The Sunflower reached out to all the Wichita City Council candidates for an interview about their priorities, background and more. Candidates’ answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Why are you running for this position?

My generation inherited this democracy, and I think that we can all agree, or most of us can agree, that there is a lot going on in our democracy. That requires people who care about the democracy to step up. Not only do I care, I believe that I’m equipped with the skills and the experiences both lived and professional to represent a district as diverse as District 1.

And I want to make sure that, you know, we’re thinking about putting people in positions of a perceived authority that can help tackle the challenges that will make life better for folks five years from now, but 10 years from now, 15 years from now, 20 years from now. That’s going to require innovation. It’s going to require boldness, but it’s also going to require respectful and meaningful dialogue with people who think, look, act differently than you.

And I know that I am the one in this race who can bring those unique abilities to the table.

How would you describe the role of a City Council member?

I would describe the role of a City Council member as one that is an advocate, connector and convener. 

You are to be an advocate or a delegate voice for your community, looking at the issues through the lens of not only how can this make your life better, but “how can I use this particular challenge to help make the lives of all Wichitaans better, even if they’re outside of my district?” A City Council member makes decisions for their district, but they also vote on issues that will impact everyone, regardless of where they live.

And then the connector. One of the things that we know is that local government cannot do everything, and it’s not local government’s place to do everything, but we can be bringing the experts to the table when we talk about affordable housing, when we talk about the homelessness crisis, when we talk about youth violence.

We need to be bringing those folks to the table to include the youth who are being impacted by the violence — nothing about us without us — and a good Council member is going to be a convener. 

And then the last thing I said was the connector. I may not have the answer to your question, but I know someone who does. And let me take the time to connect you with the employer that you may need to be connected to. Let me take the time to connect you with the proper elected official, be it county, be it state, be it the Board of Education member that can give you the answer that you’re looking for and let me connect you to somebody who can help you in your neighborhood as well.

Describe your priorities for District One. How do you plan to address those issues?

So three things: economic advancement, building stronger neighborhoods and opening up lines of communication so that folks actually know what’s happening with their tax dollars and also know what city hall is doing. 

Economic advancement speaks to making sure that we are investing in those everyday things that people know make their lives either better, or a little bit more difficult.

I don’t care who you are, if you’re driving down a road and you hit a pothole and that busts your tire, you are going to be irritated. Well, we can fix infrastructure. We can invest in road maintenance and infrastructure.

We can invest in making sure that small businesses have access to the support they need to be able to run and be able to create that employment opportunity for many members of our community and generate some impact for our local economy. 

We also need to make sure that we’re looking at building opportunities for all people regardless of age or background to have a good meaningful quality of life.

And then when we talk about strong neighborhoods, that’s where we dig into the affordable housing crisis and we build stronger neighborhoods by making sure that there is a quality place for everyone to live across income levels.

And then finally, opening up that line of communication to build trust. Local government, I think, can do better at marketing and communicating the things that we have in terms of resources to help Wichitans and District 1 residents navigate their day to day lives, but also recognizing that not everybody can make it to a Tuesday morning council meeting at nine o’clock in the morning, especially if you are part of the working class or if you are not mobile or have the physical ability to get there.

Why should students vote for you?

You know, I’m reflective of many of the students here. I know the difficulty of what it is like to be a student and to live in a community where you at times don’t feel heard, seen or valued outside the four walls of that institution, because everything is happening that impacts you without you at the table. 

And I know that to be true because as a student body president who spoke up when we were selecting a police chief to talk about the issues of what was happening to our students, as a student body president who went to the county commission and advocated for our immigrant and undocumented students when WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) was being threatened to be taken away from that population, I know that there are issues that impact the lives of our students on this campus. And so when I’m elected, I’m making decisions with them in mind as well.

And I’m wanting to bring them into the process. I also recognize that if we want our community to grow, if we want to be innovative, if we want to be competitive with our sister cities, the talent that we need to bring to the table is right here at this institution.

I think the most important thing is, I’ve not just been where they’ve been. I’ve constantly shown up from the time that I’ve arrived at this campus, after I left to today.

I think that that demonstrates a willingness to care, even when there is no benefit for me. And I think that’s what most young people want to see out of a public servant is not instant gratification, not self gratification, but servant leadership. And I believe that I am a servant leader.

What experience do you have that will make you the best fit for this position?

I have had to navigate working with different people for a very long time now. And when I was younger, it used to frustrate me, so you can look back through the Sunflower archives and see that. But I think what I’ve done is some internal work to figure out how I can hold true to my values and my positions while also working with other people who may not hold those same values and positions to make policy and to create projects for the common good.

