold and who funded the different sides of the debate – the fact is that the sales tax became a way to understand larger philosophical and policy differences between citizens. A couple of the candidates were willing to say how they voted, but the majority of them stayed away from it.”

Candidate Tracy Stewart, a banker, told the audience in response to a question about paying for city infrastructure that he did not vote for the sales tax, particularly because of the jobs portion that was bundled with the other issues.

In his opening statement, candidate Sam Williams, former executive at Sullivan Higdon & Sink advertising firm, said “Wichita, Kansas’ best days are in its future and I’m here to talk about the future, not dwell on what’s been done in the past.”

Fox said voters need information about the past.

“We build upon the past. If you don’t give us information on the past, how are we supposed to have a good sense of you in the future?” he said.

In their answers, some candidates addressed the conservative roots of the coalition.

“Think of the possibilities of a young, conservative professional taking over the helm of city hall and moving Wichita in a new direction,” said candidate Sean Hatfield, a lawyer who is a member of the coalition.

Sam Williams told the audience that he thinks the mayor has to be the best salesman and cheerleader for the community.

But Hatfield disagreed.

“Wichita doesn’t need a cheerleader. A cheerleader stands on the sidelines. What Wichita needs is a young quarterback to lead it down the field and to lead Wichita toward a better future,” Hatfield said.

Later, Williams responded: “Let’s see here, I think I’ve learned I don’t want to be a politician and I don’t want to be a cheerleader. What am I going to do?” That drew laughs from the audience.

After several candidates took jabs at city government, saying it lacked plans to pay for aging infrastructure, council member and mayoral candidate Jeff Longwell said he wanted “to set the record straight” about the city’s plan, called the cost of service analysis (COSA), which started five years ago.

“It suggested a certain amount of money needed to take us to replace aging infrastructure along with the cost of running our water supply on an annual basis. That study also suggested a series of rate increases that you’ve seen take place over the last five years,” Longwell said.

“Those rate increases aren’t simply because the city’s asking for more of your dollars. … If people are telling you we don’t have a plan in place, they’re not familiar with COSA.”

Lavonta Williams, another council member running for mayor, said she didn’t like raising the water rates, but saw the increases were necessary. She said she trusts the public works department to help make infrastructure decisions.

Candidate Jennifer Winn said the city’s water woes could be solved by having people pay more based on how much they use.

The field of 10 candidates will be narrowed to two after the March 3 primary. The general election will be April 7.

This story was originally published February 17, 2015 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Sales tax opposition group hosts mayoral candidate forum."