What went wrong at Wichita’s ice skating center? Genesis, Steven and Layton. | Commentary

The news can’t seem to get bad enough for troubled Wichita Ice Center.

The Wichita City Council tossed another $380,000 into the Ice Center budget last month so skaters can practice for the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Midwestern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championship.

While that action put a Band-Aid on this festering wound, an uglier infection lies hidden from view by the city manager.

The issue? At least $350,000 in Ice Center funding that has disappeared from view and now resides in the pockets of Genesis Health Management and its resident agent Rodney Steven.

The story of the missing money will serve as a litmus test for the newly elected mayor and City Council members who vowed to bring accountability and transparency to City Hall.

Mayor Lily Wu stuck her toe in the water with a simple question of City Manager Robert Layton: What is the status of the current Ice Center litigation?

Layton gave an equally simple, but wholly evasive answer. “It’s in discovery.”

Well, mayor, allow me to fill in a few details that Layton could have shared.

The city is suing Genesis Health Management and its agent, Rodney Steven, asking for nearly $1 million for breach of contract and physical damages to the Ice Center.

The city recently terminated its 10-year management contract with Genesis, and now claims Genesis didn’t fulfill its contractual obligation to repay $750,000 that the city handed over at the start of the contract. Genesis says the city is the negligent party, and both sides have asked for a jury trial.

Here are the troubling facts:

▪ The contract called for Genesis to repay the $750,000 over 10 years. Genesis made one payment of $14,127 the first year and never made another payment through the 10-year period.

▪ The contract stipulates that the city can only sue for the last three years of nonpayment, which amounts to about $350,000, less than half of the original obligation.

▪ That leaves the previous six years of non-payment, or about $350,000 as uncollected and likely uncollectible.

So, here is what needs to be “discovered”:

▪ Did the city fail to serve notice to Genesis when the management company missed the first payment? Or the second payment? Or any payment leading up to the 10-year expiration?

▪ If not, who dropped the ball? Was it the legal department, or maybe the city manager?

▪ Was the unpaid and uncollectible $350,000 simply dropped from the books and absorbed by the city’s debt service fund?

▪ If so, was the manager ever intending to inform the council, and, more importantly, the taxpayers who took the hit, of this unfortunate loss of city dollars? The lawsuit has nothing do to with the uncollectible portion of the Genesis obligation. So why not talk about it?

▪ Why sign a contract with a three-year look-back on default if you didn’t plan on enforcing it?

The absurdness of this fiscal tragedy is underscored by past comments of Park Director Troy Houtman, who may end up being the star witness for Genesis if the case goes to trial.

In a city video posted in November 2021, Houtman was touting a proposed golf privatization contract (another Layton, barely averted by the council) and made the following observation: “I’ve been here seven years. One of the first things I saw was the ice rink contract . . . which really was surprising to me because there wasn’t a whole lot of accountability in there.”

That bizarre quote raises more questions:

▪ If Houtman knew the contract was flawed back in 2014, did he tell his boss, the city manager, and did they take any steps to correct the problem?

▪ If Houtman’s assessment of the contract is correct, then why is the city spending thousands of dollars in private legal fees to try to collect on it?

▪ What exactly did Houtman mean by “there wasn’t a whole lot of accountability?” We’ll get an answer if Genesis decides to subpoena Houtman and have him elaborate.

Here’s another troubling fact: The contract called for the city to pay Genesis $40,000, to $50,000 each year of the 10-year management agreement.

The city kept its end of the deal by shelling out the annual management fee, yet turned a blind eye to the fact that Genesis wasn’t making the annual bond repayment, and, according to the city’s lawsuit, was causing physical damage to the facility.

A sweet deal for Genesis, which has already profited from the unpaid and uncollectible $350,000 — and a terrible deal for taxpayers.

Accountability is a popular word on the campaign trail for mayor and city council. Now we’ll find out who meant what they said.