From the Alvin and Rosalie Sara Check studio.

PBS Kansas presents Kansas Week.

Coming up on Kansas week.

Abuse allegations against a Wichita youth pastor lead to calls for legislation.

Should clergy be required to report suspected abuse to police?

We'll discuss.

Also, the Wichita City Council considers what to do about drought restrictions.

Now that Jeannie Lake is back to within a few inches of normal.

How long before Wichita can resume normal lawn and garden care?

But first paid parking goes into effect next week in downtown Wichita.

Will it be worth the price, or will more people start avoiding the city's center?

We'll discuss those stories and more on this edition of Kansas Week.

Hello and welcome to Kansas Week.

I'm Jared Cirillo.

Free parking, once a selling point for getting people to visit, work or live in downtown Wichita.

But not anymore.

As of Tuesday, cakes Lily O'Brien has reaction as paid parking goes into effect in just a few days.

What do you think about the paid parking changes?

I don't really agree with them.

I would prefer that they just leave it just like it is.

Paid parking is around the corner for downtown Wichita.

Parking meters are moving in and the expectation of parking for free is on its way out.

I think they're just trying to make more money that I think there's better ways to do that.

They charge people to park more.

Starting July 1st, they'll be doing just that enforcing parking and charging by the hour.

And if it's paid, it does add a layer of complexity.

Posted rates are $1 an hour, $5 daily in public parking lots, and $10 daily for public parking garages.

Well, I think they're counting on a lot of people coming from out of town to help support it.

I just think it's a bad deal for the people that live here all the time.

Kathy Knorr and Bill tout are two tourists who say the paid parking could definitely steer them in another direction.

I'm not sure if we would have been, actually had lunch at the place that we did if we couldn't have found free parking.

So free parking is a tourist, in my opinion, is absolutely key.

While the rates aren't as high as they've seen in other cities, they understand why some residents aren't happy with the extra dollars flowing out of people's wallets.

I think it changes your paradigm of where you're going to go and what you're going to do, because even seeing a sign that says two hours strictly enforced, you're limited.

You really can't see much and you want to get out of there.

And you're always thinking, I got to get back to the car before I get a tow or a ticket.

As crews mark exits on sidewalks and move toward the next few stages of installation, residents are savoring their last week of free parking.

It would keep me from coming downtown, you know, like we just went to eat at the old tasty meal.

I asked over here.

No.

If I had to pay that kind of parking, I don't think we'd do it in Wichita.

Lily O'Brien.

Kake.

News on your side.

Here to discuss this and some of the week's other top news stories.

Wichita City Councilman Mike Hodges, Sedgwick County Commissioner Jeff Blue Ball, State Representative Sandy Pickard and Wichita Eagle opinion editor Diane Lefler.

Thank you all for joining us today.

Council member Hodges.

Well, I keep wanting to say, commissioner, but Mr. Hodges, the person says the person in the packet says she won't come if she has to pay that a dollar or $2.

That's what we're talking here.

It's.

It still seems pretty cheap.

No, it is cheap compared to other places.

Some people describe it as a user fee because.

Right now our property taxes are keeping that afloat.

Paying for the parking lots, paying for the streets.

I did vote against this.

It was one that I do feel like it would push people away from downtown.

We don't have the density yet where it's something like this is required or necessary, to free up parking.

So it is, interesting.

It's going to be a process.

We have had paid parking down there on a small amount earlier.

We took those meters out a couple of years ago.

So we'll have to see how this goes.

I know there's plans for doing a side in Old Town, so there would not be paid parking there at the city passes.

And we are not doing parking, paid parking in Delano right now either.

So, this is an ongoing process.

Again, I have a lot of concerns about it, but we, the council spoke, and this is, the plan going forward downtown.

Diane, let me move over to you.

You're from LA.

Tell me.

Tell me what you think.

I mean, Wichita seems to try to want to be a big city really hard, but doesn't want the big city.

Things that come with being a big city.

Well, the parking plan is a big city scam.

Okay?

I can, you know, give them that compliment because, I mean, first they told us that the parking fee was getting depleted.

The parking fund, I should say, was getting depleted.

But then when you went back and looked at the actual numbers during the pandemic, it lost a lot of money.

And every other year it made money.

So that was one that was one piece of it.

