Former Wichita mayor and gubernatorial candidate Carl Brewer dies at age 63

Former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, who oversaw much of the revitalization of downtown and was a key figure in the development of Wichita Eisenhower National Airport, died Friday morning after a long illness.

He was 63.

Brewer, the city’s first elected African-American mayor, served on the City Council or as mayor from 2001 to 2015, the maximum terms that Wichita law allows its city officials. He ran unsuccessfully for Kansas governor in 2018.

Mayor Brandon Whipple Friday announced that flags across the city will be lowered to half-staff for a week to honor Brewer. At the request of council member Becky Tuttle, the council will observe a moment of silence in its next meeting Tuesday morning.

City Council member Brandon Johnson, who represents District 1 where Brewer got his start in politics, said he was informed by the family Friday morning of Brewer’s passing.

“That was just hard to hear,” Johnson said. “Of course, Wichita loved him as mayor, but he was a great mentor to me in regard to politics, the many conversations we had about what being a council member meant and what it meant to serve and do it the right way.

“He was somebody with a wealth of knowledge who would answer any time I called.”

Johnson credited Brewer with laying vital groundwork for the new Advanced Learning Library downtown and the rebuilding of Wichita’s airport terminal.

“He was instrumental in leading the charge for the new airport and we see with that the world of difference — night and day from what Mid-Continent was to what Eisenhower is,” he said. “A lot of that can be attributed to his leadership.”

Those achievements were particularly remarkable because the bulk of Brewer’s mayoralty was during the Great Recession, that began a year after he was elected to the city’s top job in 2007, Johnson said.

“He led through an economic downturn and you know, times were tough during the recession,” Johnson said. “We came out on the other side of it whole and able to build as a city and not have the negative impacts last as long as they could have.”

Brewer believed strongly in using city support to spur downtown redevelopment and spearheaded a City Hall role in several major projects including: the renovation of the Broadview Hotel, construction of the Fairfield Inn and Suites Hotel and the Cargill Innovation Center, a forerunner of Cargill Protein’s headquarters that opened on Douglas in 2018. Also, the “Block One” redevelopment project on Douglas, anchored by the Ambassador Hotel and Kansas Leadership Center, and the St. Francis Corridor Project to provide public parking for Old Town and Intrust Bank Arena.

Van Williams, a former city communications director who was at Brewer’s side when he was mayor, said Brewer was determined to continue downtown momentum despite the recession.

“There were a lot of questions being raised about should we move forward with downtown revitalization,” Williams said. “There wasn’t much consensus or even appetite to do anything. And Carl was adamant at the beginning of the recession that we should continue to meet about it and move forward.

“He established regular meetings with downtown and business leaders, elected officials, the cultural arts people. He pretty much powered that thing through.”

Lavonta Williams, a former District 1 council member and close friend of Brewer’s, said he’d been in and out of the hospital and a recovery facility for the past several months due to complications of diabetes and other issues and was on dialysis.

“He was supposed to get out yesterday,” she said. “I guess the doctor said no . . . It came down to the doctor saying he wasn’t quite ready, he wasn’t strong enough, so instead of taking him home from the rehab facility, they took him back over to Via Christi.”

Because he had been so close to going home, Williams said it was surprising when he died a day later.

“It’s quite a blow,” she said.

Williams said Brewer was a teacher and mentor and encouraged her to get involved with the city.

“I would not have gone into a City Council position if it had not been for him,” Williams said. “I probably felt the same way a lot of people did: ‘I don’t think I could do that.’ “

Gov. Laura Kelly issued a statement Friday saying she was “deeply saddened” at Brewer’s passing.

“Carl truly embodied all of the best qualities of what it means to be a Kansan, and he will be dearly missed.”

Although he lost his governor bid to Kelly in the 2018 Democratic primary, he served on her transition team after she won the general election against then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Kelly later appointed Brewer to serve on the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform.

“Carl was an outstanding Mayor, served for more than two decades in the Kansas National Guard, and was a strong supporter of the Kansas Labor community,” Kelly said. “I have no doubt the impact of his contributions to our state will be felt for generations to come.”

Brewer’s reach extended far beyond the walls of City Hall, said Dale Goter, the city’s chief lobbyist during the Brewer mayoralty and a key adviser in his gubernatorial campaign.

While it may not be as visible, one of Brewer’s biggest contributions was as a tireless promoter of Wichita to increase international trade opportunities for local businesses, Goter said.

“The outcome of that is evident today,” Goter said. “We’re a strong trade community and a good share of the credit for that goes to him.”

Respect for Brewer poured in across party lines.

“Carl was a great man who never failed to put the needs of Wichita first,” Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts texted to an Eagle reporter. “Throughout the years, you could always count on him to serve his community dutifully and proudly.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran also issued a statement, saying that he “enjoyed working alongside Carl and admired his dedication to the community he served.”

“As the city’s first elected African-American mayor, Carl was a leader for the black community both in Wichita and throughout Kansas,” Moran said.

“Carl started his career in aviation manufacturing, and as mayor, he was a strong advocate for Wichita’s place as Air Capital of the World and was instrumental in the development of Eisenhower National Airport,” said Moran, who advocated in Washington for federal funding for the $200 million project.

Brewer worked in the aircraft industry. He was a sheet metal worker at the former Boeing Wichita plant and a union steward.

Later on, he worked in management at Spirit AeroSystems, which took over the plant in 2005 and builds aircraft fuselages as a major Boeing supplier.

“We were fortunate to have his leadership throughout his 24-year career with Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems,” the company said in a statement. “Carl had the ability to take charge and ensure projects were completed successfully, but he is also remembered by his colleagues as a leader who took the time to listen.”

U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, also a Republican, texted a statement about Brewer saying he “appreciate(s) his 14-year tenure on the City Council, both as a council member and mayor. Our sympathies go out to the Brewer family as they remember his life and mourn their loss.”

In addition to serving at City Hall, Brewer was a passionate barbecue enthusiast who regularly competed in cook-offs and developed a line of signature sauces.

His “Brewers Best” sauces are still available at some local barbecue shops, including the Spice Merchant downtown.

“He would get his meats from Cargill, which was kind of an unfair advantage because they gave him the best meat you could find ahead of these contests,” Goter said, chuckling. “So he had a great support group there.”

The year he ran for governor, Brewer showed up at Washington Days, the Democrats’ annual state convention, with a big load of barbecue, Goter recalled.

“He cooked it and brought it up in his RV,” Goter said. “You know, everybody’s got a room at Washington Days. His feature was Carl Brewer’s barbecue.”

It was an instant hit, Goter said.

“That was his signature item,” he said. “He was a man who liked to eat and liked to cook and lived life accordingly.”

Through a spokeswoman, the Brewer family has requested privacy. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

Contributing: Michael Stavola of The Wichita Eagle and Bryan Lowry of the Eagle Washington Bureau.

This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 10:55 AM.