Wins & losses: How has Lily Wu fared in her first year as Wichita mayor?

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu was on the losing end of several key votes in her first year in office, and that’s unlikely to change in 2025.

Her attempts to block an unpopular downtown paid parking plan, lower property taxes, cut spending and turn down a pay raise were all foiled by a City Council that has — so far — prevented her from carrying out some of her campaign promises.

Wu said she plans to continue asking uncomfortable questions and drawing attention to what she views as government waste or bad policy — whether she’s on the winning side of the vote or not.

“I’m pushing, and I will continue to push,” she said in an interview with The Eagle. “I think that that’s my role.”

She has drawn praise from some for questioning city staff and criticism from others for not addressing their specific concerns. She has also faced hurdles such as two ethics complaints.

On other campaign promises, such as increasing wages for police officers, something her predecessor Mayor Brandon Whipple also supported and the entirety of the City Council voted for, Wu has delivered. She also bolstered reporting requirements for gifts in the form of travel and led the charge to give the public more opportunity to attend and speak at City Council meetings.

Wu realizes the limits of her authority, she said, but the public often thinks she holds more power than she does. She is one of seven council members in a weak-mayor city where the day-to-day operations are driven by an unelected city manager. Her vote counts the same as the other council members, and she has no veto power.

Her support on the council could eventually change. Three of the seven seats are up for grabs in November, and all are held by Democrats who have opposed some of her more conservative initiatives.

And she does have some unique power over city affairs. She is the official head of the city for formal occasions and leads City Council meetings. She holds weekly news conferences that are broadcast on the city’s official online social media pages.

In other words, she has a bully pulpit. And she’s not afraid to use it, even if it puts her at odds with other council members and city staff.

She has used her position as mayor to ask pointed questions and draw attention to a variety of issues she views as government waste — from cost overruns and expensive artwork at the new water treatment plant to restrooms for downtown parks that cost more than $250,000 each to build.

Wu said she has gained confidence in her role as mayor over the past year to ask difficult questions of city staff. But she said she’s also focused on celebrating the successes of City Hall.

“I think that that’s another big piece of my role as mayor,” Wu said. “There are good things also happening. While I’m holding bureaucracy accountable, I also want to balance it with, there are a lot of good things also happening in our community.”

She said her goal is to improve transparency to restore trust in city government, so the public and the council receive relevant and accurate information about city business before a vote — “not buried in a report.”

“Don’t sugar coat it. Just tell us the truth,” Wu said. “I think that’s what community has been asking for, someone to push back (on city staff).”

Missing information

Wu’s first year as Wichita’s mayor was dominated — and book-ended — by decisions on downtown parking, a topic that played a minor role in the mayoral campaign but took on greater prominence when public backlash temporarily halted the city’s plan to blanket downtown with paid parking and privatized enforcement.

At her first meeting as mayor, she voted for parking changes that were buried on the consent agenda, meaning there was no public discussion on the item during that meeting. It was also not labeled clearly in the agenda. Months later, amid public blowback, she said she didn’t know what she was voting on and pushed for changes to how city staff labels ordinances in the consent agenda.

She then pushed to delay the paid parking plan so city staff could provide more information to the public and the council.

Wu ultimately voted against the paid parking plan in December, citing unanswered questions about unfulfilled contracts, past and future costs of deferred maintenance and operations. Her questions led to the discovery that city staff had failed to charge Old Town business owners an additional $13 million over 25 years — money that could have been used on deferred maintenance.

Wu – with council member Mike Hoheisel – lost, outnumbered by five council members who favored the changes. But she won over some frequent critics of City Hall, including a former mayoral opponent, Save Century II activist and former fraud investigator Celeste Racette.

“She does the work and then asks the questions and holds staff accountable,” Racette said. “The mayor actually questioned staff to give her information that was missing, and that’s just huge. It’s so, so different. So I’m encouraged by her work on the parking garages.”

The parking issue wasn’t the first time Wu found city staff failed to charge businesses what they had agreed to pay. She also uncovered that the city’s parks department had been undercharging Duck’s Flying Discs for rent payments at Clapp Park Clubhouse for three years before attempting to ink a 10-year, no-bid extension that would have charged the business $500 to $550 a month for the 2,880-square-foot building.

Wu demanded to City Manager Robert Layton that someone be held accountable. Less than two weeks later, Parks and Recreation Director Troy Houtman was out of a job. Neither city officials nor Houtman would say why he left, but a Park Board member later tied his exit to the flap in a social media post.

“I would say that over the last year, there’s been a lack of public trust in local government in general,” Wu said. “And I think it often stems from a lack of accountability from the bureaucracy side and a habit of really pushing things in the agenda . . . or not allowing enough time for the council to ask these questions.”

She said getting a full accounting of city business takes on increased importance ahead of projected budget shortfalls of tens of millions of dollars in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

“I challenge, I ask questions, and I’ll continue to do that moving forward because you know that we’re going to face this huge deficit, and when it comes to a budget deficit, you have to ask prudent questions because there are only limited resources and there are unlimited amounts of wants. But what we need to focus on is the needs,” Wu said.