That is a skill. And it’s one that has to be learned and sometimes learned through experience. And that’s kind of what happened with me.

But I think what students can expect from me and what also community members can expect from me in regards to this is, I’m going to work with you regardless of your experience, beliefs or background so long as it’s going to be to make Wichita a better place for all people and for the common good. And I think that that is probably one of my biggest strengths. But I also recognize that it also means that I have to have a willingness to say I don’t know everything.

And I’m not always gonna be right. And a student who’s maybe 19 years old and a freshman at Wichita State may have a better solution to the problem that we’re facing than the 32 year old elected official if I’m elected. And it requires a level of humility and vulnerability to be able to accept that.

And I’m okay with accepting that as long as we can work together to make some good things happen.

What priorities or values would you say would be most important to you or would you guide you in the role as a council member?

You know, I experienced homelessness throughout my life. That is a big part of my story. And I think a big part of what has shaped my north star — to see the least among us and to fight for the least among us and to never judge somebody by their outward appearance, but to get to know their circumstance.

We are dealing with a crisis involving our unhoused neighbors. And so I want to bring my lived experience to the bench to help people understand that this has to be a multi-pronged, multi-dimensional solution to this challenge.
We have our multi-agency center, Second Light, that is being built. We also need wraparound services available at that site for not just mental health treatment, not just drug addiction treatment, but case management support to help people understand some of those life skills. 

We also have to be willing to look at what does it look like to not put a strain on our police officers, but to get our social workers involved in going out and engaging some of our unhoused neighbors. 

But finally, helping our community unlearn some of the things that we’ve learned about the homeless population. Not every unhoused neighbor is in a mental health crisis. Some are. Not every unhoused neighbor is dealing with a drug addiction problem. Some are. But there are some unhoused neighbors who are homeless because they’re survivors of domestic violence. There are some unhoused neighbors who aged out of the foster care system, like 40% of foster care children do, and they need help.

And so when we look at this as a people challenge, we’re able to center the challenge better and create more resolute solutions that solve the issue in multiple ways and not just one size fits all.

Are there any past actions of the city council that you strongly agree with or disagree with? Explain why.

I strongly disagree with the way that the encampments ordinance is right now. And let me be clear – we cannot just let homelessness happen. That is not humane. 

And when I talk about seeing the dignity and humanity in individuals, everyone deserves dignity and humanity, which for me means giving them a safe place to live, sleep, eat – all the things that Manslow’s hierarchy of needs speaks to. But because I mentioned Manslow’s hierarchy of needs, what we have to realize is that when we put ordinances in place, the resources have to be available to support them.

So if we put an encampment ordinance in place that gives them a certain amount of time to clean up their encampment, or we’re going to come and clean it up for you, we better be prepared to have the resources … or else we’re just moving one problem from one side of the street to the other. 

Conversely, one of the things that I agree with is I really appreciate particularly how Brandon Johnson has invested in Northeast Wichita with the renovation of the Carl Brewer Recreational Center. That’s a $10 million investment. The city council obviously voted in favor of that.

And I think why I use that as an example is because there are parts of our community who feel forgotten about. And I think when we invest in those communities, it’s a – “I see you. I hear you. You matter.”

You don’t have to live in the wealthiest part of the community for government to come in and say, we have an opportunity to make a difference here.” And I think Brandon has done a good job to the best of his ability of doing that.

What role does Wichita State play in District 1?

Wichita State is an economic driver for District 1. You look at the BioMed Center. But then we also look at Wichita State, the main campus being in District 1. But also outside of that … the talent that is here. I have always felt ever since stepping foot on this campus in 2011 that there were some amazing people here and that we could fix and solve a lot of our problems if we worked hard to retain a lot of that talent.

Now we’re attracting folks from all over with that I-35 corridor, in-state scholarship incentive. That’s a great opportunity to say, “not only can we retain our homegrown talent, but we can retain some talent that’s not even from here.” And they can bring their perspective from those lived experiences and other places here.

That’s a unique opportunity that we have to take advantage of. 

But when we also look at the infrastructure being developed and the co-op opportunities and also the applied learning opportunities … that’s a game changer. Especially when you look at where we’re positioned, that means that we can go right across the street to Fairmount Neighborhood Association, grab those young people, bring them to campus and say, “and this is what your future can look like. And you can learn those skills now. You can walk across the street and learn those skills now.

“You don’t even have to wait until you get to college.”That’s a beautiful thing. And we have to do a better job, in my opinion, of connecting the campus with the community.

And I will be ready within my first hundred days to do that. Both being a champion for Wichita State, but by that also saying, “how do we bring the campus amenities into the neighborhood?”