Candidates debate privatization as Wichita preps to outsource Century II on Tuesday
Three days before a vote to turn Century II, Wichita’s last large public venue, over to private management, candidates for City Council clashed over whether privatization of park and arts facilities is a good idea.
Southeast Wichita Council District 3 challenger Mike Hoheisel said he thinks it’s time to pump the brakes on turning over major city assets to private profit-making companies.
Privatization “is putting another barrier in between accountability to the people and the people who need to be held accountable,” he said during a Saturday evening campaign forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
The appointed incumbent council member, Jared Cerullo, countered that he thinks private operators can run city facilities more efficiently than the local government.
“The city government has proven time and time again that it shouldn’t be meddling in those things that it doesn’t know about,” Cerullo said.
On Tuesday, the council will vote on turning operation of the Century II Convention and Performing Arts Center over to ASM Global, the company that runs the Sedgwick County-owned Intrust Bank Arena and the Orpheum Theater downtown.
The vote is largely a formality because the city’s been planning to do it for months and the council has already approved an annual budget assuming a privately run Century II.
Hoheisel and Cerullo both have local examples they point to supporting their clashing views on privatization.
Hoheisel’s example is the Wichita Ice Center, privatized in 2012 in a deal that put the rinks under the management of Genesis Health Clubs, which was also gave Genesis the second floor of the facility for a private membership-based fitness center.
In recent years, the city’s gotten countless complaints that while Genesis takes good care of its upstairs health club, the public ice rinks have been plagued by blown-out lights, worn-out glass and dasher boards, player bench areas with rotted floors, and play clocks and scoreboards that either have been unusable for years or break down during games.
Hockey and figure skating enthusiasts have also complained that too much ice time is tied up for practices of the Wichita Thunder, a minor-league hockey team owned by Genesis owners Rodney and Brandon Steven. Last year, more than 2,700 people signed an online petition calling for an end to Genesis’ management of the center.
“Now instead of going straight to the city manager and talking about issues that we’re upset with, now we have to go and listen to the businesses that come in and they come up with their reasons for doing what they’re doing and it’s just another muddled pool there,” Hoheisel said. “Honestly, I’d like to see accountability to the people and the best way we can do that is if the city government runs things the way it should be run.”
Cerullo points to the Intrust arena as a privatization success story, pointing out that county government is happy with it.
“That agreement seems to be going well,” Cerullo said.
He projects similar results once Century II is turned over to ASM.
A city report estimates that privatization will cut operating losses from $1.4 million to $800,000. ASM will get a $120,000 fixed fee from the city, increasing up to 3% a year, plus incentive bonuses if revenues rise.
“There are also other potential revenue streams that could benefit the City, including additional revenue from parking, ticketing, and naming rights for the facility,” said a city report on the changeover, which is expected to take place Oct. 1.
Cerullo acknowledged that prices for the public are likely to go up under private management of Century II, but said they can’t rise too much or people will stop going to events there.
And he said privatization is the best way to bring in more cash to repair the facility, which has fallen into disrepair after years of governmental neglect.
“This agreement includes the company paying $400,000 in the first year for deferred maintenance and that will be much more than the city has spent on Century II for maintenance in the last decade,” Cerullo said. “The issue is that Century II is starting to fall apart, and that’s a big problem. It is a treasure that I think we need to save in this city, and I think privatization is the right way to go.”
The current plan is for the city to spend $2.5 million on Century II capital improvements over the next 10 years, with ASM putting in an additional $400,000.
But whether Century II will survive the next 10 years is an open question.
The city, county and several influential private and quasi-public bodies — including the Chamber of Commerce, Greater Wichita Partnership and Visit Wichita, the city-funded convention and visitors bureau — have joined to develop the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan, which calls for demolition of Century II and the former Central Library.
The plan, which has been largely on hold during the COVID pandemic, envisions using the land as part of a $1.5 billion development project that would include new convention and performing arts facilities and multiple private uses.
The plan is opposed by a determined Save Century II campaign that gathered more than 17,000 petition signatures in an effort to force a public vote on demolishing it and the library.
Although that exceeded the number of signatures needed for a local initiative ballot measure, the city won a court order to keep it from going to the voters in a binding election.
Some council members have instead promised a non-binding advisory vote at some point in the future.
This story was originally published September 19, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