Listening and silence

One of Wu’s campaign promises — and criticisms of other candidates and past mayors — was that she would listen to the community’s wants and needs, even if she disagreed with them, to “get things done.”

Racette, who was sued by the city over her 2020 petition aimed at saving Century II and the former Central Library, said past mayors were dismissive or outright rude to her when she would point out financial information that was mislabeled, missing or unavailable without filing an open records request.

With Wu, it’s different.

“Where I’m most pleased with her performance is just that she’s willing to listen,” Racette said. “Even if the person has an opposing point of view, she listens. She’s not always going to make the right decisions, and she’s not always going to agree or side with the person that she disagrees with, but she listens and she asks for a perspective on an issue.”

But not everyone feels heard.

Diana Tedlock, an opponent of several recent changes at the city-run Wichita Animal Shelter, said she was hopeful that Wu would take issues surrounding pets seriously when she appeared on the January 2024 cover of Splurge Magazine posing in front of City Hall with a dog.

But after dozens of unanswered emails — where Tedlock laid out concerns about the number of animals being killed at the shelter — Tedlock said she lost hope. She said she sent Wu 50 emails in 2024.

“To date, I have not had one communication back from Lily,” Tedlock said.

“The animal advocacy community was hopeful she would be supportive of betterments needed but that has proven not to be the case,” Tedlock said. “I guess the saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ isn’t always true.”

Wu said she is an “animal lover” and that she has advocated for “responsible pet ownership” and “humane care at the animal shelter” as mayor. She said she found 37 emails from Tedlock in her inbox, and all of them were addressed to the entire council.

“While I’d like to be able to respond to each of the thousands of constituent requests I receive — often addressed to all council members — it’s simply not practical, feasible, or a wise use of time considering my role, and the approximately 70 hours each week I spend in it, as a policymaker, community ambassador, board member, and representative of the Wichita City Council,” Wu said in a written response to The Eagle.

“Sending . . . emails to me and the entire council or advocating for a group that attacks me publicly is not the best way to get attention,” she continued. “Ms. Tedlock sent an email invite . . . to attend an October event, where people carried signs reading, ‘Shame on Wu’ and ‘May life treat you the way Wu treats shelter animals.’ Bullying tactics are counterproductive.”

Others have expressed similar frustrations with Wu.

Mary Dean, a longtime Wichita activist, has been asking the City Council to create a commission to study reparations for the city’s Black residents since 2023. She filed an ethics complaint against Wu and told Wu in an email that she was concerned by the mayor’s “lack of engagement” for not responding to her presentations at City Council meetings, emails, Zoom meeting invitations and other attempts to educate Wu on the “importance of reparations in addressing the historical and systemic inequities that impact the Black community here in Wichita.”

Wu told Dean in a letter that she gave the “idea of reparations considerable thought and prayer” but determined it was “extremely complex and potentially divisive” and should be dealt with at the federal level.

“I also believe it also presents the risk of undermining the achievements and resilience of our Black American community,” said the letter Wu sent to Dean and reporters.

Dean said the mayor’s response was insulting. The Wichita Ethics Board has not yet made a determination about her complaint.

Dustup with firefighters union

Wu’s most public feud in her first year came with the Wichita Firefighters’ Union, whose president, Ted Bush, filed an ethics complaint against her after the fire chief told him Wu had directed her to lay off 42 firefighters after a federal grant expires.

After Wu denied the charge, Bush produced a recording of his conversation with Chief Tammy Snow showing she did claim Wu told her to lay off 42 firefighters. Wu continued to say unequivocally that she did not direct Snow to lay off any firefighters, and Snow issued an apology to the mayor and Bush over what she called a misunderstanding.

The Wichita Ethics Board found “the facts regarding [Bush’s] allegations are conflicting” and cleared Wu of any potential violation. Wu appealed, demanding a fuller exoneration.

“The Board’s Report should be amended, or the Board should otherwise clarify that there is no conflict in the evidence as to whether I made the alleged statements: The evidence is clear this never occurred and I believe it is important to clarify this point for the citizens of Wichita,” Wu wrote.

On Jan. 15, the Ethics Board declined to change the report.

‘Tough decisions’

No one denied that Wu and Snow had a conversation about what the city should do after the federal SAFER Grant that pays for 42 firefighter positions expires in March 2026.

City staff had publicly presented a cost-savings plan in June that included eliminating those positions to save the city $3.6 million in 2026, $4.4 million in 2027 and $4.5 million in 2028.

It’s one of several decisions the City Council has been mulling over as it confronts a budget shortfall estimated between $22 million and $55 million over the next three budget cycles due to projected drops in interest earnings and lower future assessed valuation increases.

