Wichita mayor violated city’s ethics policy at neighborhood cleanup, panel finds

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple violated the city’s ethics policy and will have to undergo ethics training for his role in an encounter with a Wichita police officer at a neighborhood cleanup.

The officer stopped the mayor after he entered the wrong entrance to dump a load of trash from his rental property at a neighborhood cleanup event where residents can dispose of large objects like mattresses and tires for free.

Part of the Sept. 24, 2022 brush-up was caught on the officer’s body camera, which was first reported by The Wichita Eagle in October. Whipple said the officer did not turn on his camera until after the officer had finished yelling at him for entering the event through the wrong entrance. Whipple has both defended his actions and apologized for his behavior.

Thursday, he said he accepted responsibility for his actions, apologized and said he was “committed to moving forward with integrity.”

In the video, Officer Atlee Vogt approached Whipple, who was in a small red truck with the bed piled high with trash. The mayor was wearing street clothes and smoking a cigar.

Vogt asked to see Whipple’s driver’s license, at which point Whipple was no longer allowed to leave, the Ethics Advisory Board’s report says.

“The officer took the Mayor’s information and ID and walked off to locate the CSR to determine what to do next,” the report says.

But what happened next was where Whipple violated the ethics policy, according to the board’s findings.

As the officer questioned the mayor, Whipple called City Manager Robert Layton. He asked Layton how to file a complaint against the officer, who he said didn’t know who he was. Layton, over the phone, asked the officer whether he could let the mayor into the event. The officer refused but later allowed Whipple to dump his trash.

“The Mayor said it was unclear there was one designated entrance and that other vehicles used the same entrance he used. He parked and asked the officer a ‘clarifying question.’ He says the officer was very aggressive which shocked and frightened him. He said the officer refused to speak with him and told him he was no longer welcome,” the report said.

Vogt, when interviewed, said he “made nonverbal efforts to get the Mayor to turn around and then verbally told him to turn around multiple times. He admitted to speaking loudly and sternly but also said there was a sense of urgency, and it was a loud environment with a need to maintain control,” according to the report.

“He agrees the Mayor said he had a question, but when the officer asked ‘what question?’ the Mayor did not respond,” the ethics board report says. “He did tell the Mayor to leave and he was no longer welcome.”

A volunteer at the event and witness who was interviewed by Vogt at a lunch table on the day of the incident, and who said he believed Whipple was “in the wrong,” told an ethics board investigator that he didn’t know he was being recorded by Vogt when he made that statement and that the entire incident has been “blown out of proportion.”

The ethics board ruled 4-0 that Whipple violated the ethics policy that he considers one of his key accomplishments since taking office in 2020. He is the first official found to be in violation of the policy.

“The combination of the Mayor going in the wrong entrance, refusing to turn around to get in line or leave, contacting the Manager during the encounter with the police officer, stating multiple times that the officer ‘didn’t know who I was’ constitutes seeking favor or private gain. The result was the Mayor dumped his trash without waiting in line and used the privilege of direct access to the City Manager.”

The report explains that part of the advantage was he was able to contact Layton on a Saturday to complain about an officer, something the average resident would not be able to do.

“The EAB finds the Mayor used his office to seek favor and private gain by the manner in which he sought to dump his trash instead of waiting in line,” the findings say. “He also used his unique direct access to the City Manager when he called him during an encounter with a police officer, on a Saturday, to make a complaint about the officer.”

The ethics investigation came after two complaints were filed, one in October by Brandon Stewart and one in December by William Stout.

The EAB decision found Whipple violated the ethics policy related to seeking favors and should receive “appropriate ethics training” as a corrective action. Under the ethics policy, public officials can also be forced to pay a fine or be censured for a serious violating the ethics code.

“The EAB does not find a serious violation occurred,” the EAB ruling says. “As no serious violation was found, no further recommendations are made.”

Whipple has seven days to appeal.

“I appreciate the work of the ethics board in reviewing this matter,” Whipple said Thursday in a written statement. “I accept responsibility for my actions and apologize for any disappointment or distraction that this has caused. I have learned from this experience and am committed to moving forward with integrity and a renewed determination to continue my work for the people of Wichita.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2023 at 7:57 PM.