Bryan Frye, Gary Bond vie for District 5 council seat

The two candidates in the race for the open City Council seat in west Wichita’s District 5 generally support the same issues:

They want improved streets and drainage to accommodate the fast-growing district.

“These infrastructure needs aren’t magically going to be fixed overnight,” said Bryan Frye. “It’s going to take some dedication and some serious study to make sure we’re doing what’s practical and affordable, and we can’t afford to waste any more time.”

Both advocate the addition of a police substation in the district.

“My district is about 60,000 people – that’s larger than the city of Hutchinson and Salina – and we don’t have a police substation in it,” said Gary Bond. “I don’t know how long it takes to get a district substation, but it’s time to start pushing.”

Both want to replace Jeff Longwell, who is running for mayor.

Frye led with 50 percent of the vote in the primary and Bond was the runner-up, with 30 percent.

Bond, 57, is in marketing and sales at Top Master, a countertop company. Frye, 48, is the marketing director at KAKE-TV and president of the Park Board, a seven-member city advisory board.

Both have thoughts about the overloaded Westlink Library, near Central and Tyler.

Frye said the library should be addressed after basic needs are met.

“I’ve always been a supporter of the library plan – the master plan – but we have to do it in a way that is practical and fits with the needs of the city right now,” Frye said. “My top priority is the basic needs of the city. That’s the infrastructure, water and roads. Once we get that fixed, then we start taking on those other projects.”

Bond said he would advocate for a combined facility for the library, police substation and a community center.

“Those are the three things the district has been telling me they would like to have,” he said. “That is a want that has been expressed to me, and something I would be advocating for. We have to figure out the money and planning, and we have to see what’s already in the plan.”

Bond said he also operates on a “needs versus wants” platform – taking care of city essentials before investing in wants.

“Most people that are fiscally conservative think that needs should be over wants,” he said. “You should take care of your basic needs before you fund your wants. That’s a basic, fundamentally sound way to run a business.”

City ‘needs to change’

Frye has been president of the Park Board for six years, and he has also been a member of the District 5 Advisory Board. He lists the “growth and resurgence of Wichita golf,” Botanica’s Downing Children’s Garden and the city’s dog parks as some of his major successes.

“Wichita is at a turning point and we need people that are demonstrated leaders,” he said. “We need people that are engaged, that have been doing the homework, that know the issues backward and forward and are ready to hit the ground running – to start taking care of these challenges. We need people that have that experience and that level of knowledge.”

This is Bond’s first run for office.

“The city needs to change,” he said. “If you keep voting the same kind of people in, you’re going to get the same kind of results. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve got.”

‘Lines of separation’

Frye is employed as marketing director at KAKE-TV. Bond said Frye should resign if he is elected. He said he has a problem with a local media person being involved in city government because he thinks there is a risk of biased coverage.

“I’d ask him to point to an example of where that has happened in the eight years that I’ve served on the Park Board and the last six years as president,” Frye said. “It hasn’t. Look, I’ve been in this business for 25 years. I’ve always been on the marketing side of things … I understand the clear lines of separation.”

As first reported by The Eagle, Bond has had financial difficulties in the past. He has filed for bankruptcy twice – in 2000 and 2010.

The 2000 filing came seven years after his young daughter Alexis’ death from cancer. The family had accrued approximately $90,000 in medical bills and incurred more debt from a son’s illness in 1996, Bond said.

The 2010 filing was a result of a “large pay cut” Bond took in 2008 to retain his job, coupled with tenant problems at his two real estate properties that “prevented the properties from turning a profit,” he said.

“I deeply regret that I was in this position, especially more than once, and that I didn’t have the resources to pay the expenses incurred,” Bond said in a news release. “My bankruptcies caused a burden on my creditors, and I believe it was the best solution for my family at the time.”

The general election is April 7.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Bryan Frye, Gary Bond vie for District 5 council seat."