Wichita City Council candidates Joseph Shepard and LaWanda DeShazer clashed Tuesday over taxes, food deserts and economic development incentives in the District 1 race’s final head-to-head public forum before the election.
The Wichita Journalism Collaborative hosted the question-and-answer session at Wichita State University’s Marcus Welcome Center.
DeShazer is trying to build momentum going into the general election after Shepard received 1,811 votes in the primary to her 776. Nearly 2,000 primary votes — 1,970 — are up for grabs if the same people who voted in the primary turn out for the general election. Those votes were split among three other candidates: Chris Pumpelly, Aujanae Bennett and Darryl Carrington.
Shepard spent much of the night defending the record of his friend and mentor, outgoing council member Brandon Johnson, while LaWanda DeShazer criticized Johnson and what she views as City Hall’s use of economic incentives to increase profit margins for wealthy developers while taxpayers take on the risk.
The disagreement came to a head when the candidates were asked directly to differentiate themselves from Johnson. Specifically, what would they do better than him?
DeShazer said she would hold developers and the city manager accountable. And she said she disagreed with Johnson’s vote to settle a $1.8 million lawsuit filed by the city against developers Dave Burk and Dave Wells for $400,000.
Burk and Wells received a loan from the city to develop the Ken Mar TIF district at 13th and Oliver but stopped repaying the loan. The whole deal was held together by a verbal agreement, according to court filings.
“I will hold everyone accountable,” DeShazer said. “It’s not fair to the taxpayers, hard-working people, to give our funds away to billionaires and millionaires so that they can live a lavish life while we’re struggling to pay property taxes.
“We’ve seen for so long that favors have been given to special interests, to those with the big bucks, and so I say timeout on giving special interest folks a break. It’s time for the little guy to get a break,” she said.
A majority on the City Council voted against the settlement, and it continues to be litigated. Johnson said he voted for the settlement out of concern that the city could ultimately prevail in court but collect no money under a hypothetical scenario where liability would be placed on a defunct limited liability company.
“This Ken Mar deal keeps coming up,” Shepard said. “There’s a thing called mediation in legal proceedings, and we don’t know what that mediation included and why someone would choose to take that.”
Shepard said he wouldn’t have voted for the $400,000 settlement.
“I think the community spoke loud and clear that they wanted us to fight it, and that’s what I would have done, which also just highlights: I’m not Brandon Johnson, though he is a mentor.”
Shepard praised Johnson and called him pragmatic, sensible and willing “to make decisions even when it’s unpopular because he cares about the entirety of this community.”
Grocery stores
The rancor over Ken Mar spilled over into other topics, such as a discussion about food deserts in the district.
“I say $1.4 million non-payback is a big mistake,” DeShazer said, referring to the difference between the $1.8 million the city sought in the Ken Mar lawsuit and the $400,000 settlement Johnson voted for. “Those are funds we could be using to bring grocery stores into these food deserts.”
Shepard said the city should do whatever it can to help support small grocers while working on affordable housing initiatives to increase the population in District 1, which would attract larger grocery stores. He also proposed partnering with the private sector, Wichita Public Schools and nonprofit organizations to offer free and healthy meals to children.
“I’m a free lunch kid, and so when we feed our kids, we’re feeding America,” Shepard said. “We’re feeding the future of our community.”
“Free lunches is amazing, but it doesn’t solve the issues of grocery stores,” DeShazer said. “I still say, follow the money. Quit giving away our taxpayer funds.”
Added sales tax?
DeShazer and Shepard drew a stark contrast on how to boost funding for several initiatives they said they would like to see the city expand or enhance, including more community policing, crime prevention programs and recreational opportunities for youth.
Shepard said he favors putting a ballot question to voters to see whether they would be willing to add a sales tax; DeShazer does not support a sales tax. She said she supports an audit of the city’s budget to find additional savings that could be reallocated.
“We have the funds,” DeShazer said. “I keep telling you all — I’m going to drill on it. Day one, we’re going to find the money.”
Shepard pointed out that the city already has an internal auditor and is subject to regular outside audits. He said a sales tax could be necessary given the political climate on the council, where a majority recently voted to cut the property tax mill levy.
“When the decision was made to cut the mill levy, that means that we don’t have the luxury to stop growing and evolving,” Shepard said. “We have to be strategic and think about what’s a good alternative.”
This story was shared as part of the Wichita Journalism Collaborative, a coalition of newsrooms — including KMUW — and community partners joining forces to help meet news and information needs in and around Wichita.