Bryan Frye, Gary Bond, Jim Price, Pete Meitzner advance in council races

Bryan Frye and Gary Bond will face off April 7 in the District 5 City Council race to represent fast-growing west Wichita.

In east Wichita, Jim Price, a 43-year-old self-employed construction defense contractor, will challenge incumbent Pete Meitzner, who won 70 percent of the primary vote.

In all, three of the six City Council district seats will be up for election in April, but the most contested during the primary was the open District 5 seat vacated by Jeff Longwell, who is running for mayor.

During the campaign, both Frye and Bond talked about the need for more services for the west side of Wichita, including building a police substation and solving problems with flooding and traffic congestion.

Frye, 48, is the marketing director for KAKE-TV and president of the Wichita Park Board, a seven-member city advisory board. He received half the votes in a race that drew about 3,800 people to the polls.

“This is just one step,” Frye said in a speech to about 50 supporters at a title company on Ridge Road, where he held his watch party. “We’ve got another big step, but I know we can do it.”

Frye said his top three priorities are improving streets and infrastructure, providing transparency in government and creating jobs.

“We’re going to stay true to what we’ve been addressing,” he said after his speech. “That’s what people have been telling me is important to them.”

Frye also ran for the seat in 2007 but lost to Longwell, who later appointed him to the park board and, Frey said, taught him about what it takes to be on the council.

Bond, 57, who is in marketing and sales for Top Master, a countertop company, received 30 percent of the vote.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re up for the battle,” he said of his second-place finish. “We think it’s a new day in Wichita. We need a conservative voice, and I am that voice.”

About 50 supporters attended Bond’s watch party, held at a friend’s house.

If elected, Bond said, he would focus on growing jobs, restoring trust in city government, supporting the innovation campus at Wichita State University and improving public safety, including pushing for a police substation in District 5.

The other candidates in the District 5 race were James F. Breitenbach, 79, a farmer and retired civil servant who campaigned on the need to figure out a future water supply for Wichita, and William Beliles, a 21-year-old student at Butler Community College.

Breitenbach and Beliles had 12 and 7 percent of the vote, respectively.

District 2

In District 2, which is in east Wichita, incumbent Meitzner led his two challengers with 72 percent of the vote. Based on the unofficial results, he will face off against Price, who received 14 percent of the vote. Anthony Mitchell, a 37-year-old computer technician, received 12 percent.

The top two candidates in each race advance to the general election.

Meitzner, 59, is managing partner at Meitzner & Associates, a consulting firm, and senior consultant at Capgemini Government Solutions. He is finishing his first four-year term on the City Council for District 2.

“Obviously, District 2 feels that we’re doing a positive job,” Meitzner said.

He said his two biggest priorities are expanding East Kellogg and finding an additional water supply for Wichita.

District 4

Southwest Wichitans did not have a primary election for the City Council District 4 seat because only two candidates are running. Incumbent Jeff Blubaugh will face challenger Josh Shorter on April 7.

Blubaugh, 42, is a real estate broker at Keller Williams Realty who has served two years as District 4 City Council member since Michael O’Donnell left the seat for the Kansas Legislature. Shorter, 26, is the chief operating officer of Integrated Components and a District 4 Advisory Board member.

City Council members are paid about $35,000. The job is considered part time.

This story was originally published March 3, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Bryan Frye, Gary Bond, Jim Price, Pete Meitzner advance in council races."