The Wichita City Council met in regular session Tuesday evening, June 2, 2026, with Mayor Lily Wu, Vice Mayor Dalton Glasscock, and Council Members Joseph Shepard, Becky Tuttle, Mike Hoheisel, JV Johnston, and Maggie Ballard all present. The meeting opened with proclamations for Pride Month and Gun Violence Awareness Month, then moved into a public agenda that included wrenching testimony from two residents alleging failures by the Wichita Police Department to hold officers and a violent offender accountable. The council’s marquee item of the night was a long-debated proposal to repeal Wichita’s 2008 ban on backing into parking stalls — a rule that had generated hundreds of resident complaints since paid downtown parking enforcement ramped up. After nearly an hour of discussion, the council voted 7-0 to repeal the ban everywhere in the city except on public streets.
Here is a complete rundown of what happened, in the order it happened. Assistance from Claude AI.
Awards and Proclamations
The council opened with two proclamations: Pride Month and Gun Violence Awareness Month. Mayor Wu also highlighted the 2026 Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce Honors Night award winners, recognizing Scott Schwindaman (Uncommon Citizen), Landon Hughes (Exceptional Young Leader), Wichita Festivals (Spirit of Wichita Award), Cozine Memorial Group and Hunter Health (Over the Year Awards), and Empower (Keeper of the Plains Award).
The council also approved the minutes of the May 19 and May 26, 2026 regular meetings on a motion from Mayor Wu, carried 7-0.
Public Comment
Seven residents were signed up to speak during the public agenda; five appeared.
Barbara Myers, of the Friends of the Wichita Pioneers, updated the council on preservation work at Highland Cemetery, the city’s oldest cemetery. She described a Memorial Day flag ceremony, historic tours, research funded by Wichita State University that has located 38 previously unmarked baby graves in Section 5, and plans this fall to dedicate 25 military markers to unmarked graves as part of the state’s America250 commemorations. Myers explained that one of her research targets is Richard Robinson, the sole African American signer of the Wichita city charter, whose family has been buried at Highland for four generations without markers. She pressed the council on two outstanding questions: whether the cemetery’s budget has been increased to cover mausoleum roof repairs, rising lawn-care costs, and a previously promised security camera, and whether the council will move forward on creating a dedicated cemetery board — an idea the Historic Preservation Board has endorsed but that has stalled after months of discussion. Council Member Ballard asked the city manager to follow up on Myers’ questions; no timeline was given.
Bridgette Eby delivered emotional testimony alleging that the Wichita Police Department’s Professional Standards unit and the Citizens Review Board have failed to hold officers accountable for misconduct connected to her complaints, and that the department is roughly three years behind on reviewing complaints. She said the police chief told her directly that no one has the authority to hold him accountable, and she read from a 123-page 2023 investigation of WPD that found 81 percent of officers surveyed said they don’t like working for the department because of internal corruption. She said the city manager initially agreed to investigate her complaints but that his office later sent her an email declining to reopen the matter. Mayor Wu asked her to submit her documentation to the city clerk and asked Council Member Ballard, whose district Eby lives in, along with the city manager, to follow up with her directly.
Rachel Mejia testified that her 14-year-old grandson was murdered in a Wichita park and that the offenders — she said six teenagers were involved, with two convicted — received what she characterized as inadequate sentences. She said she has taken her case to the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Kansas Attorney General’s office after what she described as unresponsiveness from WPD and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office. She called for cameras to be installed in city parks, disputed the city’s reported crime statistics, and criticized the removal of public access to the police scanner. Mayor Wu asked Council Member Shepard, whose district Mejia lives in, and the city manager to follow up with her; Shepard offered to connect her with Moms Demand Action and Cure Violence.
Zachary Knopp, signed up to discuss Flock Safety license-plate-reader cameras, and Dylan Osman did not appear to speak. Knopp’s no-show marks the fourth consecutive council session — following April 28, May 12, and May 26 — in which Flock camera oversight has been on the public agenda without a substantive council response.
Emilio Martinez, Margaret Shabazz, Paul Katniss, Joseph “Tex” Dozier, and Charles Jimenez all spoke in favor of repealing the backing-into-parking ordinance; their testimony is folded into the New Council Business section below, since it directly shaped that debate.
