2 days ago
A Wichita City Council candidate taped campaign material in City Hall. Can she do that?
In our Reality Check stories, Wichita Eagle journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Story idea? tips@
LaWanda DeShazer, a candidate for the open District 1 seat on the Wichita City Council, posted — then deleted — a campaign video she taped in City Hall.
The taping violated a city policy that prohibits any type of campaigning inside city-owned buildings.
The video was taped on June 4 and posted on Facebook later in the week to promote DeShazer's campaign launch event that weekend. While it was being taped, a Wichita Eagle reporter saw a member of City Hall staff ask DeShazer to not tape inside the building.
The video had been deleted by Monday morning, after the event and after an Eagle reporter questioned DeShazer about it.
'There's a lot of new people running for office. … We don't know these nuances,' DeShazer said.
Democrats crowd into race for open Wichita City Council seat. Who's running?
The city said the policy that prohibits campaigning on public property has no enforcement mechanism.
'The City focuses on education and we would share the policy with candidates,' city spokesperson Megan Lovely said.
A separate state statute prohibits campaigning in city-owned buildings through means of distributing literature and campaign materials unless other candidates have the opportunity to do so. But it doesn't explicitly prohibit filming campaign material on city property.
People found in violation of the state statute are subject to a $500 fine or a month in jail.
DeShazer said she thought her video being filmed in City Hall was OK after current District 1 council member Brandon Johnson posted a video shot outside McAfee Pool endorsing another candidate, Joseph Shepard. Johnson was wearing a city of Wichita shirt in the video.
'The endorsement video featuring Councilmember Brandon Johnson was filmed outside McAfee Pool, a city-operated entity. In doing so, we remained in compliance with both the Wichita City Code and City Policy #20,' Shepard said in a statement. 'Our filming respected these guidelines. We ensured there was no disruption to pedestrian or vehicle access and remained outside the facility's fence line.'
Johnson backed Shepard's statement, saying Shepard reviewed city code before filming the endorsement video.
'It is unfortunate that Ms. DeShazer is suggesting that because she did not follow municipal code and Council policy, that one of her opponents did the same,' Johnson said in a statement. 'The fact that he and his team went the additional steps of reviewing guidelines is yet another reason he should be the Council Member for District 1.'
Chris Pumpelly, who's also running for the seat, said he didn't find the video to be inappropriate since DeShazer is a private citizen. But he added already-elected officials must be held to a higher standard.
'The voters of District 1 are smart enough to know the City isn't endorsing a candidate in this race, but it's important as an elected official to make that line VERY clear in all your actions,' Pumpelly said in a statement to The Eagle.
Other candidates in the crowded race to replace the term-limited Johnson are Aujanae Bennett and Darryl Carrington. A primary election is set for Aug. 5, with the top two candidates moving forward to the general election on Nov. 4.
DeShazer said more education should be provided to candidates about campaigning when they file.
'I'm not trying to violate rules because I want to make things better for people, not worse,' she said.
