Does Wichita sales tax ad with firefighter violate city policy? Here’s what we know

Wichita Forward and the local fire union say they followed all city policies when taping an advertisement with a Wichita firefighter telling voters to approve a 1% city sales tax on March 3.

The ad, which was used on social media and television, also shows exterior shots of Wichita Fire Station 1 downtown as well as police vehicles.

Whether the advertisement followed city policy was in question at Tuesday’s council meeting when resident Bill Stout expressed concern that the video had been taped inside a firehouse.

“I’m disgusted by this ad,” Stout said.

Wichita prohibits “the use of municipal facilities, with certain exceptions, for political, charitable, and/or commercial uses,” the policy says.

Wichita City Manager Dennis Marstall and city attorney Jennifer Magana said Stout’s accusation would be a concern if true and said they had not yet seen the ad.

“That would warrant more investigation,” Marstall said.

But Wichita Forward and the local union, International Association of Firefighters Local 135, said the ad was filmed in a studio with an off-duty firefighter who was acting as a private citizen and member of the union.

The firefighter is identified as “Warren” in the ad.

“We absolutely followed every letter of the law,” Wichita firefighters union president Ted Bush said.

Bush also said the exterior video of the fire station was filmed from the sidewalk outside the station, which is allowed by city policy.

The city policy outlining whether city property can be used for campaigning was also a point of contention during last year’s city council races.

Both candidates for the District 1 city council seat during the general election filmed campaign videos either on or outside city property.

At the time, the city said the policy that prohibits campaigning on public property had no enforcement mechanism.

A separate state statute prohibits campaigning in city-owned buildings through means of distributing literature and campaign materials unless other candidates have the opportunity to do so. But it doesn’t explicitly prohibit filming campaign material on city property.

People found in violation of the state statute are subject to a $500 fine or a month in jail.

This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 4:10 PM.