Consent Agenda
The council approved Consent Agenda items 1 through 22 as a block, with items 4b and 6 pulled for separate discussion, on a motion from Mayor Wu, carried 7-0. The consent agenda included:
- Cereal malt beverage retail license applications
- Preliminary cost estimates for upcoming public improvement projects
- An agreement with the Kansas Turnpike Authority and bond financing (Resolution No. 26-219) for the 31st Street Bridge over the turnpike (District III)
- Partial property acquisition at 1107 South 143rd Street for the 143rd Street East improvement project, Kellogg to Harry Street (District II)
- Temporary construction easements for the Bleckley Drive drainage improvement project (District I) — pulled as item 4b
- Minutes from the Mechanical Board (April 2) and the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (March 26)
- A record correction on proclamation votes — pulled as item 6
- Donated temporary construction easements at 15800 East Harry Street for the Four Mile Creek interceptor project (District II)
- A notice of intent to use debt financing for a 2023 technology upgrade and network replacement at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (Resolution No. 26-220)
- Bond financing (Resolution No. 26-221) to fund a civil litigation settlement in the Jackson case
- Second-reading approval of two zoning-classification ordinances (Nos. 53-035 and 53-036), first read May 26
- Eleven planning-agenda items (PUD, zoning, and vacation requests — see Planning Agenda below)
- An airport technology contract with Logicalis for the 2023 network-replacement project
Item 4b — Bleckley Drive Drainage. Council Member Shepard pulled this item to get an on-the-record update for residents. Paul Gunzelman of Public Works & Utilities said Phase One — rebuilding the drainage channel south of Waterman down to Kellogg — is nearing completion at a projected total project cost of approximately $39 million. Shepard pressed for commitments that the city will hold a public information meeting before Phase Two begins, notify affected residents with adequate lead time, circle back with Phase One residents about lessons learned, and continue looking for ways to save mature trees along the route, including a previously discussed temporary access road in the Bleckley area. Gunzelman said most of the trees will likely still need to be removed but that staff is looking at saving two or three. The item was then approved on a motion from Shepard, carried 7-0.
Item 6 — Proclamation record correction. Council Member Hoheisel asked that the record be corrected to reflect that he voted in favor of the Pride Month proclamation when it was first presented on February 22, saying an administrative mix-up had led to confusion about his vote. City Attorney Jennifer Magana confirmed a motion could correct the record. Hoheisel’s motion to reflect his affirmative vote carried 7-0.
Board of Bids and Contracts
Josh Lauber of the Finance Department presented the June 1 Board of Bids and Contracts report. Council Member Shepard asked why the city accepted a $1.45 million bid over a competing $500,000 bid for a crawler bulldozer with a landfill package. Lauber explained that the two lower bidders were deemed non-responsive to specifications: one lacked a required high-drive system to prevent debris buildup around the tracks, and the other didn’t bid an electric-drive system, which stops more precisely than a hydrostatic drive (a safety consideration for landfill operations), uses about 10 percent less fuel, and requires less maintenance. The board’s report was received and filed, and the related contracts were approved on a motion from Mayor Wu, carried 7-0.
Petitions for Public Improvements
Paul Gunzelman reviewed a slate of new and revised improvement petitions and associated bond resolutions, covering water and paving improvements for the Falcon Falls East 4th Addition (Resolutions No. 26-213 and 26-214), sanitary sewer improvements for Mid-Continent Industrial Park II (Resolution No. 26-215), and water, sewer, and paving improvements for the second phase of the Veranda addition (Resolutions No. 26-216, 26-217, and 26-218). The council approved the petitions, budgets, and resolutions on a motion from Mayor Wu, carried 7-0.
New Council Business: Repeal of the Backing-Into-Parking Ordinance
The night’s central debate concerned a 2008 ordinance — sections 11.52.020, 11.52.110, and 11.52.115 of the city code — that makes it illegal to back into a parking stall anywhere in Wichita. The issue reached the council after resident Emilio Martinez was cited $50 for backing into a stall at a downtown parking garage in April and brought the ordinance to the council’s attention; nearly 40 residents subsequently emailed the council about it.
Gary Janzen of Public Works & Utilities presented the staff briefing. He told the council that citations for backing-in violations amount to less than three-tenths of one percent of roughly 100,000 parking sessions since the city’s Car Park enforcement program began, and that the city has recouped about $10,900 in citations this year. He said enforcement relies on Car Park staff using electronic license-plate readers to scan cars while driving through lots — a method that also flags stolen vehicles — and that requiring staff to get out and manually check plates on backed-in cars would be far less efficient. Janzen also noted that citations have already declined since the city began issuing warnings for first violations in late April, and that damage to city property (fences, planters, parking-garage walls) from vehicles backing in remains an ongoing concern regardless of enforcement method.
