2013 Wichita City Council Race
Joshua Blick Eagle Endorsements for Wichita City Council
City Council
District 4
Joshua Blick is the best pick in this southwest Wichita district because of his extensive community involvement and knowledge of city issues. Blick lost a run for this seat two years ago to Michael O’Donnell, who left for the Legislature in December. Blick has served as a neighborhood association president for the past six years, as a district advisory board member for eight years and as a member of the board of zoning appeals. He wants to help promote the district as being “open for business.” His priorities include flood control, unpaved streets and other infrastructure issues. He is someone who works to make things happen. Past financial issues and speeding tickets, though a concern, should not affect his ability to be effective on the council.
His opponent, Jeff Blubaugh, is a real-estate broker and investor who serves on the Goddard school board and who ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature last year. His top priorities are job creation, economic development and district infrastructure needs.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/03/24/2730114/eagle-endorsements-for-wichita.html#storylink=cpy
District 4
Joshua Blick is the best pick in this southwest Wichita district because of his extensive community involvement and knowledge of city issues. Blick lost a run for this seat two years ago to Michael O’Donnell, who left for the Legislature in December. Blick has served as a neighborhood association president for the past six years, as a district advisory board member for eight years and as a member of the board of zoning appeals. He wants to help promote the district as being “open for business.” His priorities include flood control, unpaved streets and other infrastructure issues. He is someone who works to make things happen. Past financial issues and speeding tickets, though a concern, should not affect his ability to be effective on the council.
His opponent, Jeff Blubaugh, is a real-estate broker and investor who serves on the Goddard school board and who ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature last year. His top priorities are job creation, economic development and district infrastructure needs.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/03/24/2730114/eagle-endorsements-for-wichita.html#storylink=cpy
Pachyderm Club hears messages of inclusion, spending priorities from City Council candidates
The Wichita Pachyderm Club had planned to hear from all Wichita City Council candidates Friday during its weekly luncheon at the Petroleum Club downtown.
Instead, they got a look at the District 4 race because incumbents Lavonta Williams in District 1, James Clendenin in District 3 and Janet Miller in District 6 did not attend the luncheon. Their respective opponents – Dave Thomas, Clinton Coen and Marty Mork – attended.
District 4 candidates Joshua Blick and Jeff Blubaugh were mostly genial days after Blubaugh launched a public attack on Blick’s past financial problems.
Blick referenced the attack once but largely stayed with his campaign themes.
“We have to make sure the people’s voices are being heard,” he said.
Blubaugh also referenced those voices, saying constituents are frustrated with their lack of influence at City Hall.
“They feel like they’re at the end of their rope,” he said, “and that the city of Wichita doesn’t care.”
Blubaugh said they want their tax dollars spent on infrastructure, like street repairs, and less on downtown revitalization.
Thomas said he supports a major restructuring of city expenditures, limited to “safety and infrastructure.”
“Everything else is secondary,” he said.
Thomas also criticized the council’s plans for a new central library downtown – dismissing it as a “$45 million homeless shelter” – despite the city’s move last year to trim the project by $15 million.
Coen described himself as a fiscal conservative and criticized the city’s spending habits.
“There’s no responsibility for city money,” he said. “In south Wichita, the city streets are crumbling, but we have a nice hotel downtown that’s mostly vacant. The city has lost its focus.”
Mork advocated drastic tax cuts, including the suggestion that private residences should be exempt from taxation. He described himself as a strong advocate of gun rights.
“Every home in America should be armed,” he said.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/03/22/2728440/pachyderm-club-hears-messages.html#storylink=cpy
Instead, they got a look at the District 4 race because incumbents Lavonta Williams in District 1, James Clendenin in District 3 and Janet Miller in District 6 did not attend the luncheon. Their respective opponents – Dave Thomas, Clinton Coen and Marty Mork – attended.
District 4 candidates Joshua Blick and Jeff Blubaugh were mostly genial days after Blubaugh launched a public attack on Blick’s past financial problems.
Blick referenced the attack once but largely stayed with his campaign themes.
“We have to make sure the people’s voices are being heard,” he said.
Blubaugh also referenced those voices, saying constituents are frustrated with their lack of influence at City Hall.
“They feel like they’re at the end of their rope,” he said, “and that the city of Wichita doesn’t care.”
Blubaugh said they want their tax dollars spent on infrastructure, like street repairs, and less on downtown revitalization.
Thomas said he supports a major restructuring of city expenditures, limited to “safety and infrastructure.”
“Everything else is secondary,” he said.
Thomas also criticized the council’s plans for a new central library downtown – dismissing it as a “$45 million homeless shelter” – despite the city’s move last year to trim the project by $15 million.
Coen described himself as a fiscal conservative and criticized the city’s spending habits.
“There’s no responsibility for city money,” he said. “In south Wichita, the city streets are crumbling, but we have a nice hotel downtown that’s mostly vacant. The city has lost its focus.”
Mork advocated drastic tax cuts, including the suggestion that private residences should be exempt from taxation. He described himself as a strong advocate of gun rights.
“Every home in America should be armed,” he said.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/03/22/2728440/pachyderm-club-hears-messages.html#storylink=cpy
Unity between District 4 candidates Blick and Blubaugh evaporates
Joshua Blick and Jeff Blubaugh spent much of the primary election season linked arm-in-arm publicly, unified against opponent Craig Gabel in the race for the District 4 seat on the Wichita City Council.
Blick finished first in the primary with 40 percent of the vote, followed by Blubaugh with 29 percent, Gabel with 24 percent and David Glover with 5 percent.
But primary election unity evaporated quickly. During a joint interview with The Eagle recently, Blubaugh went on the offensive moments after Blick touted the pair’s friendship.
Blubaugh noted his success as a real estate broker and accused Blick of being thrown to the ground by Wichita police as he was evicted from his foreclosed home — an allegation Blick denied.