Chase Billingham, a Wichita State University sociology professor and specialist in urban studies who writes frequently about Wichita’s government, said those tough decisions are largely a result of two ideologies that dominate the city’s local government: fiscal conservatism and the belief that more spending is needed to bolster public safety.

“In large part, these constraints are self-imposed because the fiscal conservatism that reigns on the council will not tolerate any revenue increases in terms of mill levy increases, but also because they painted themselves into a corner by continuously throwing more money at the police department,” he said.

“At some point, the commitments that the previous council and mayor and the current council and mayor have made, those bills are going to come due, and the city’s going to be on the hook unless they choose to stop funding them,” Billingham said.

The city council has not raised the city’s mill levy for more than 30 years. But it has continued to increase spending for the police department. Salaries and benefits costs have increased from $95 million in 2023 to $114.5 million in 2025. And they’re set to go up again in 2026 while the city looks for other areas of the city budget to cut.

The city has enjoyed a budget surplus in recent years and has received more than $100 million in federal grants through the American Rescue Plan Act, FEMA, the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies. But much of that funding is set to dry up in the next three years, including $600,000 for operation of an emergency winter shelter for homeless people.

City staff has also warned Wu and the rest of the council that cuts to public safety are unavoidable without raising the mill levy or imposing a new sales tax. The police department’s budget is 38% of the general fund and the fire department’s budget is 21%.

Unexpected challenges, including a cyberattack, a prolonged drought, cost overruns on major projects and labor strikes at some of the city’s largest employers, have complicated the city’s financial position as it prepares for a budget deficit estimated in the tens of millions of dollars over the next several years.

Support for public safety

The 2023 mayor’s race was embroiled in controversy when Whipple had an encounter with Wichita Police at a neighborhood cleanup.

Wu used the incident as an example of a lack of trust between the mayor’s office and the police department – which she promised to fix if elected.

She said that promise has been kept.

The Fraternal Order of Police — which at one point called on Whipple to resign — agrees.

“The members of the Fraternal Order of Police Wichita Lodge #5 deeply value the strong working relationship we have with Mayor Wu,” FOP President Jeremy Diaz said in a statement.

During Wu’s time as mayor, the City Council has raised officer wages again, with most officers seeing a nearly 13% increase, making it the highest paid police department in the state.

The contract that included the wage increase was approved recently by the council without several changes recommended by a consultant hired in 2022 to develop a roadmap to restore public trust in police and improve department culture.

“I know that Chief Sullivan is really trying his best with recruitment and retention of officers. I’m putting my full trust and support in his efforts,” Wu said. “Officer wages are now competitive… In order for us to keep improving on staffing numbers, we have to continue doing that.”

Diaz said Wu has a “genuine understanding of the public safety challenges our officers face,” and that he’s confident she will support some of the union’s future initiatives, such as continued investments in training, wages and public outreach.

Diaz has said he thinks Wichita’s police force is understaffed compared with other cities of its size. He has called for a staffing study and believes Wu will help secure funding for the study.

“We are confident she is the right person to lead us through that process, ensuring Wichita’s growth, safety, and prosperity,” Diaz said.

On the other hand, Wu has been skeptical of the city funding a non-police program aimed at reducing violent crime.

She recently voted against giving more American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Violence Interrupters program, which addresses gun violence as a public health crisis, rather than as a criminal justice issue. The money was ultimately approved by the council.

“I generally think it’s bad practice to use temporary ARPA dollars to fund what may be perceived to be a permanent program, especially when … I cannot set aside that we have a budget deficit,” Wu said.

“But I really hope that Cure Violence is extremely successful, and if they are, they should have no problem attracting and raising funds to continue this program.”

Transparency

Wu — a Libertarian who campaigned on restoring trust in City Hall, ending “sweetheart deals” and repairing the relationship between the police department and the mayor’s office — said those remain top priorities for her, along with public safety, infrastructure and economic development.

To achieve any of those goals, she said, requires transparency. Wu said she has been successful in making the city more transparent, including:

▪ Pressing for details on the lease agreement at Clapp Park.

▪ Adding one evening meeting to the City Council schedule every three months instead of only 9 a.m. meetings on Tuesday mornings.

▪ More flexible rules for public speakers at council meetings and allowing public comment on consent agenda items.

▪ Cleaning up city ordinances to require City Council members to disclose when the city — or private donors — give them gifts in the form of travel, lodging and meals. The disclosures require disclosure of the source of funds, the reason for travel, what’s being paid for and the estimated costs.

▪ Pushing for accurate costs of the Wichita Water Works water treatment plant, a project that had a “guaranteed maximum price” of $500 million in 2019 but is estimated to cost at least $573 million when cost overruns and additional expenses are added to the city’s contract with Wichita Water Partners. .

▪ Requiring plain-language descriptions of ordinances being passed on second reading included in the council agenda packets.

“I’m going to continue to ask these tough questions because we need to reconcile the past and how we’re moving forward so that there is accountability moving forward,” Wu said. “I think that people are asking us to be the individuals that hold bureaucracy accountable.”