Wichita mayor and Chamber vow to work better together after weekend Twitter flap
Wichita’s mayor and a Chamber of Commerce official who tangled on Twitter over COVID-19 restrictions now say they’ve talked it out and plan to communicate better going forward.
The comparative accord comes after a tense exchange Sunday in which Andrew Wiens, the chamber’s vice president and chief lobbyist, stepped into an argument between Mayor Brandon Whipple and two of his former colleagues in the Kansas Legislature over the state’s response to the coronavirus contagion.
Wiens posed a question: “Are you advocating that we return to more business shutdowns and another stay-at-home order, Mr. Mayor? Genuinely curious if that’s what you’re referring to when you talk about ‘a strategy that was working’?”
Whipple fired back: “Hey Andrew, have your boss call me on Monday. I’m tired of being trolled by a business group we’re supposed to be ‘partnering’ with as a City. It’s it’s inappropriate and unprofessional.”
That touched off a round of comments from other Twitter users, mostly objecting to the mayor’s comments.
Later, after Wiens and Whipple talked on the phone, Whipple deleted the original tweet, replacing it with: “Hey man, I deleted my first tweet response. I was too defensive as I couldn’t read your tone & took it wrong. To your question, I don’t want another shutdown at all. Let’s work together as we all want whats best for Wichita You have my cell number, call anytime!”
Wiens said he thinks the mayor may have been sensitive because of the Chamber’s recent opposition to a Whipple plan for establishing a system of business licenses that would levy every business in the city $20 a year. The Chamber called all of Whipple’s City Council colleagues and lobbied against the plan, leading to its defeat.
But Wiens said in an interview that he and the organization accepted the mayor’s apology.
“We’re taking the mayor at his word,” Wiens said. “He posted an apology and we appreciate that, and so you know, we want to make sure we develop a relationship, or continue to develop our relationship going forward.
“I think it’s good for everybody, businesses and citizens and the city and the Chamber if we can have good relationships with the mayor going forward, so we’re going to keep working on that.”
Whipple also promised a more cordial relationship with the Chamber going forward.
“That exchange yesterday made me realize I need to do a better job communicating and building that relationship,” he said Monday.
He said after talking to Wiens and Chamber President Gary Plummer, he realized he’d taken Wiens’ comment wrong and it was time to say “let’s all just take a step back.”
“That’s pretty much why I removed the tweet and kind of admitted I took that wrong,” he said.
The overall spat started well before Wiens’ involvement, when Whipple took exception to a tweet by Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stillwell, who said student-athletes in the Blue Valley school district in Johnson County were considering moving to Oklahoma to play sports this year.
Whipple responded: “It probably would be safe for fall sports if the #ksleg didn’t strip @GovLauraKelly of her pandemic powers, taking the state off a Covid19 strategy that was working & replacing it with nothing but political talking points.”
That brought in another legislator, Rep. Tory Marie Arnberger, R-Great Bend, who noted that Kelly signed the bill restricting her powers into law.
“A bill that @GovLauraKelly supported,” Arnberger wrote. “Also, a bill that more republicans voted against than democrats. But whatever, it’s all #ksleg (the Legislature’s) fault, just likes always.”
Whipple fired back that the governor signed the bill under duress.
“The Governor didn’t ask you strip her powers,” Whipple wrote. “Our public health was held hostage & they (legislative Republican leaders) threatened to make it worse if this didn’t pass.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 9:29 PM.
