Hunter Larkin criticizes David Dennis on coronavirus shutdown, Century II and Lacey Cruse

In his first live campaign event of the 2020 Sedgwick County Commission race, Republican challenger Hunter Larkin slammed incumbent David Dennis for supporting Lacey Cruse, the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan and the coronavirus shut down.

Dennis defended his record, saying “hindsight is 20/20.” He also tried to distance himself from Commissioner Cruse, a Democrat.

Republican dominance of the county commission is up for grabs in November. The GOP owns a 4-1 majority on the commission. Incumbents Michael O’Donnell and Dennis, both Republicans, are in heated primary races that have already turned nasty.

Their Democratic opponents, Sarah Lopez and Mike Iuen, have no opponents in the primary.

For the second consecutive week, the Wichita Pachyderm Club held a forum for candidates looking to appeal to the conservative base. Dennis and Larkin are competing for the District 3 seat, which covers western Sedgwick County.

Larkin, a Goddard city council member, said residents of western Sedgwick County “want and deserve a true conservative.”

Dennis, a retired military veteran, said he is that conservative. He pointed to his membership in the National Rifle Association since the 1990s and his efforts as chairman of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission to “zone abortion clinics out of existence.” As a commissioner, he also voted to recommend Gov. Laura Kelly close abortion clinics during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Instead of attacking his opponent, Dennis reminded Republicans that the general election is where they need to win.

“The bottom line is that after the primary election that’s coming up, we’ve got a problem,” Dennis said. “We’ve got Democrats running against us everywhere.”

Disavowing Lacey Cruse

In his opening statement, Larkin accused Dennis of giving “a voice to the liberal ideology” by voting in January to appoint Commissioner Cruse vice chair of the commission.

Each year, the commission casts an internal vote to appoint a chair and vice chair. Dennis, who was chair in 2018 and 2019, cast the deciding vote to appoint Cruse.

Cruse is the lone Democrat on the commission and has often butted heads with her Republican colleagues, especially over the county’s coronavirus response. Cruse has been vocal about following the advice of medical experts and taking a more cautious approach to reopening businesses and attractions. The Republicans have voted to reopen the economy without restrictions.

As vice chair, Cruse has been involved in weekly calls with hospital leaders and along with Commission Chair Pete Meitzner issued an emergency declaration banning gathering of 50 or more people in mid-March.

“I believe that the people of Sedgwick County want and deserve somebody that’s not going to vote Lacey Cruse in as vice chair of the county board and give a voice to the liberal ideology,” Larkin said.

Dennis said he only did so because he “did not want to put a divide in the commission.”

The other commissioners had already voted, and Cruse was in the lead. She voted for herself and Commissioner Pete Meitzner voted for her, too.

O’Donnell voted for Dennis to serve as vice chair. Commissioner Jim Howell voted for himself.

“I had the choice between voting for myself — which would have made it a 2-2 tie, and you’d have to figure out where to go from there — or to vote for Commissioner Cruse.”

He now disavows his support of Cruse.

“She is not the best vice chair by any means,” Dennis said of Cruse. “There are significant problems with her leadership, and I am not a supporter of Lacey Cruse.”

Stay-at-home order

Larkin also questioned Dennis’ vote to shut down nonessential businesses in Sedgwick County — while allowing abortion clinics to stay open — a week before Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive stay-at-home order for the rest of the state.

“I believe that the people of Sedgwick County want somebody that’s not going to shut down Sedgwick County during a global pandemic a week prior than our liberal governor does,” Larkin said. “I believe that the people of Sedgwick County want somebody that’s going to fight and make sure that abortion clinics aren’t more essential than a barber trying to make a living.”

Barber shops, salons, tattoo parlors, restaurants, bars and clubs and entertainment venues were shuttered by the commission in late March. A week later, Kelly issued a nearly identical order statewide.

Since then, the shut down has become a partisan battle, with Republican leaders in the House and Senate pushing to reopen to help businesses and Democrats pushing to keep restrictions in place. A standoff between the Republican-controlled state legislature and the Democratic governor ended with reopening decisions being sent back to the counties.

The Sedgwick County Commission abandoned the governor’s and their own previous restrictions late last month, and allowed businesses to reopen. Since then, the number of active COVID-19 cases have more than doubled and continue to climb.

Dennis expressed regret for shutting down the economy in March.

“The experts were wrong,” Dennis said.

“We have a doctor that gives us advice, and that’s what his job is, and he’s the one that advised us that we needed to close down the county. It was probably one of the hardest decisions you’ll make, but it was truly to save lives at that point in time because that was the information that we had.”

Dr. Garold Minns, county health officer and dean of the University of Kansas Medical School in Wichita, warned commissioners at the time that the virus could infect 40 to 60 percent of the Sedgwick County population unless restrictions were put in place.

Larkin said he wouldn’t have voted to shut down had he been in Dennis’ position in March.

“I don’t believe there’s any business that’s more essential than another. ... I have enough faith in the people of Sedgwick County that they would have practiced the proper PPE on their own,” Larkin said.

At the time Dennis voted for the stay-at-home order, personal protective equipment, or PPE, was in short supply worldwide. It wasn’t until about a month later that hospitals, and the county itself, were able to purchase enough masks, gloves and other key equipment to supply their workers.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” Dennis said. “And if we could make that decision again, we would probably come up with a different decision.”

Century II

Another line of attack for Larkin was Dennis’ vote to give $100,000 to the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan, a proposed $1 billion redevelopment project that would tear down Century II, the former Central Public Library and other downtown buildings and replace them with new centers for conventions and performing arts.

The city and county each gave $100,000 to Populous, an international design consultant, who worked with downtown booster organizations to construct a vision for the west bank of the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita.

The plan, which faced widespread scrutiny for its price-tag and its call to tear down historic buildings, has stalled amid the coronavirus pandemic. The groups spearheading the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan have turned their attention to the COVID-19 economic recovery.

Now elected officials who supported the plan are coming under fire for spending money on a plan that was both unpopular and went nowhere.

Dennis has declined to offer an opinion on the future of Century II, which is owned by the city, and on Friday said there are bigger problems to worry about.

“I have enough to worry about,” Dennis said. “Trying to fight COVID, trying to balance budgets, trying to do everything else that we do, trying to protect our community, trying to fund our jail, trying to fund the DA and the sheriff — right now, for us to worry about Century II is not our worry. So that is not something that’s at the forefront of my thoughts.”

Larkin said the county should be involved in the decision, regardless of what else is going on.

“I want to make a stance on trying to save Century II from the city of Wichita,” Larkin said. “I believe people (in small towns in Sedgwick County) are going to contribute to a project like that, and their voices need to be heard as well.”

This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 2:55 PM.