It was a full meeting at Wichita City Hall on Tuesday, as the city council voted 5-2 to approve the city's updated downtown parking plan.
New parking meters will allow users to pay by using coins or bills, a credit or debit card or a smartphone app. Independent contractors will manage the system.
Council member Brandon Johnson said the plan will need to be flexible and the city would need to communicate the changes with the public.
The city will roll out the modernized plan during 2024 at a cost of $648 thousand. After that, it will cost $1.3 million a year to operate but the city will earn $2.7 million in revenue.
Parking fines will increase from $10 to $35 under the new plan.
The council also approved a new ordinance that will impose fines on landlords convicted of retaliatory evictions.
The city's investigator will give the landlord thirty days to file a written response to a complaint filed. If convicted, the landlord will face a fine of between $1,000 and $2,500. The conviction will be posted on the city's housing website for a period not to exceed 2 years.
The city received input from a number of community stakeholders including the South-Central Kansas Realtors, the Wichita Regional Chamber and landlords in Wichita.
By a narrow 4-3 margin, the board passed an ordinance amendment pertaining to campaign finance rules.
State law currently allows for any person to contribute up to $500 to a candidate in city elections per election cycle.
The ordinance will prohibit candidates in city elections and their political committees from accepting contributions from corporations or LLCs, whether the donor resides in or out of state.
Consistent with state law campaign finance statutes, violation of the ordinance is a misdemeanor with a fine not to exceed $2,500 and one year in jail.
Wichita City Manager Robert Layton will receive a pay raise.
The Wichita City Council approved the increase Tuesday. The 7.5% raise will be retroactive to January 4, 2022.
The council's performance review was recently completed, and the body said his work on several significant projects, including ARPA fund management, the Northwest Water treatment facility construction and the soon to be constructed downtown Bio-med campus led to Tuesday's move.
Layton's base salary prior to the raise was $234,617.
One person who spoke during public input on the motion called the increase "disgusting" and a “gross amount of money for one person.”
The council will look very different at next Tuesday's meeting. Mayor Brandon Whipple lost in the general election in November. Council member Bryan Frye is finishing his second and final term, while Council member Jeff Blubaugh plans to run for a spot on the Sedgwick County Commission. Mayor-elect Lily Wu and council member-elects J.V. Johnston and Dalton Glasscock will be sworn in on Monday, January 8.