And then we found out the real bomb, which was that they had been under charging the businesses downtown for access to parking for 25 years based on a handshake deal that was never recorded anywhere in the in, in city records or anyplace else.

They just did it that way.

And if they hadn't done that, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Yeah.

And, you know, it just it is frustrating and and frankly, infuriating.

Commissioner blue ball.

Diane mentioned that parking has been paid by businesses, which the business association in Old Town has for the last ten years, or however long it's been, has always paid the city that price for parking.

What I'm getting at is someone has always paid for parking.

Downtown parking has never been free.

Someone's paying for it.

Parking to continue to be an issue.

When I first and I was in which all city council from 2013 to 2024, one of the first issues we did was rebuilding the two Macy's, parking garages between the or behind the old office state building.

Then we built a multi-modal facility in Delano, but now we continue to have parking problems.

I can tell you from my office in the rough and building, I look over there every day to a bunch of parking garages that are half full, and I think we really need to look at the utilization and how much parking we do need.

And then I do think it's going to run off, folks, if you have to pay it the meter.

I think the kid is something we should be looking at.

I just I don't want to run away business from downtown.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

And since you've been on the city council, either of you can answer this is I think there was a study done 4 or 5 years ago, maybe back when I was on the council, that showed at any given point, about 35% of all of the parking spaces in downtown Wichita are empty.

So that's not a very, of course, to the rules of supply and demand.

That's not a very good way of saying we need to pay for parking if it's sitting empty.

And I think we need to be honest with the public, what exactly do we need this money for?

Is it to rebuild the streets, or is it to build a parking garage for the old school?

We need to be very honest with folks and let them know.

I will say that my last vote on the City Council in 2024, I joined Council Member Hodges when we both voted against the parking.

Paid parking.

Sandy Pickard, what are your thoughts here?

I know this is a city topic, but as a state law, as a city topic, but I'm thinking, okay, should it be the users that are paying, for the parking or should it be?

It could default to, the property owners, you know, and property tax.

And that is an issue, on the, the state level, we're we're trying very hard to find ways to lower property tax.

And it's difficult because property tax comes from the city, the county schools, libraries, etc..

So it's something to think about.

Yeah.

All right.

Our next story.

Even with water levels back to near normal at Cheyney Reservoir, it still could be several months, maybe even longer before which items will be allowed to freely water their yards and gardens.

The city is basing its decision on a 12 month rolling average of the lake's levels.

That means it would likely be next spring at the earliest.

Meanwhile, some say Wichita may have to abandon altogether the idea of having lush green neighborhood and public spaces.

Council members are considering options like making outdoor water restrictions permanent, requiring drought resistant landscaping and exploring a water reuse program.

I'll start with the two former council members.

You know, we just because Cheyney Reservoir is back to full doesn't mean we should just be able to water or we we have to approach this very cautiously.

Absolutely.

And I think this is the opportunity for the redundant system to work when, whenever, you know, we went out there for for the sales tax that went down, we had to go back to the drawing board, come up with a different plan, and we decide to have a redundant system where we're finally putting the ESR of the wells up at Sedgwick back into place.

We're pumping the water back up in there, and then we end up with this very cyclic.

It was 10 or 12 years ago.

Whenever we were first running through the drought conditions, we run through them again.

Now, I'm hoping that once it's up and running, we have enough water in the system.

The time we get through the engineering issues, we can pump the water back up in the S.R.

Wells and hopefully we don't have to worry about water for 50 years.

Council Member Hodges, on what are your thoughts?

Well, first, I think we need to get through the summer.

Depending on how much rain we get in the Cheyney Reservoir, we could have at least two feet of water that disappear and evaporates over the summer months.

I'm for wanting to push full steam ahead on the water.

Use, 25 million gallons a day is what we put back into the the river.

That is half of what the city uses on a daily basis.

50 million gallons a day is what we use as a city.

I I'm somebody who believes that droughts are going to be more common, and harsher moving forward.

And I really want to push through with this program that's being done across the nation.

And, make sure that we set our city up for, just, just success in the future and not having to go from drought to drought and, emergency circumstance to emergency circumstance.

Yeah.

Diane, tell me your thoughts.

Well, as you pointed out earlier, I'm from L.A., and this isn't a drought, you know.

Yeah.

You know, we know drought.

Drought is when you're painting your grass green.