Council members raised several concerns during questioning. Council Member Hoheisel asked whether repeal would require the city to install license-plate readers at the entrances and exits of surface parking lots; Janzen said that could ultimately be necessary but would require significant infrastructure investment at some locations. Council Member Shepard asked whether a repeal would create problems for pedestrians and people with disabilities if vehicles backed in and blocked sidewalks; Janzen acknowledged that a legally parked vehicle blocking part of a sidewalk with an overhanging bumper would be difficult to cite under the backing-in ordinance itself, though Vice Mayor Glasscock and City Attorney Jennifer Magana noted that a separate ordinance (10.04.125) and state law (K.S.A. 8-1571) already prohibit obstructing sidewalks — Janzen conceded that provision is essentially unenforceable in practice.
Mayor Wu also asked why the city could not identify exactly when before 2008 an earlier version of the rule may have existed, and asked staff to research the specific date in January 2008 when the current ordinance passed and how each council member at the time voted, saying that historical voting records should be available to residents.
Five residents spoke in support of repeal during public comment on the item:
- Margaret Shabazz argued the issue was fundamentally about safety, personal choice, and inadequate public notice, citing research suggesting backing into a stall can reduce collision risk when leaving a space, and noting many residents never saw signage warning against it.
- Paul Katniss suggested drivers who back in could display proof of payment against their windshield to address enforcement concerns.
- Joseph “Tex” Dozier, a District 1 advisory board member, presented a memo proposing a hybrid enforcement model — citing Miami Beach’s use of stationary license-plate readers at lot entrances and Pottstown, Pennsylvania’s mixed system of mobile and stationary readers — and urged the council to consider a warning-only approach until signage, app messaging, and kiosk notifications are fully in place.
- Charles Jimenez, representing ABATE of Kansas, a motorcyclist advocacy organization, said many motorcyclists back into spaces because most motorcycles lack reverse gear and because backing in improves sightlines when re-entering traffic, particularly on sloped lots.
- Emilio Martinez, the original resident who raised the issue, urged repeal and criticized the lack of posted signage.
City Manager Dennis Marstall confirmed, in response to a question from Mayor Wu, that the Wichita Police Department has told the city it has no safety concerns with backing into parking spaces.
Council members were split on how far to go. Council Member Ballard said she remained uncomfortable repealing the ordinance without a concrete enforcement plan in place. Council Member Tuttle said she wanted more time — suggesting a 60-to-90-day pause to work out a plan — arguing that repealing the rule and returning later with a hybrid model would confuse the public more than waiting. Vice Mayor Glasscock and Council Member Hoheisel both favored moving forward, with Hoheisel expressing support for repeal in city lots but concern about on-street angled parking, where a vehicle backing in could face oncoming traffic while executing the maneuver.
Mayor Wu moved to repeal all three sections of the ordinance outright, city-wide. Hoheisel offered a friendly amendment to preserve the on-street backing-in ban due to angled-parking safety concerns; Wu declined to accept it, saying she preferred a simpler, fully permissive rule. Council Member Johnston indicated he would support an amended motion. Hoheisel then made a substitute motion to repeal the ordinance everywhere except on public streets. Wu, after further discussion — including confirmation from the city attorney that sidewalk obstruction is already separately prohibited by law — ultimately supported the substitute motion, saying she wanted to move the issue forward even without her preferred full repeal.
Motion: Council Member Hoheisel moved to repeal the backing-into-parking ordinance (sections 11.52.020, 11.52.110, and 11.52.115) with an exception preserving the ban on backing into on-street parking stalls. Motion carried 7-0.
The practical effect: as of this vote, drivers may legally back into parking stalls in city-owned surface lots and parking garages, but backing into an on-street angled or perpendicular parking space remains prohibited. No timeline was set for a public communication campaign about the change, a gap Council Member Tuttle flagged as unresolved. Staff indicated they will monitor citation and damage trends over time before deciding whether investment in additional license-plate-reader infrastructure at surface lots is warranted.
Council Member Agenda
The council approved two travel/appearance items:
- Council Member Tuttle’s travel to the National Civic League’s All-America City Conference in Denver, Colorado, June 25-29, 2026, approved on a motion from Mayor Wu, carried 7-0.
- Retroactive approval of Mayor Wu’s appearance at the Women’s Conference hosted by the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce on June 2, 2026 (using a city vehicle), approved on a motion from Vice Mayor Glasscock, carried 7-0.
