Brandon Whipple’s inauguration gala ticket sales will fund a new PAC run by his wife

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article characterized the gala’s top-tier sponsors as “corporate sponsors.” Those sponsorship packages are available to corporations, organizations and individuals.

Wichita Mayor-elect Brandon Whipple plans to kick off his term as mayor with a formal gala at the Crown Uptown Theatre celebrating his inauguration and Wichita’s future.

It will include a buffet-style dinner, guest speakers, dancing and a yet-to-be-decided entertainment element at a cost of $100 per person, the same as a ticket to Gov. Laura Kelly’s inaugural ball.

If you buy a ticket to Whipple’s gala, your money will go to a political action committee, the type of organization that typically raises money privately to influence legislation and elections.

The PAC is called Wichita’s Future PAC. Whipple’s wife, Chelsea, is its chair and treasurer. According to state filings, the primary purpose of Wichita’s Future PAC is “to promote public policy that creates opportunities for Kansans.” Whipple said it won’t focus on elections, but could fund social media polls and surveys, town hall meetings and coffee with the mayor for residents.

“The structure of a PAC is the most transparent way to fund raise for an organization such as this since all contributions, expenses and donors are publicly reported and regulated under the Kansas Ethics Commission, including in-kind donations,” Chelsea Whipple said.

Besides individual tickets, the gala will also likely include corporate sponsors, something Whipple was critical of during his campaign.

Whipple said this situation is different from those he campaigned against because the funds won’t be used for his benefit and will be reported to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. And that’s a good thing, he said.

“When you talk about the stuff that I campaigned against, keep in mind we had about nine organizations that were attacking our campaign at one point or another, and less than half of those were actually regulated by the ethics commission,” he said. “This PAC is.”

“When that information is available (to the public and the governmental ethics commission), that’s the most transparent way to do something like this. It’s not some dark-money LLC or something that’s untrackable. It’s all open and under scrutiny,” Whipple said.

Any attempts to curry favor will be rejected, he said.

“Anyone who’s been following my career knows my vote’s not for sale,” Whipple said. “If someone were to sponsor into the PAC and think that somehow is going to hold more weight than the actual idea that we’re voting on, those people will be sadly mistaken in the end.”

The gala offers multiple sponsorship levels available to corporations, organizations and individuals that range in price from $1,500 to $2,500. Those donations buy eight seats and acknowledgments in the event program. Premium sponsorships also are for sale, according to the invitation, which said details are available from Chris Pumpelly, who worked on Whipple’s campaign.

“I see how this can raise some eyebrows,” Whipple said. “It’s a nonpartisan PAC. This is not a campaign event, it’s not about getting me re-elected — or anyone elected. It’s about throwing a party to celebrate Wichita’s future. After talking to the governmental ethics commission, it was pretty clear that this is the best route to go.”

“We’ve invited people from both sides of the political perspective who probably don’t want to contribute to my re-election campaign, but we want them to know that they’re a part of the future of Wichita,” he said.

So what will the PAC spend its money on?

“The vision that Chelsea has is that we do more communication that looks outward from City Hall,” Whipple said. “City Hall is very good at looking inward, but what we learned in the campaign is there is a lot of mistrust between elected officials and the public, and a lot of that comes from a lack of communication.”

The PAC could spend money on social media surveys, polls, town hall meetings and coffee-with-the-mayor types of events — “stuff that you expect from elected officials, but you really don’t want a lot of taxpayer money going into it,” Whipple said.

Russell Fox, a professor of political science at Friends University, said inaugural balls and galas, while new to Wichita, are fairly common around the country.

“This is certainly new for Wichita, but it’s not at all unusual in other cities,” Fox said. “And when you look at the level of the governor, no one bats an eye at this kind of thing.”

Fox made two contributions to Whipple’s campaign of $50 and $52.23, according to campaign finance filings.

“Usually, it’s pretty explicit that an event like this is going to fund a re-election campaign or the mayor’s chosen causes,” Fox said. “So for Whipple to say this isn’t going to be used for re-election or partisan political ends, but for civic and non-political ideas, is what makes this a little different.”

Tickets are $100 per person or $175 per couple. Young professionals may attend for discounted rates of $50 each or $75 for a couple.

The program is still being finalized, according to Pumpelly, who is helping organize the gala. It will start at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 11 and tickets went on sale Saturday.

“We’re going to be a bit more specific once we get the entertainment nailed down. It’s going to be something cool, and we’re really looking forward to it,” Pumpelly said.

“We’d really like the community across the board to say this is going to be a little different,” he said. Brandon Whipple “is somebody who’s from outside of the city council. He’s a young mayor. He’s a young family man, and we want it to be a family-friendly, positive evening for Wichita.”

This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 5:01 AM.