Several people spoke to the Sedgwick County Commission Wednesday during the Public Agenda about justice for Cedric Lofton. The 17-year-old died two days after a September altercation with staff at the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center.
During his speech, one gentleman brought up Commissioner Sarah Lopez's 8-year-old son and the commissioner took offense to that.
"I'm going to make this perfectly clear, that I will not today nor will I ever apologize to anyone who uses my son's name in the same sentence talking about children being killed. As a parent, that is my number one role...I'm a commissioner second. Anytime anybody uses my son's name or comes up here and talks about where my kids go to school with the impact of trying to make me uncomfortable by putting my son in that position-an 8-year-old child-is completely crossing lines that you don't have a right to get near," Lopez said.
Hear her full comments below:
In other news, commissioners received an update on the county's fiscal response to COVID-19. Lindsey Poe Rousseau, the county's Chief Financial Officer and Brent Shelton, the Deputy CFO provided guidance highlights they have received for the American Rescue Plan Act. A wide range of topics were covered, such as capital expenditures, behavioral health, family and medical leave and child care. The county will be receiving around $50 million in ARPA funds this year and will have many decisions to make regarding the allocation of those funds.
Commissioners also passed a resolution approving renovations and improvements to certain county buildings, and to build or repair existing county bridges. General obligation bonds will be used to pay for those projects.