Cindy Claycomb, candidate for City Council District 6 in Wichita, KS
Name: Cindy Claycomb
Age: 64
Occupation: Wichita City Council District 6 representative (retired university professor and administrator)
Previous government service: Wichita City Council District 6 representative, City of Wichita District Advisory Board District 6 (appointed), Park Board (appointed)
Have you run for office before? (Please list any previous offices sought)
Wichita City Council District 6 (won in 2017)
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it?
The top issue is to ensure residents’ voices are heard and acted upon. I’ve had more than 1,000 direct contacts with my constituents in the past year, many of those in person. Top issues for residents are implementing neighborhood plans, reducing neighborhood blight, addressing traffic concerns, improving parks and exploring areas that need protection (e.g., river corridor, historic districts, urban tree canopy) or revitalization (e.g., North Broadway).
Other important issues in response to constituent requests are:
-Support programs that train residents for high-paying, in-demand jobs, and advocate for small businesses that need help with start-up and growth
-Address crime through new programs that focus attention and resources on youth, lead to arrests of violent offenders and address domestic violence
-Open the new District 6 community center
-Work to develop a sustainable, accessible and integrated system of care that serves people with mental health and substance abuse disorders
What to do with the area’s homeless population has been a major issue recently. After they were pushed out of Naftzger Park, they migrated north a few blocks and set up camp around Open Door and the Lord’s Diner. Now, key sidewalks in that area have been striped off as no-sitting zones and warnings have been issued that the homeless people’s impromptu shelters and other possessions will be subject to seizure. Do you support these policies and why or why not?
I support compassionate policies to tackle root causes of homelessness. That’s why I facilitated an agreement among the City, Ascension, HumanKind & Sedgwick County to create The Studios at HumanKind—54 apartments to provide people experiencing homelessness permanent housing & wrap around case management services
Homelessness is a complicated national issue. Considering individuals’ needs, local ordinances, state/federal laws & public safety is a balancing act.
Topeka & 2nd averaged 4 calls/day for emergency services. Complaints stem from downtown visitors, churches, universities, & businesses. Area criminal cases include rape, aggravated battery, overdose/drug possession, among others. This is a public safety issue for the homeless population & others. These policies are not a solution to homelessness.
Successful plans/programs require strategic partnerships among public/private/nonprofit/business—the upstream work I’ve been involved with to eliminate root causes of homelessness.
The city has ongoing project plans to reconfigure many four-lane streets, including main thoroughfares such as Broadway and Douglas, to one car-traffic lane running in each direction with a center turn lane. Do you support this plan and why or why not?
When warranted there are benefits of converting from 4 to 3-lane configurations, first being you never get stuck behind a left-turning driver—traffic flows more evenly with fewer starts & stops. Another benefit is improved safety. Research shows that there is a substantial decrease in collisions, with rear end collisions decreasing by 43%. 3-lane roadways provide better access for emergency vehicles, resulting in better response times. Other benefits are improved pedestrian safety (especially for elderly & young walkers) & less aggressive driving (motorists can’t travel at excessive speeds making multiple lane changes). 4-lane roads provide only a 4% increase in traffic capacity while increasing overall crashes by 38%. These crashes can cause hours of delays.
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