“I’ve tried not to be negative at all, but I know you were evicted from your house. The neighbors have told me four police officers threw you on the ground,” Blubaugh said to Blick. “The reason I’m bringing that up is you’ve mentioned that you had foreclosure in the past and had trouble with jobs, and I think something the voters need to know is that how you’re going to serve the people. Are you going to handle public finances better than your own?”
“Actually, I’ve never had a foreclosure,” Blick shot back. “When I lost my job in 2010 before I ran against Michael O’Donnell (for the District 4 council seat, a race Blick lost), we were late on one of our payments. We did a loan modification on our payments and we’re up to date for the last two years. Just like any citizen who’s went through a job loss in the city of Wichita, they have to look at ways to make means for their family. If it’s cutting back for your family and not going to the movie theater or whatever, you look for ways to cut back on your financial.
“I’m not a big real estate developer or real estate agent who’s made $8 million. I live in a $50,000 house. I live in a section of Wichita that we don’t have all the extra luxuries in life, but we make ends meet and that’s what it takes for the city of Wichita.”
Blick, who runs a Wichita business linking young people with technology, offered to let Blubaugh look at his personal checkbook, then fired back again.
“To be able to put somebody down because they don’t make as much money as you make, I think is wrong, and we need to start focusing on the needs of the people,” he said.
Both men have had actions against them in Sedgwick County District Court.
Court records show a home foreclosure action was filed against Blick and his wife, Candace, on Oct. 8, 2010, by U.S. Bank National Association. A foreclosure sale was ordered on Jan. 8, 2011, and ultimately canceled on April 27 that year, an action typically following a loan modification in a foreclosure sale. There’s no evidence in court documents of any eviction notice.
Blubaugh was the focus in July 2003 of a paternity suit that found him the father of a male child. He was ordered to pay $581 a month in child support and was given joint custody with visitation rights, arrangements that continue, he said.
Blubaugh acknowledged the paternity of the child when questioned by The Eagle. “What does this have to do with me running for office?” he asked.
Blubaugh said he’s been involved in the boy’s life since his birth. He said he was single when the child was born. He married his wife, Meghan, in 2006.
“I signed the birth certificate,” he said. “I’ve been there for his entire life. I’ve never not acknowledged he was my son.”
He said a paternity suit was filed because the mother “wanted child support. My income is greater than hers.”
Blick finished first in the primary with 40 percent of the vote, followed by Blubaugh with 29 percent, Gabel with 24 percent and David Glover with 5 percent.
But primary election unity evaporated quickly. During a joint interview with The Eagle recently, Blubaugh went on the offensive moments after Blick touted the pair’s friendship.
Blubaugh noted his success as a real estate broker and accused Blick of being thrown to the ground by Wichita police as he was evicted from his foreclosed home — an allegation Blick denied.
“I’ve tried not to be negative at all, but I know you were evicted from your house. The neighbors have told me four police officers threw you on the ground,” Blubaugh said to Blick. “The reason I’m bringing that up is you’ve mentioned that you had foreclosure in the past and had trouble with jobs, and I think something the voters need to know is that how you’re going to serve the people. Are you going to handle public finances better than your own?”
“Actually, I’ve never had a foreclosure,” Blick shot back. “When I lost my job in 2010 before I ran against Michael O’Donnell (for the District 4 council seat, a race Blick lost), we were late on one of our payments. We did a loan modification on our payments and we’re up to date for the last two years. Just like any citizen who’s went through a job loss in the city of Wichita, they have to look at ways to make means for their family. If it’s cutting back for your family and not going to the movie theater or whatever, you look for ways to cut back on your financial.
“I’m not a big real estate developer or real estate agent who’s made $8 million. I live in a $50,000 house. I live in a section of Wichita that we don’t have all the extra luxuries in life, but we make ends meet and that’s what it takes for the city of Wichita.”
Blick, who runs a Wichita business linking young people with technology, offered to let Blubaugh look at his personal checkbook, then fired back again.
“To be able to put somebody down because they don’t make as much money as you make, I think is wrong, and we need to start focusing on the needs of the people,” he said.
Both men have had actions against them in Sedgwick County District Court.
Court records show a home foreclosure action was filed against Blick and his wife, Candace, on Oct. 8, 2010, by U.S. Bank National Association. A foreclosure sale was ordered on Jan. 8, 2011, and ultimately canceled on April 27 that year, an action typically following a loan modification in a foreclosure sale. There’s no evidence in court documents of any eviction notice.
Blubaugh was the focus in July 2003 of a paternity suit that found him the father of a male child. He was ordered to pay $581 a month in child support and was given joint custody with visitation rights, arrangements that continue, he said.
Blubaugh acknowledged the paternity of the child when questioned by The Eagle. “What does this have to do with me running for office?” he asked.
Blubaugh said he’s been involved in the boy’s life since his birth. He said he was single when the child was born. He married his wife, Meghan, in 2006.
“I signed the birth certificate,” he said. “I’ve been there for his entire life. I’ve never not acknowledged he was my son.”
He said a paternity suit was filed because the mother “wanted child support. My income is greater than hers.”
District 4 candidates focusing on water usage as top priority
Water – too much and not enough – is the centerpiece issue for two men vying for the District 4 spot on the Wichita City Council.
Joshua Blick, 35, who owns LANKansas, a business connecting youths with technology, and Jeff Blubaugh, 40, a real estate broker and investor, agree that Wichita needs new water sources – without piling another significant water rate increase onto taxpayers. City officials learned late last month that Cheney Reservoir, source of 60 percent of the city’s water, will be out of water by August 2015 if the drought doesn’t break.
Blick and Blubaugh are vying for the remaining two years of former council member Michael O’Donnell’s term, representing much of south and southwest Wichita. O’Donnell was elected to the state Senate in November.
One water option the council is considering is raising rates between 50 and 113 percent for some of the city’s biggest users, such as gardeners, those watering lawns and private pool owners.
“That’s one of the major complaints, and they’ll shake their water bill in my face when I’m out there door-knocking,” Blubaugh said.
