Marstall is Wichita’s next city manager. What he’ll earn, when he’ll start

Dennis Marstall will become Wichita’s next city manager, following the city council’s approval of his employment contract Tuesday.

Marstall will begin with the city on Dec. 31.

“His experiences both in local government in city and county, from small to large cities like Charlotte, and his nonprofit experience bring him to be the most qualified candidate from the pool,” Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said during Tuesday’s council meeting.

Current City Manager Robert Layton announced his retirement earlier this year after 16 years with the city. He has said he will leave at the end of the year.

The council named Marstall, now the county administrator for Lancaster County, S.C., as the finalist to replace Layton in a 5-2 vote last week.

Marstall’s contract was approved along the same voting lines Tuesday, with council members Brandon Johnson and Mike Hoheisel dissenting.

Marstall will make $298,000 in his first year with the city, according to his employment contract. That’s slightly more than the roughly $296,000 Layton is earning this year.

Marstall’s contract includes other benefits, including $6,600 a year auto allowance, a $600 a year phone allowance, plus moving and relocation expenses.

The city manager is responsible for daily operations of the city. The position oversees around 2,886 full-time employees and a $776 million annual budget, according to the city’s website.

Council members voice concern with selection process

Both Johnson and Hoheisel have expressed concerns with the selection process, citing that as the reason for their no votes.

The concerns come as Assistant City Manager Donte Martin withdrew from consideration to be the next city manager days before the council voted.

At a meeting last week, Johnson raised concerns about undue influence in the hiring process, but did not go into detail.

“I think that this process… should be one without some of the concerns that I mentioned, and elected officials should make sure that they maintain some distance from the process.”

Both Johnson and Hoheisel said they believed in Marstall to do the job, but they wanted to start the process over again.

That motion failed.

“Dennis seems like a fine individual. He seems like a qualified individual,” Hoheisel said. “I do plan on working with him and enjoying his company as much as I can. I think we’ll get along fine. I just wish that the process was cleaner and I had more faith in the process as a whole.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 10:52 AM.