Yeah.

But, you know, Wichita, I just I don't understand it.

Everybody's got to have a fescue lawn.

Yeah, fescue sucks up water like a sponge.

And, you know, there are some really fine Bermuda lawns in this town that use a ton less water.

I mean, they play the US Open on Bermuda grass.

It's good grass.

But here it's like, oh, that's a weed.

And it's like, no, it's grass, you know.

But I don't know.

When I came here.

I didn't think that growing grass would be, you know, the biggest challenge because this whole state was covered with the stuff before any man ever saw it.

But it is Representative Picard.

The state does have a water, a drought task force.

I don't know if you're on that task force or not.

I'm on the the House Water Committee.

I've been on for three years, so, I think we need to be real careful.

We don't know when the next drought's coming.

It could be years, or it could be next year.

But, you know, being conservative about how we we water our grass and all that, I think is really, a lot of smaller towns in, in Kansas are reusing their water for their watering their golf courses and doing other things.

I think that's a great avenue to look at, because, we'd be one of the first in the nation for a city this size to reuse water.

And I would really encourage that.

And there's an argument also about, the tree canopy in in the city.

We've been we've been fighting a decaying tree canopy and creek canopy in the city of Wichita for 10 or 20 or more years.

And, you know, water restrictions aren't going to help that either.

Either of you want to chime in on that?

I, I am actually supportive of continuing to plant trees.

It takes less water to maintain trees and help trees grow than it does a lawn.

So, it's something that we can't afford to take our foot off the gas with it.

It has to do.

We had the NASA heat map come out and show especially impoverished areas of our city, and a lot of that is due to the lack of a tree canopy.

So, what we do now, especially with the tree canopy, will echo 20 years from now.

Here is a have either a to, seeing how many trees we lost in these, recent storms.

It's tough to get a final count on.

I've seen a lot uprooted and.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, we the last trees.

Yeah.

You know, we got to replace those.

And we're so far behind on dead tree removal as it is that we got to keep our foot again.

Keep our foot on the gas.

Sandy, did you have anything to say?

Yes.

Last year, a Kansas water plan was developed to look at 50 years, two generations, how we can have quality and quantity of water for two more generations.

So I think we need to have that kind of a mentality as we look at any kind of water, water issues.

How can we look out for the future, not just this year?

All right.

Survivors of child abuse at a Wichita church are now demanding action, not just from their church, but from state lawmakers.

East Minster Presbyterian revealing more than 20 children were sexually assaulted by a former youth director.

Survivors are now pushing for changes to state law.

Cake news reporter Sydney Ferguson has the latest.

Since East Minster Presbyterian Church accused a former youth director of abusing 23 children, a survivor of that abuse, Andy Warren, has wanted to hold the church accountable.

Our pain is built into the foundation of this place now.

So it's the responsibility of the people that are here to do it right.

Survivors and their supporters feel one way to do that is to demand the church support legislation that would make clergy mandatory.

Reporters in the state of Kansas.

Clergy at churches are not mandatory reporters, so if they know of child abuse happening, they do not have to report it.

Since 2019, lawmakers have introduced five different versions of legislation to correct this.

Four have died at some point in the legislative process.

Kids come to church to love Jesus and instead are molested.

That needs to be stopped.

Representative John Carmichael says another bill was introduced in 2025, and he doesn't know a Democrat against it.

But he says Republicans are dragging their feet.

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Susan Humphreys, let that bill lay on her desk until it died.

State Representative Susan Humphrey says it was her decision, but the legislative session was shortened and she felt the bill was introduced late on February 7th.

I wasn't willing to take it up in 2025 because of that.

But it didn't die.

I didn't let it die.

It is still very much alive.

Humphrey says she doesn't know why the bill failed in the past, but some of it may have had to do with other legislation.

Groups came together to figure out how we can change the statute of limitations.

And and so I think some people were busy doing that work and doing the clergy mandated reporting the same time just seemed to too much.

And some of it to do with wording that didn't protect the confessional in the Catholic Church.

Under this bill, information received by clergy in confession would not have to be reported.

Humphrey says it's likely the bill would be a nonstarter in Kansas without that protection.

If we want to take a step forward, we have to make sure that that is protected.

And I would agree personally, that's the right way to go about it.

Representative Pickard, I'll start with you.

