The Wichita City Council discussed a trio of topics at a workshop Tuesday morning.
They began with a discussion of short term rental regulations. Members of the Crown Heights Neighborhood Association in east Wichita voiced concerns to city leaders back in April 2021 after a fatal shooting. One person was killed and three others were injured during a party at a rental property near 2nd and Battin that was not licensed to be rented out.
The city is proposing three options to regulate rentals, depending on zoning regulations in that particular neighborhood. While the public has supported licensing requirements, opinions differ on how much that should cost. City officials also discussed insurance requirements. A formal date for sending the proposal to district advisory boards (DAB) for further discussion has not been set.
The Wichita Police Department provided an update from the Cedric Lofton task force, which was established to review and recommend improvements after the death of the 17-year-old in custody at the county’s Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, or JIAC.
Lt. Scott Moon with WPD discussed 14 recommendations, ranging from developing training methods, body cam policies, and drafting a memorandum of understanding between Wichita Police and JIAC. He also explained how $750 thousand in funding for COMCARE in 2023 will assist the agency.
Sedgwick County, along with Wichita Police, Kansas Department for Children and Families and Kansas Department of Corrections, has created a dashboard of progress made by the taskforce.
The council also learned about a proposed ordinance that would change how city council member vacancies are filled.
The proposed ranked choice voting ordinance would allow voters, in this case the council, to rank the candidates in order of preference to obtain a majority. The benefit of the procedure allows for an instant runoff, minimizing cost and time.
In March 2021, it took two consecutive council meetings to select Jared Cerullo as the replacement in District III for James Clendenin, who resigned in December 2020.
This proposal will be sent out to the city’s six districts for public engagement. There’s no word on when it could be brought back to the council for a vote.