The time for voluntary water restrictions has passed, he said.
“Get a conservation practice out there right now in front of the people,” Blubaugh said. “If this drought continues, there’s no question in my mind we need to pump water in from El Dorado Lake” and put it into the Equus Beds, an underground source of water north of Wichita.
Blick said City Hall must look inward and impose water conservation on itself before it can credibly ask residents to conserve.
“We have to have a game plan,” he said. “We have some in place, but we weren’t expecting a major drought for two years.”
He stood behind the city’s ongoing search for water sources and said the city should look at the use of gray water – wastewater from household uses, like showers, sinks, washers and tubs – for lower-priority uses such as golf course irrigation.
Both men said they are open to the city’s efforts to improve and draw more water from the Equus Beds.
But both also said the district’s constituents can’t absorb any further water rate increases.
For Blick, too much water – flooding along Meridian, in Auburn Hills and in the Dell – also is a District 4 issue that the city must focus on.
Blubaugh, a Goddard School Board member with a background in aviation, real estate and management, said jobs and the economy are other crucial issues before District 4. He touts diversifying the economy beyond aviation as a key to growing Wichita.
Blubaugh doesn’t oppose public-private partnerships, saying each request for city business incentives should be viewed on its own merits. But he emphasizes other business recruitment resources, such as the city’s partnership with the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition.
“The citizens feel like the city has left them behind,” he said. “They’ve lived in that neighborhood for 40 years, and now there’s crime moving in. Every neighbor can point out every foreclosure in that neighborhood. Their water bills are going up. They think the gangs are moving in. They can tell me the drug dealers on the street. Especially in the south Wichita area, it’s just humbling to hear what these people are going through, and they want to make sure they have a voice and people can save their neighborhoods.”
Blick, a longtime community activist and District 4 advisory board member, said his constituents feel neglected by the city.
He thinks the new District 4 council member must be an advocate for the best business conditions possible to recruit new businesses while also championing a well-trained workforce.
“From council members prior, it’s been kind of a stepping stone,” he said. “Or it’s been kind of neglected as in there hasn’t been the passion for someone invested in the community to go after the needs of the citizens.”
The people in District 4 want jobs and street improvements, Blick said.
“It’s all about pulling them together and letting their voices be heard,” he said.
Reach Bill Wilson at 316-268-6290 or [email protected].
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/03/21/2726940/district-4-candidates-focusing.html#storylink=cpy
Joshua Blick, 35, who owns LANKansas, a business connecting youths with technology, and Jeff Blubaugh, 40, a real estate broker and investor, agree that Wichita needs new water sources – without piling another significant water rate increase onto taxpayers. City officials learned late last month that Cheney Reservoir, source of 60 percent of the city’s water, will be out of water by August 2015 if the drought doesn’t break.
Blick and Blubaugh are vying for the remaining two years of former council member Michael O’Donnell’s term, representing much of south and southwest Wichita. O’Donnell was elected to the state Senate in November.
One water option the council is considering is raising rates between 50 and 113 percent for some of the city’s biggest users, such as gardeners, those watering lawns and private pool owners.
“That’s one of the major complaints, and they’ll shake their water bill in my face when I’m out there door-knocking,” Blubaugh said.
The time for voluntary water restrictions has passed, he said.
“Get a conservation practice out there right now in front of the people,” Blubaugh said. “If this drought continues, there’s no question in my mind we need to pump water in from El Dorado Lake” and put it into the Equus Beds, an underground source of water north of Wichita.
Blick said City Hall must look inward and impose water conservation on itself before it can credibly ask residents to conserve.
“We have to have a game plan,” he said. “We have some in place, but we weren’t expecting a major drought for two years.”
He stood behind the city’s ongoing search for water sources and said the city should look at the use of gray water – wastewater from household uses, like showers, sinks, washers and tubs – for lower-priority uses such as golf course irrigation.
Both men said they are open to the city’s efforts to improve and draw more water from the Equus Beds.
But both also said the district’s constituents can’t absorb any further water rate increases.
For Blick, too much water – flooding along Meridian, in Auburn Hills and in the Dell – also is a District 4 issue that the city must focus on.
Blubaugh, a Goddard School Board member with a background in aviation, real estate and management, said jobs and the economy are other crucial issues before District 4. He touts diversifying the economy beyond aviation as a key to growing Wichita.
Blubaugh doesn’t oppose public-private partnerships, saying each request for city business incentives should be viewed on its own merits. But he emphasizes other business recruitment resources, such as the city’s partnership with the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition.
“The citizens feel like the city has left them behind,” he said. “They’ve lived in that neighborhood for 40 years, and now there’s crime moving in. Every neighbor can point out every foreclosure in that neighborhood. Their water bills are going up. They think the gangs are moving in. They can tell me the drug dealers on the street. Especially in the south Wichita area, it’s just humbling to hear what these people are going through, and they want to make sure they have a voice and people can save their neighborhoods.”
Blick, a longtime community activist and District 4 advisory board member, said his constituents feel neglected by the city.
He thinks the new District 4 council member must be an advocate for the best business conditions possible to recruit new businesses while also championing a well-trained workforce.
“From council members prior, it’s been kind of a stepping stone,” he said. “Or it’s been kind of neglected as in there hasn’t been the passion for someone invested in the community to go after the needs of the citizens.”
The people in District 4 want jobs and street improvements, Blick said.
“It’s all about pulling them together and letting their voices be heard,” he said.
Reach Bill Wilson at 316-268-6290 or [email protected].
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/03/21/2726940/district-4-candidates-focusing.html#storylink=cpy
City Council candidate Craig Gabel’s campaign finances under review
Restaurateur Craig Gabel’s finance statement for his failed Wichita City Council bid is under review by city legal officials.
And Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Wednesday he’s sorting through at least two other complaints about Gabel’s attempt to win the District 4 Wichita City Council seat.