Do you know much about this bill that, Representative Carmichael claims was allowed to die in committee?

Well, I'm not on the committee, so I, I didn't hear the discussion about it, but that was in 2023.

There was a bill that did pass which, raised the statute of limitations age for somebody to, make charges against somebody who potentially abused them to age 31.

So we haven't done any other laws since then.

As a Catholic, we have three Catholics at this table.

It's interesting, though, that we they're demanding that clergy be mandatory reporters.

But but how do you protect confession if a clergy member finds out something that's going on in confession that they're how do you protect them?

It's a tough question.

It is a tough question.

So if somebody goes to confession, that is protected because otherwise they, they're not likely to even go.

And the priest can, can, you know, confront them.

You know, you need to you need to turn yourself in.

You need to change your ways, you know?

And honestly, there's many more, child abuse, kind of situations in schools and other venues besides churches, churches.

Nowhere is acceptable.

I mean, it's a it's a a terrible thing to have happen.

Council member.

Hazel.

It's all about the kids.

That's the straight up the just what we need to look at here.

It's unacceptable.

My my religion dealt with it in a horrible way when it came up.

And, the bad thing about that is people were still allowed to continue and abuse children.

People that we knew were, were, were, predators.

So we got to protect the children as much as we can.

I respect the confessional.

I respect the sanctity of it.

I agree with, Representative Picard, as far as, priests kind of maneuvering in there, trying to make sure that, they do recant their ways, they do turn themselves in.

But at the same time, we every institution that deals with children on a personal level should be mandated first.

Mandated reporters like that.

Commissioner.

How.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

What?

A child should be protected in a school.

In a church, no matter where they're at.

They should have that same protection, no matter what, whenever it comes to reconciliation.

If someone is going to the confessional, they're asking for reconciliation.

Part of that reconciliation process has got to be coming forward with that.

And I hope the church is doing everything they can to encourage that.

Go ahead.

Okay.

So I've been a lifelong Catholic, and in the last ten years, the Catholic laity have really come forward and, demanded that we that they're not be any, priest abuse.

And it's it's really decreased a lot.

And right now Catholics have set the standard a gold standard of how to deal with environmental safety.

So, Diane, well, prior to United Methodist here.

Right.

But our I mean, our denomination, our, our conferences have, taken some very strong steps on this, on this front.

People cannot volunteer with children until and unless they pass background checks.

And then that that's, they have to take training so they don't inadvertently do something wrong.

And, I feel like I'm not sure that making clergy per se mandatory reporting is going to be all that much help, because, you know, I mean, these things are not going to come up.

These things are not going to come from the clergy.

They're going to come from, you know, parents.

They're going to come from, Sunday school teachers.

They're going to come from people who are working more closely with the children.

So the victims themselves eventually.

Yeah, yeah.

But there are times when the clergy does know what's going.

Oh, yeah.

And there has to be a recourse for those who choose to be silent.

But I think they're probably they're probably up the chain of who finds out when.

And also the Catholic Church has taken similar steps.

If you want to teach any kind of religion or catechism or anything, you have to go through the background checks.

You've got to go through training.

They're they're trying to put some options in there that need to be exercised to make sure that we keep those children as safe as possible.

But Wichita's ethics board will revisit its findings against mayor Lily Wu.

It is the latest development in this ongoing story of the mayor being found in violation of city policy, for not signing and reading a Transgender Day of Visibility proclamation back in March.

The mayor and another complainant are appealing the decision before the Tuesday deadline.

The ethics board will reconsider the case at its July 10th meeting.

That's where a final ruling could be issued.

One appeal is alleging that discrimination and bias in the board's report.

Mayor Wu confirmed her appeal but will not comment any further.

Council member ho.

Hi.

So this has been an.

This has been a tough issue.

This this doesn't seem to want to go away.

Unfortunately, this happened back in March and we're still talking about this.

Yeah I mean the ethics board is there to keep elected officials in line.

It's an appropriate avenue for people to bring up, their concerns and their thoughts as far as people violating any ethics.

I'm going to leave the politics of this alone for now.

But, you know, it's a tough job, and a lot of times that it is unclear as far as what our duties are and whatnot.

And, so I would chalk it up as a learning experience, and I would hope that we can finally move on from this at some point, because there are more important things that we do have to focus on as far as our city goes.

And but it's very hard to leave the politics out of it, though this is a very politicized argument.

Commissioner.

So so, Jerry, I believe you were on the council with me whenever the ethics policy and, you know, some of the concerns that you and I both had early on, was this going to be used, something as a political tool?

Was it going or was it really going to try to find ethical issues, or was it going to be utilized for political manipulation and political gains and weaponization and you look back now, how many staff dollars if we put in this, how much time have we put into this?

How much is this has been consumed by the media?

When, when realistically, we have ethical controls every four years and the public knows what's going on.

And, if they do not believe that that person is the one that should be in that seat, they vote them out.

And we watched it happened.

Diane, you've written a couple of articles about this.

Yeah.

You know, I you know, from the start, I have not believed that this policy that we have that says the mayor has to sign these proclamations and, you know, and then their name has to be attached to it.

I don't even think that's constitutional in the first place.

I think it's a violation of of the mayor's First Amendment rights.

And the this whole thing is such a mess.

I mean, nothing says ethics like a great secret meeting.

You know, these these, they go in, they go behind closed doors.

You know, they put out a report that somebody testified to something.

And, you know, we don't know what's going on.

You know, and it's just, I don't know, this whole thing is just a farce as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah.

Representative Pickard, have any thoughts on this one?

You know, I was in Topeka when this happened, and I've not followed it very closely, so I really don't have any opinion.

I understand we'll leave it at that at this table.

Yeah.

Our last story today, the 4th of July.

Next week, fireworks will be lighting up.

Kansas fire officials are urging safety in Wichita.

Non aerial fireworks are allowed through July 5th with aerials permitted July 3rd, two fifth from 10 a.m. to midnight.

On those days, fire captain Josh Roberts warning improper disposal and windy conditions can spark a fire.

Residents are urged to smoke their used fireworks, wear safe clothing and report illegal use to the nonemergency line.

That non-emergency line, not 911.

With just a couple of minutes left here, it's this is tough.

We've been talking about fireworks.

It's a controversial issue.

Commissioner, the rules did change this year.

They're a little different.

Yeah.

You know, it's fun time.

I'm glad I'm on the county commission, not the city council, because during the whole lot of times, it's it's, you know, a lot of concerns with people with PTSD, their animals, a lot of people upset.

And most of those are city issues.

And and I'm sure you feel it all the way through the holiday and hopefully we're taking a step in the right direction.

But it's still a big issue on both sides.

People want their freedom to do fireworks.

Peop other people do not want to be disturbed.

They've got PTSD, they're animals.

So it's it's always going to be a pretty, pretty difficult situation.

Council member I think you had a decision in this recent change to the rules.

Yes, sir.

Well, we got to deal with, what we actually have on the ground.

We have to deal with the problems that arise.

Anybody who stood on the front lawn over the last 25 years in the city of Wichita can't see that enforcement and banning aerial fireworks is simply not working.

Yeah.

So we did allow for three days, shooting of aerials.

We increased the fines to $1,000 for the first time.

You get caught 15 for the second, 2000 for the third.

We want to try and keep it, give people their time that they can shoot it, and try to be respectful.

Recently, the state did legalize a year round firework sales.

We did ban that in the city.

We do have concerns about that.

Frankly, we won't be able to keep fireworks out of the city unless there is a statewide ban.

Right.

It it always seems like, you know, no matter what city, whether it's Wichita or Garden City, we're kind of at the mercy of what the state law says or what other states around us say.

You know, we're an hour to Oklahoma, so no matter what, people are going to bring them in from another state anyway.

Diane, any thoughts with about 40s?

Yeah.

You know, the, the other day I went to the mayor's, weekly press briefing, and they they had a guy from the fire department up there, and he's like, first fireworks season starts on Friday.

And I'm like, dude, in my neighborhood.

Is it already here?

Right?

Yeah.

You know, I mean, I'm sitting there at night and it's like, boom, boom, boom.

Yeah.

It's like, well, all right, we'll leave it at that.

That's a wrap for this week.

Thank you so much to my co-host Hazel, Jeff Blue, boss Sandy Pickard and Diane Leffler for being with us today.

I'm Jaron Cirillo.

Next week at this time, we'll be preempted by the PBS Capitol fourth special.

I'm Gerald Cirillo.