Wichita city council members have voted to approve a resolution condemning the behavior of three elected officials with regard to a false attack ad during last fall’s mayoral campaign.

Council member James Clendenin has been named in a lawsuit along with Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell and State Representative Michael Capps over an ad that targeted Mayor Brandon Whipple during his campaign for the mayor’s office.   Recent audio recordings have recently been released of a conversation with the three men discussing who to blame for the ad.   Whipple has filed a lawsuit over the ad, and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett announced Monday that his office is now investigating the matter.

The mayor excused himself from a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, and did not take part in the discussion.   Vice Mayor Cindy Claycomb read a resolution condemning the behavior of the three officials, and supporting the district attorney’s investigation.  The resolution stops short of calling for resignations, but it “demands that council member James Clendenin consider the will of his constituents in the city of Wichita’s Third Council District, as he makes decisions about the future of his term as a city council member.”

The District Advisory Board for District 3 has scheduled a special meeting for 6:30 Wednesday evening to consider the allegations against Clendenin.

The vote for the resolution was 5-0.  Clendenin abstained, but said he would fully cooperate with the investigation.

Council member Jeff Blubaugh said council members need to work together to come up with “some kind of clean campaign contract” and he said “We need to focus our campaigns on what we do right for the community instead of spending months and months trying to dig up dirt on people or fabricating things.  I think we’ve got to turn this around.  We don’t want Wichita known for this.”

Kansas 4th District Congressman Ron Estes, in a statement on social media, has called for Clendenin, O’Donnell and Capps to resign.   The Sedgwick County Republican Party and the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce have also called for the three to step down.   Sedgwick County commissioners have said they are looking at options for addressing the matter.