Ethics board doubles down on finding that Wichita mayor violated ethics policy
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wichita Ethics Board reaffirmed that Mayor Wu violated city ethics policy in March
- Board ruled Wu failed to prearrange reading of Transgender Day proclamation
- Appeals from Wu and complainant rejected due to insufficient counter-evidence
The Wichita Ethics Board has reaffirmed its decision that Wichita Mayor Lily Wu violated the city’s ethics policy when she didn’t read a proclamation for Transgender Day of Visibility in March.
The board found in June that the mayor did violate the ethics policy by not reading, and not arranging ahead of time for someone else to read, the proclamation at a March meeting.
Wu and one of 22 complainants appealed the board’s decision, which led to the board affirming its decision Thursday.
The mayor, in her appeal, said she did not violate the city’s ethics policy, as she arranged for council member Maggie Ballard to instead read the proclamation during the meeting.
The board, in its affirmation, said that that was not enough to overturn its decision, and that the mayor violated the ethics policy by not arranging with Ballard before the meeting for the proclamation to be read.
In a Facebook post, Wu said she was disappointed the board did not reverse its decision. She added that the board was used by her political opponents to attack her, citing several ethics complaints that have been made against her during her tenure.
This is the first complaint where the board found the mayor to be in violation of the ethics policy.
“Political attacks will not stop me from representing the will of the vast majority of Wichitans, which I will continue to do fully, fairly, and honestly,” Wu’s post said.
One of the complainants, Helen Reicher, said in her appeal that the mayor did discriminate against the transgender community by not reading the proclamation and that the board’s language in its original report was biased towards the mayor.
Despite Reicher’s appeal, the board upheld its decision.
“Neither request sufficiently disputed the facts of the complaint or the board’s interpretation of the code,” Wichita Ethics Officer Kathy Sexton said.
Reicher said she was disappointed, but not surprised, by the board’s decision tonight.
“This is exactly the outcome I expected from the start,” she said in an email to The Eagle. “That said, the fight was not in vain. I believe it has awakened many people to the kinds of forces that are taking over our local government.”
The 22 ethics complaints filed against the mayor in connection with the Transgender Day of Visibility proclamation alleged a number of violations of the ethics code, including requiring city officials to maintain public confidence, remain impartial and address constituents’ needs.
The ethics board cleared Wu of the other alleged violations, and didn’t find sufficient evidence that she asked for her signature line to be removed from the proclamation.
Wu did not have to pay a fine or attend ethics training as a result of her one violation. The ethics ordinance outlines those possible reprimands for ethics violations.