Wichita City Attorney Gary Rebenstorf said Wednesday that he’s reviewing Gabel’s finance statement after a complaint was filed by Joshua Blick, the candidate who finished first in Tuesday’s District 4 primary. Gabel finished third, behind real estate agent Jeff Blubaugh. Blick and Blubaugh advance to the April 2 general election.
Blick said he filed the complaint to question Gabel’s campaign finance filing, which lists only a $45 in-kind contribution to his campaign and no direct campaign expenditures.
“I don’t know how that could be,” Blick said earlier this week. “He’s publishing that newspaper (the Wichita Post) that’s essentially a campaign advertisement, and he’s got several thousand door cards going around.”
Rebenstorf agreed.
“It certainly appears like he spent more than $45,” the city attorney said Wednesday.
The city attorney’s office routinely reviews all campaign finance reports in local races, Rebenstorf said, so Gabel’s report would have received a routine review anyway.
Bennett said he continues to investigate a restaurant coupon Gabel offered on the back of a palm card he circulated to at least 1,000 doors in the district after Blick filed a complaint alleging Gabel was trying to buy votes.
Two weeks ago in an interview with The Eagle, Gabel dismissed the coupon as advertising his restaurant bought from his City Council campaign. But he later said he would stop handing out the coupons.
Bennett said he also is examining allegations that Gabel’s staff offered supporters rides to the polls.
“And there are a couple more coming,” the district attorney said. “We will have decisions as soon as the investigations are complete.”
Gabel, who runs Mike’s Steakhouse in south Wichita, did not return calls seeking comment for this story.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/02/27/2694771/city-council-candidate-craig-gabels.html#storylink=cpy
And Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Wednesday he’s sorting through at least two other complaints about Gabel’s attempt to win the District 4 Wichita City Council seat.
Wichita City Attorney Gary Rebenstorf said Wednesday that he’s reviewing Gabel’s finance statement after a complaint was filed by Joshua Blick, the candidate who finished first in Tuesday’s District 4 primary. Gabel finished third, behind real estate agent Jeff Blubaugh. Blick and Blubaugh advance to the April 2 general election.
Blick said he filed the complaint to question Gabel’s campaign finance filing, which lists only a $45 in-kind contribution to his campaign and no direct campaign expenditures.
“I don’t know how that could be,” Blick said earlier this week. “He’s publishing that newspaper (the Wichita Post) that’s essentially a campaign advertisement, and he’s got several thousand door cards going around.”
Rebenstorf agreed.
“It certainly appears like he spent more than $45,” the city attorney said Wednesday.
The city attorney’s office routinely reviews all campaign finance reports in local races, Rebenstorf said, so Gabel’s report would have received a routine review anyway.
Bennett said he continues to investigate a restaurant coupon Gabel offered on the back of a palm card he circulated to at least 1,000 doors in the district after Blick filed a complaint alleging Gabel was trying to buy votes.
Two weeks ago in an interview with The Eagle, Gabel dismissed the coupon as advertising his restaurant bought from his City Council campaign. But he later said he would stop handing out the coupons.
Bennett said he also is examining allegations that Gabel’s staff offered supporters rides to the polls.
“And there are a couple more coming,” the district attorney said. “We will have decisions as soon as the investigations are complete.”
Gabel, who runs Mike’s Steakhouse in south Wichita, did not return calls seeking comment for this story.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/02/27/2694771/city-council-candidate-craig-gabels.html#storylink=cpy
Blick, Blubaugh advance in District 4 race for Wichita City Council
A couple of hours after reporting being threatened by a sign-stealing man wielding a two-by-four, community activist Joshua Blick got the most votes in the primary election for Wichita City Council District 4.
Tuesday night’s election returns set up a general-election matchup between Blick and Goddard school board member Jeff Blubaugh for the open seat.
Blick led the field with 41 percent, while Blubaugh polled 29 percent after the Sedgwick County Election Office reported all precincts had been counted. Restaurateur Craig Gabel and Wal-Mart clerk David Glover trailed with 23 and 5 percent, respectively.
In District 6, incumbent Janet Miller outpolled Marty Mork 79 percent to 10 percent; Richard Stephenson finished third with 9 percent.
Ditto for District 3, where incumbent James Clendenin buried his closest rival, activist Clinton Coen, 73 percent to 13 percent. Mary Dean finished third with 12 percent.
The top two candidates in each race advance to the general election April 2. Turnout was a dismal 4.69 percent, suppressed by a series of snowstorms that kept people away from advance voting sites and icy streets that lingered into the morning on Election Day.
About 30 provisional ballots countywide are still to be certified and could be counted.
With Coen besting Dean by 13 votes and Mork ahead of Stephenson by 15, it appears unlikely there are enough to change the results.
It was an eventful day for Blick that included swearing out a police report against a man he said was tearing up his signs and threatened him.
Blick said he was at the Dollar Tree store at Seneca and Pawnee with his 14-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, buying supplies for his election-night party, when they spotted a man pulling up his signs. Blick said he started taking video of the man and then confronted him, asking what he was doing.
He said the man picked up a tree branch and a two-by-four and threatened him. He said an onlooker called police, who took a report about the incident.
Blick said the assailant said he had been directed by his boss to take down Blick’s signs and leave Gabel’s alone.
Gabel said he didn’t know anything about Tuesday’s incident. However, he said, he had personally removed about 20 of Blick’s signs that were posted without permission on Gabel-owned properties in south Wichita.
Blick credited his strong showing to “a lot of hard work and effort” and said he knocked on 3,500 to 3,600 doors.
Blubaugh said he’s looking forward to the runoff.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to go forward to the general election,” he said. He added his top priority is to bring jobs and industry to the city and he plans to spend the next 30 days knocking on as many doors as he can.
Both Blubaugh and Blick predicted a clean campaign going forward.
The District 4 race was the most hard fought of the election, pitting four candidates against each other for the seat vacated when Michael O’Donnell left office after winning a seat in the state Senate in November.
The campaign got heated when Blick filed an ethics complaint against Gabel accusing him of violating election law by packaging a coupon for his restaurant, Mike’s Steak House, with his campaign materials.