Council Member Appointments and Comments
The council approved three board appointments on a single motion from Mayor Wu, carried 7-0:
- Lori Lawrence, reappointed to the Sustainability Integration Board (Council Member Shepard)
- Julie Collier, appointed to the District Two Advisory Board (Council Member Tuttle)
- Marco Alcocer, appointed to the Airport Advisory Board (Council Member Hoheisel)
In closing comments, Vice Mayor Glasscock paid tribute to outgoing community service representative Brooke Kauchak, who left city employment earlier that day after serving Glasscock and, before him, former Council Member Blubaugh. Council Member Shepard noted District 1 has hired a new community service representative, with a formal announcement expected Thursday, and invited residents to a District 1 Advisory Board breakfast on June 6 at 9:30 a.m. at the Carl Brewer Community Center, featuring Director of Housing Sally Stang discussing homelessness and housing initiatives. Council Member Ballard announced she will be absent from next week’s meeting while riding in a 525-mile bicycle tour across Kansas. Mayor Wu thanked the Wichita Area Sister Cities French Committee for a recent trip to Orleans, France.
Executive Session
The council recessed into executive session for 20 minutes, from 8:25 to 8:45 p.m., to discuss a real estate acquisition under K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(2), on a motion from Mayor Wu, carried 6-0. No binding action was taken. The meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m. on a motion from Mayor Wu, carried 4-0 — a lower vote count than earlier in the meeting, consistent with the minutes as recorded, suggesting not all members remained on the bench through adjournment.
Complete Voting Record
| Item | Motion | Moved By | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minutes of May 19 & May 26, 2026 | Approve minutes | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Consent Agenda Items 1-22 (except 4b, 6) | Approve | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Consent Item 4b — Bleckley Drive Drainage easements | Approve | Council Member Shepard | Carried 7-0 |
| Consent Item 6 — Proclamation vote record correction | Correct record to reflect Hoheisel’s vote for Pride Month | Council Member Hoheisel | Carried 7-0 |
| Board of Bids and Contracts (June 1, 2026) | Receive and file; approve contracts | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Petitions for Public Improvements | Approve petitions, budgets, and resolutions | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Backing-into-parking ordinance (original motion) | Full repeal, city-wide | Mayor Wu | Superseded by substitute motion |
| Backing-into-parking ordinance (substitute motion) | Repeal with on-street exception | Council Member Hoheisel | Carried 7-0 |
| Council Member Tuttle travel — All-America City Conference | Approve travel | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Mayor Wu travel (retroactive) — Women’s Conference | Approve travel | Vice Mayor Glasscock | Carried 7-0 |
| Board appointments (Lawrence, Collier, Alcocer) | Approve appointments | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Executive session (real estate acquisition) | Recess into executive session | Mayor Wu | Carried 6-0 |
| Adjournment | Adjourn at 8:48 p.m. | Mayor Wu | Carried 4-0 |
What to Watch
Flock Safety cameras — fourth consecutive meeting without council action. For the fourth straight session (following April 28, May 12, and May 26), a public-agenda slot was reserved for citizen comment on Flock license-plate-reader cameras. This time the signed-up speaker, Zachary Knopp, did not appear, and the council still has not formally addressed the issue on the record.
Police accountability allegations — new and serious. Two residents, Bridgette Eby and Rachel Mejia, delivered detailed public testimony alleging that WPD’s Professional Standards unit and the Citizens Review Board have failed to investigate or act on their complaints, in one case tied to an unsolved homicide investigation. Both were referred to their district council members and the city manager for follow-up, but no council discussion or public commitment followed. Whether these referrals produce any visible response is worth tracking at the next session.
Backing-into-parking repeal — implementation details unresolved. The council repealed the ban city-wide except on streets, but left open how the change will be communicated to the public, whether license-plate-reader infrastructure will eventually be added to surface lots, and how citation and property-damage trends will be monitored going forward.
Highland Cemetery governance. Barbara Myers renewed a long-pending request for a dedicated cemetery board and clarity on budget for mausoleum repairs and camera funding at Highland Cemetery. The idea has council and Historic Preservation Board discussion history but no resolution.
Housing and homelessness. Continuing coverage territory: the June 6 District 1 Advisory Board breakfast will feature Director of Housing Sally Stang discussing the city’s homelessness and housing work.
Undisclosed real estate matter. The council’s 20-minute executive session on a real estate acquisition was closed to the public, as permitted under state law for active negotiations. No details were disclosed, and no binding action was taken.
Civic Engagement Resources
Residents can email all council members at dlCouncilmembers@wichita.gov, as several speakers and the mayor referenced during this meeting. Public agenda speaking slots are available at each regular council meeting for residents who wish to address the council directly. Meeting agendas, attachments, and minutes are published by the City Clerk’s office in advance of each session.
Council members present: Mayor Lily Wu, Vice Mayor Dalton Glasscock, and Council Members Joseph Shepard, Becky Tuttle, Mike Hoheisel, JV Johnston, and Maggie Ballard. Staff present: Dennis Marstall, City Manager; Jennifer Magana, City Attorney; Shinita Rice, City Clerk.