Budget should reflect Wichita’s quality of life. Why city’s first draft isn’t close
A lot can and will happen between the introduction of a city budget Tuesday and probable City Council adoption on Aug. 14. But before we get there, let’s hope all of the community’s bright, young, energetic minds don’t rent U-Hauls and bust out of town.
The proposed budget shared with the City Council on Tuesday couldn’t have been more tone-deaf on the heels of James Chung’s sobering presentation about Wichita’s vibrancy and need to keep young adults here and happy.
Close a golf course and a branch library, maybe two. Gut manpower and services to CityArts, the hub of the local arts community. Same with Cowtown. Use “third-party providers” for daily operations of both under the guise of strengthening community partnerships.
This is not the Wichita we should want to be. The City Council should hear loudly and clearly from their constituents that yes, while essential services such as more police officers are necessary, there must be a way to avoid crushing the amenities that give the city life.
There has already been backlash and backtracking. Former mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Carl Brewer criticized the plan that would close the Linwood and possibly Evergreen branch libraries, saying library closures weren’t part of the discussion when the new downtown library was on the drawing board.
Then Thursday, Mayor Jeff Longwell said he supported less-drastic cuts to CityArts, a 20-year Old Town facility specializing in art instruction for students and space for artists to show their work. A proposal would reduce full-time arts staff from five people to one.
Less than two hours later, at an emotional Arts Council meeting where board members and supporters were lamenting a possible $300,000 in CityArts cuts, Council members Bryan Frye and Cindy Claycomb offered supportive but sobering encouragement. They support finding solutions for proposed cuts and emphasized making feelings known to Council members.
Emily Brookover, CityArts’ artistic director, said proposed cuts would eliminate her job and her life in Wichita.
“You want people like me in Wichita,” she told the meeting. “I’m like who you want to live here. If CityArts goes under, those are less opportunities for people like me, and people like me will leave and go elsewhere to other communities where the arts and culture are supported.”
She won’t be the only one. The City Council’s challenge is to find other spending cuts, or admit to Chung’s assertion that we’re a community unable to grow at a successful rate. Amenities such as the arts and library branches are not luxuries. They’re essential for a community’s quality of life.
A proposed budget is a starting point; Layton knows that. Much like his proposal for Century II last fall, where his suggested plan felt like a modest beginning, Tuesday’s first draft of the 2019 budget could also be the most drastic draft. Community input (outrage) pointed toward Council members could lead the Council to become heroes in restoring library and cultural services.
Whether or not that’s part of Layton’s plan, he has stirred residents. They have three weeks to express their anger before what should be an emotional Aug. 7 budget hearing.
It’s time to find out what’s important to Wichitans and their leaders.
This story was originally published July 21, 2018 at 6:00 AM.