Gabel, president of the local tea party group Kansans for Liberty, did not admit to any wrongdoing but did agree to stop handing out the coupons for a discount chicken-fried steak meal.
Over the past weekend, Glover accused Gabel of retaliating against Blick by distributing a flier, ostensibly from Glover, attacking Blick.
“He was attacking Josh using my likeness,” Glover said. “It’s like he pretended to be me.”
On his campaign Facebook page, Glover wrote to his supporters: “Somehow Mr. Gabel thinks such sleezy tactics will allow him to win. ... that’s the way he campaigns, he thinks I’m the weak link and wants to take out Josh because the paper endorsed him and it’s some sort of payback because Josh filed an ethics complaint over the coupons on his (campaign) lit thing.”
Gabel denied responsibility for the attack fliers, although he conceded that they may have been handed out by some of the same people who distributed his campaign literature.
He said the people who handed out his materials were volunteers and he was just grateful they distributed his materials.
“If they do something else, that’s their business,” he said.
Gabel said he wasn’t disappointed by the outcome because he won’t have to divert time from his family and business interests to do council work.
“I win no matter what,” he said. “The city lost today. Not me.”
Blubaugh largely avoided controversy in the election.
He and his brother Jamey, who jointly run the Blues Brothers real estate firm with another brother, Jason, both ran unsuccessfully for seats in the Legislature last year.
The other two districts up for election featured incumbents against less prominent challengers.
Clendenin had to face a re-election vote in District 3 only two years after taking office.
He got on the council in 2011 by winning in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Jim Skelton, who left the City Council when he was elected to the Sedgwick County Commission.
Clendenin was challenged by Coen, a frequent critic of the council who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2011, and Dean, who has been active in the controversy over police shootings.
In District 6, incumbent Miller was challenged by Mork, an anti-tax candidate endorsed by the conservative group Kansas Republican Assembly, and Stephenson, also a critic of police shootings and a member of the activist group Occupy Wichita.
Mork ran for mayor in 2003 and 2011 and for U.S. Congress in 2004 and 2006. Tuesday was the first time he’s advanced from a primary to the general election.
Reach Dion Lefler at 316-268-6527.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/02/26/2693073/blick-leads-district-4-race-for.html#storylink=cpy
Tuesday night’s election returns set up a general-election matchup between Blick and Goddard school board member Jeff Blubaugh for the open seat.
Blick led the field with 41 percent, while Blubaugh polled 29 percent after the Sedgwick County Election Office reported all precincts had been counted. Restaurateur Craig Gabel and Wal-Mart clerk David Glover trailed with 23 and 5 percent, respectively.
In District 6, incumbent Janet Miller outpolled Marty Mork 79 percent to 10 percent; Richard Stephenson finished third with 9 percent.
Ditto for District 3, where incumbent James Clendenin buried his closest rival, activist Clinton Coen, 73 percent to 13 percent. Mary Dean finished third with 12 percent.
The top two candidates in each race advance to the general election April 2. Turnout was a dismal 4.69 percent, suppressed by a series of snowstorms that kept people away from advance voting sites and icy streets that lingered into the morning on Election Day.
About 30 provisional ballots countywide are still to be certified and could be counted.
With Coen besting Dean by 13 votes and Mork ahead of Stephenson by 15, it appears unlikely there are enough to change the results.
It was an eventful day for Blick that included swearing out a police report against a man he said was tearing up his signs and threatened him.
Blick said he was at the Dollar Tree store at Seneca and Pawnee with his 14-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, buying supplies for his election-night party, when they spotted a man pulling up his signs. Blick said he started taking video of the man and then confronted him, asking what he was doing.
He said the man picked up a tree branch and a two-by-four and threatened him. He said an onlooker called police, who took a report about the incident.
Blick said the assailant said he had been directed by his boss to take down Blick’s signs and leave Gabel’s alone.
Gabel said he didn’t know anything about Tuesday’s incident. However, he said, he had personally removed about 20 of Blick’s signs that were posted without permission on Gabel-owned properties in south Wichita.
Blick credited his strong showing to “a lot of hard work and effort” and said he knocked on 3,500 to 3,600 doors.
Blubaugh said he’s looking forward to the runoff.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to go forward to the general election,” he said. He added his top priority is to bring jobs and industry to the city and he plans to spend the next 30 days knocking on as many doors as he can.
Both Blubaugh and Blick predicted a clean campaign going forward.
The District 4 race was the most hard fought of the election, pitting four candidates against each other for the seat vacated when Michael O’Donnell left office after winning a seat in the state Senate in November.
The campaign got heated when Blick filed an ethics complaint against Gabel accusing him of violating election law by packaging a coupon for his restaurant, Mike’s Steak House, with his campaign materials.
Gabel, president of the local tea party group Kansans for Liberty, did not admit to any wrongdoing but did agree to stop handing out the coupons for a discount chicken-fried steak meal.
Over the past weekend, Glover accused Gabel of retaliating against Blick by distributing a flier, ostensibly from Glover, attacking Blick.
“He was attacking Josh using my likeness,” Glover said. “It’s like he pretended to be me.”
On his campaign Facebook page, Glover wrote to his supporters: “Somehow Mr. Gabel thinks such sleezy tactics will allow him to win. ... that’s the way he campaigns, he thinks I’m the weak link and wants to take out Josh because the paper endorsed him and it’s some sort of payback because Josh filed an ethics complaint over the coupons on his (campaign) lit thing.”
Gabel denied responsibility for the attack fliers, although he conceded that they may have been handed out by some of the same people who distributed his campaign literature.
He said the people who handed out his materials were volunteers and he was just grateful they distributed his materials.
“If they do something else, that’s their business,” he said.
Gabel said he wasn’t disappointed by the outcome because he won’t have to divert time from his family and business interests to do council work.
“I win no matter what,” he said. “The city lost today. Not me.”
Blubaugh largely avoided controversy in the election.
He and his brother Jamey, who jointly run the Blues Brothers real estate firm with another brother, Jason, both ran unsuccessfully for seats in the Legislature last year.
The other two districts up for election featured incumbents against less prominent challengers.
Clendenin had to face a re-election vote in District 3 only two years after taking office.
He got on the council in 2011 by winning in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Jim Skelton, who left the City Council when he was elected to the Sedgwick County Commission.
Clendenin was challenged by Coen, a frequent critic of the council who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2011, and Dean, who has been active in the controversy over police shootings.
In District 6, incumbent Miller was challenged by Mork, an anti-tax candidate endorsed by the conservative group Kansas Republican Assembly, and Stephenson, also a critic of police shootings and a member of the activist group Occupy Wichita.
Mork ran for mayor in 2003 and 2011 and for U.S. Congress in 2004 and 2006. Tuesday was the first time he’s advanced from a primary to the general election.
Reach Dion Lefler at 316-268-6527.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/02/26/2693073/blick-leads-district-4-race-for.html#storylink=cpy
2011 Wichita City Council Race
3/24 - Eagle Endorsement
Endorsements
The following are The Eagle editorial board's recommendations for Wichita mayor, Wichita City Council and the Wichita school board for the April 5 general election. We offer these recommendations as information to consider as you make up your own minds about the candidates.
District 4
Joshua Blick is the choice in this southwest Wichita district, because of his understanding of the issues and his experience serving on the district advisory board, the Board of Zoning Appeals and as his neighborhood association's president. The technical college admissions coordinator supports downtown redevelopment and continuing the affordable airfares program, and recognizes that building relationships in the community can help it create jobs and balance the budget. He views public safety as the last place to cut and sees a need to scrutinize everything that comes to the council to answer the question: "Is this best for Wichita?" He's already a leader in his neighborhood, and should make an effective council member.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/27/1781254/endorsements.html#ixzz1HrAgB7PV
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/27/1781254/endorsements.html#ixzz1HrAKk5NT
The following are The Eagle editorial board's recommendations for Wichita mayor, Wichita City Council and the Wichita school board for the April 5 general election. We offer these recommendations as information to consider as you make up your own minds about the candidates.
District 4
Joshua Blick is the choice in this southwest Wichita district, because of his understanding of the issues and his experience serving on the district advisory board, the Board of Zoning Appeals and as his neighborhood association's president. The technical college admissions coordinator supports downtown redevelopment and continuing the affordable airfares program, and recognizes that building relationships in the community can help it create jobs and balance the budget. He views public safety as the last place to cut and sees a need to scrutinize everything that comes to the council to answer the question: "Is this best for Wichita?" He's already a leader in his neighborhood, and should make an effective council member.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/27/1781254/endorsements.html#ixzz1HrAgB7PV
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/27/1781254/endorsements.html#ixzz1HrAKk5NT
3/27 -Joshua Blick
Age: 33
Occupation: Admissions coordinator, local business owner
Education: GED
Political experience: District 4 Advisory Board, Board of Zoning Appeals
Phone: 316-778-0095
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.joshuablick.com
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/27/1781201/joshua-blick.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1Hr7ccBtA
3/25 - Life's trials helped form the man he is today
Joshua Blick spent so much time in the voting booth on Election Day staring at his name on the ballot that he thought the poll workers must be wondering.
"When you see your name on the ballot, it's kind of a weird experience," he said. "It puts you into overdrive." Advised to relax that day, Blick instead went knocking on doors and doing sign waves until the polls closed. He ended up winning the five-person District 4 City Council primary race with 32 percent of the vote.
Blick, a 34-year-old admissions coordinator at Wichita Technical Institute, will face Michael O'Donnell, who finished with 29 percent, in the general election.
Several things went through Blick's mind as he stared at his name on the ballot. He was heartened to see four other candidates on it, all wanting to work on behalf of the district. And he was amazed to see his own name after everything he'd been through. "I was just like in awe," Blick said.
He was born to a single mother who had met his biological father cruising Douglas. She married and moved to Osawatomie when Blick was 5, and he went to school there until he was a junior in high school. He worked two jobs through middle school and high school. He delivered newspapers from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., went to school, then worked at a restaurant at night, he said. "I lived on four to five hours of sleep," Blick said.
Blick met his biological father when he was 12, and worked for him at a tire store in Wichita during summers. In high school, his mother told him college was out of the question because of finances, and that he'd have to make something of himself on his own. Blick moved to Andover to live with an aunt and uncle in the middle of his junior year. Because his new school, Andover High, hadn't received his transcript and didn't know where to place him, one teacher told him he might as well drop out, Blick said. So he did. "From then on, I just focused on work," he said. But Blick realized he'd need a GED some day, and he finally got it in Haysville two years after he left high school.
About five years ago, his mother slipped and fell in the shower, and lost her memory, Blick said. She had to learn about her family and her life all over again.
Blick remembered the first time he saw her after the accident. "She was very distant, and said, 'They tell me you're my son, but I don't know you,' " he said. "That definitely hits your heart. "It impacted my life, to know that life is short and you have to live every day as if it's your last day." His mother has recovered but still doesn't remember anything before the accident, Blick said. Today, she teaches others in Osawatomie to cope with memory loss.
When Blick reached driving age, he didn't always obey the speed limit. Blick said he had six to eight traffic citations from ages 16 to 19. Records show he was cited three times for driving on a suspended license. Blick said his license was suspended for failing to pay the speeding fines. "I just really didn't have responsibility when I was young, and didn't see that as important," Blick said. His latest charge for driving on a suspended license was in 2003 when he was stopped in Haysville for going 29 in a 20 mph zone. Blick appealed, and records show the appeal was upheld when the city of Haysville failed to appear in Sedgwick County District Court. Blick said he eventually paid double for all his traffic fines and had his license reinstated.
He said he decided not to drive for three years. He rode a bike or was driven to work by his wife, Candace, whom he'd met while cruising Seneca. They've been married for 14 years and have two children — a girl, 12, and a boy, 5.
Blick said he emerged from his driving problems a better person. "You have a whole new respect for authority and the law," he said. "When you're young, you think they're out to get you, even though it's all about you yourself. "Driving is a privilege, not a right, and when you're young you don't really think about that."
Records from the Kansas Department of Revenue show that his most recent ticket came in 2008 for going 79 in a 60 mph zone. Blick said he paid that fine and went through a diversion program.
Blick worked at Safelite Auto Glass for a few years, rising to regional director. He left when he was asked to move to Kansas City. Blick discovered he couldn't leave Wichita. "This is home," he said. He worked at Best Buy and rose to department manager, returned to the tire store for a while, then got a job in sales and marketing at Cox Communications. He worked there for three years before being downsized, he said.
Unemployed for a year, Blick said, he had difficulties making mortgage payments on his house on South Everett. A bank filed a foreclosure petition in October, and the house last month was ordered to be sold. The sale was canceled after Blick arranged a loan modification through GMAC Mortgage, he said. Blick said he is making regular monthly payments on the house again and has cut back on expenses. "You try not to live outside your means, but the entertainments of life, and all of a sudden you don't see things like this coming," he said.
He has worked at WTI for eight months. He also is part owner of a computer/console gaming company. Blick said that if he is elected, his employer will give him Tuesdays off for council meetings and let him make up work on weekends.
In 2003, Blick said, he felt the urge to enter public service and give back to the community.
He took an eight-week course on city government in Wichita, and met city officials, including council member Paul Gray, whose seat he wants to fill. He campaigned for Gray four years ago. Gray, whose term is expiring, appointed Blick to the district's advisory board, the board of zoning appeals and the board of the Southwest Neighborhood Association. Gray has endorsed Blick to succeed him. "I've watched him grow as a citizen and a volunteer over the years, from somebody who just wanted to help, to somebody who now is capable of offering great insights through the experience he's gained in the past few years," Gray said.
Blick said the trials in his life have formed who he is. "When you're young, you think you know everything in the world," he said, "but then you start having a family and you start being engaged in your community, then you start learning that life is totally different." On the council, he said, his priorities would include public safety, public service, working for a balanced budget and for infrastructure improvements in the district to aid roads and areas prone to flooding. Improved infrastructure draws businesses to the district, Blick said. The city also needs to help its existing businesses instead of trying to steal jobs from other cities, he said. "These are the people that have really built Wichita and hired Wichitans," he said. Downtown improvement also is vital, Blick said. "We have a plan in place now, and we have to start dissecting every little piece of it and make sure, is this is something we want to accomplish in the next five years?" Blick said. "We really have to have a positive outlook for the city of Wichita and for future generations," he said
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/25/1778424/blick-lifes-trials-helped-form.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1HckljOEzw
"When you see your name on the ballot, it's kind of a weird experience," he said. "It puts you into overdrive." Advised to relax that day, Blick instead went knocking on doors and doing sign waves until the polls closed. He ended up winning the five-person District 4 City Council primary race with 32 percent of the vote.
Blick, a 34-year-old admissions coordinator at Wichita Technical Institute, will face Michael O'Donnell, who finished with 29 percent, in the general election.
Several things went through Blick's mind as he stared at his name on the ballot. He was heartened to see four other candidates on it, all wanting to work on behalf of the district. And he was amazed to see his own name after everything he'd been through. "I was just like in awe," Blick said.
He was born to a single mother who had met his biological father cruising Douglas. She married and moved to Osawatomie when Blick was 5, and he went to school there until he was a junior in high school. He worked two jobs through middle school and high school. He delivered newspapers from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., went to school, then worked at a restaurant at night, he said. "I lived on four to five hours of sleep," Blick said.
Blick met his biological father when he was 12, and worked for him at a tire store in Wichita during summers. In high school, his mother told him college was out of the question because of finances, and that he'd have to make something of himself on his own. Blick moved to Andover to live with an aunt and uncle in the middle of his junior year. Because his new school, Andover High, hadn't received his transcript and didn't know where to place him, one teacher told him he might as well drop out, Blick said. So he did. "From then on, I just focused on work," he said. But Blick realized he'd need a GED some day, and he finally got it in Haysville two years after he left high school.
About five years ago, his mother slipped and fell in the shower, and lost her memory, Blick said. She had to learn about her family and her life all over again.
Blick remembered the first time he saw her after the accident. "She was very distant, and said, 'They tell me you're my son, but I don't know you,' " he said. "That definitely hits your heart. "It impacted my life, to know that life is short and you have to live every day as if it's your last day." His mother has recovered but still doesn't remember anything before the accident, Blick said. Today, she teaches others in Osawatomie to cope with memory loss.
When Blick reached driving age, he didn't always obey the speed limit. Blick said he had six to eight traffic citations from ages 16 to 19. Records show he was cited three times for driving on a suspended license. Blick said his license was suspended for failing to pay the speeding fines. "I just really didn't have responsibility when I was young, and didn't see that as important," Blick said. His latest charge for driving on a suspended license was in 2003 when he was stopped in Haysville for going 29 in a 20 mph zone. Blick appealed, and records show the appeal was upheld when the city of Haysville failed to appear in Sedgwick County District Court. Blick said he eventually paid double for all his traffic fines and had his license reinstated.
He said he decided not to drive for three years. He rode a bike or was driven to work by his wife, Candace, whom he'd met while cruising Seneca. They've been married for 14 years and have two children — a girl, 12, and a boy, 5.
Blick said he emerged from his driving problems a better person. "You have a whole new respect for authority and the law," he said. "When you're young, you think they're out to get you, even though it's all about you yourself. "Driving is a privilege, not a right, and when you're young you don't really think about that."
Records from the Kansas Department of Revenue show that his most recent ticket came in 2008 for going 79 in a 60 mph zone. Blick said he paid that fine and went through a diversion program.
Blick worked at Safelite Auto Glass for a few years, rising to regional director. He left when he was asked to move to Kansas City. Blick discovered he couldn't leave Wichita. "This is home," he said. He worked at Best Buy and rose to department manager, returned to the tire store for a while, then got a job in sales and marketing at Cox Communications. He worked there for three years before being downsized, he said.
Unemployed for a year, Blick said, he had difficulties making mortgage payments on his house on South Everett. A bank filed a foreclosure petition in October, and the house last month was ordered to be sold. The sale was canceled after Blick arranged a loan modification through GMAC Mortgage, he said. Blick said he is making regular monthly payments on the house again and has cut back on expenses. "You try not to live outside your means, but the entertainments of life, and all of a sudden you don't see things like this coming," he said.
He has worked at WTI for eight months. He also is part owner of a computer/console gaming company. Blick said that if he is elected, his employer will give him Tuesdays off for council meetings and let him make up work on weekends.
In 2003, Blick said, he felt the urge to enter public service and give back to the community.
He took an eight-week course on city government in Wichita, and met city officials, including council member Paul Gray, whose seat he wants to fill. He campaigned for Gray four years ago. Gray, whose term is expiring, appointed Blick to the district's advisory board, the board of zoning appeals and the board of the Southwest Neighborhood Association. Gray has endorsed Blick to succeed him. "I've watched him grow as a citizen and a volunteer over the years, from somebody who just wanted to help, to somebody who now is capable of offering great insights through the experience he's gained in the past few years," Gray said.
Blick said the trials in his life have formed who he is. "When you're young, you think you know everything in the world," he said, "but then you start having a family and you start being engaged in your community, then you start learning that life is totally different." On the council, he said, his priorities would include public safety, public service, working for a balanced budget and for infrastructure improvements in the district to aid roads and areas prone to flooding. Improved infrastructure draws businesses to the district, Blick said. The city also needs to help its existing businesses instead of trying to steal jobs from other cities, he said. "These are the people that have really built Wichita and hired Wichitans," he said. Downtown improvement also is vital, Blick said. "We have a plan in place now, and we have to start dissecting every little piece of it and make sure, is this is something we want to accomplish in the next five years?" Blick said. "We really have to have a positive outlook for the city of Wichita and for future generations," he said
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/25/1778424/blick-lifes-trials-helped-form.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1HckljOEzw
3/25 - WHLF releases 2011 Endorsements
The Wichita / Hutchinson Labor Federation has released our list of endorsements for 2011 Local Elections. We feel that the following candidates best represent the interests of working families and encourage union members and allies to support them. If a race is not listed below it is because the WHLF made no endorsement in that race.
Wichita City Council
4th District – Joshua Blick
USD 259 School Board
3rd District – Barb Fuller
4th District – Jeff Davis
At Large - Sheril Logan
Watch this website for more information – Over the next few days we will look at each candidate and the reasons why they deserved our endorsement in more detail.
http://www.whlaborfed.org
Wichita City Council
4th District – Joshua Blick
USD 259 School Board
3rd District – Barb Fuller
4th District – Jeff Davis
At Large - Sheril Logan
Watch this website for more information – Over the next few days we will look at each candidate and the reasons why they deserved our endorsement in more detail.
http://www.whlaborfed.org
My Local Supports
Thank you so much for displaying your support.
3/22 Fire Fighters Union - Endorsement
Firefighters union endorses candidates in 3 city races
Read more: http://blogs.kansas.com/gov/2011/03/22/firefighters-union-endorses-candidates-in-3-city-races/#ixzz1HMdmGkMI
Read more: http://blogs.kansas.com/gov/2011/03/22/firefighters-union-endorses-candidates-in-3-city-races/#ixzz1HMdmGkMI
3/21 "Support Blick"
I've only known Joshua Blick since the election for Wichita City Council started. I was one of the five candidates running for the City Council seat in District 4. In the four months I have been around Blick, he has shown me that he is very supportive of the citizens in District 4, concerned about our economic issues, and open to ideas and willing to listen to concerns that people have about our city and the district.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/21/1772433/letters-to-the-editor-on-picking.html#ixzz1HFDCxHUu
3/20 - "That's our vital core"
With the outstanding Goody Clancy plan having been formally adopted by the City Council and Sedgwick County Commission into the city-county comprehensive plan, and with developers and businesses showing new interest in the core, downtown is ready to grow.
Not surprisingly, the candidates Brewer endorsed in each district seem to be the ones most likely to be supportive of the downtown plan going forward: Pete Meitzner in District 2, James Clendenin in District 3, Joshua Blick in District 4 and Vice Mayor Jeff Longwell in District 5.
“That’s our vital core,” Blick told The Eagle editorial board. He has called for public infrastructure to back up substantial private investment.Perhaps the candidates down on the downtown plan don’t understand its best feature — it expects taxpayers to follow and support, not lead. It anticipates as much as $500 million in private-sector capital investment over the next 15 to 20 years. The plan calls for perhaps $100 million in public spending for projects of broad public value, such as parking, streets and parks.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/20/1771161/vote-for-downtown.html#ixzz1H6ae5kYj
Not surprisingly, the candidates Brewer endorsed in each district seem to be the ones most likely to be supportive of the downtown plan going forward: Pete Meitzner in District 2, James Clendenin in District 3, Joshua Blick in District 4 and Vice Mayor Jeff Longwell in District 5.
“That’s our vital core,” Blick told The Eagle editorial board. He has called for public infrastructure to back up substantial private investment.Perhaps the candidates down on the downtown plan don’t understand its best feature — it expects taxpayers to follow and support, not lead. It anticipates as much as $500 million in private-sector capital investment over the next 15 to 20 years. The plan calls for perhaps $100 million in public spending for projects of broad public value, such as parking, streets and parks.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/20/1771161/vote-for-downtown.html#ixzz1H6ae5kYj
3/19 - Endorsements
Blick: District 4 council member Paul Gray, County Commissioner Tim Norton, and June Bailey, