Sedgwick County commissioners deadlocked on Visioneering funding
With a tie vote, Sedgwick County commissioners were unable to provide continued funding for the Visioneering Wichita program of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Commissioners heard a presentation Wednesday from Visioneering co-chairs Wayne Chambers and Summer Keplar about the efforts of Visioneering, the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation and Young Professionals of Wichita to identify three major priorities for the next three years.
The Priority Project will work to diversify the local economy, increase the number of people in the region who advance their education after high school and develop more downtown Wichita activities and events.
Commissioners Karl Peterjohn and Richard Ranzau said they felt Visioneering may be duplicating efforts of other programs. They also pointed to budget cuts made by the county for next year in other programs.
They proposed denying the $40,000 in funding for Visioneering and diverting the money to the Sedgwick County Zoo and the Wichita River Festival, which were cut in the 2013 budget. Their motion failed on a 2-2 vote. A motion to approve the Visioneering funding also had a 2-2 tie. Commissioner Jim Skelton was unable to attend the meeting.
Commissioners will have more discussions on Visioneering funding at a later time. The issue is expected to come back to a future meeting for a vote.
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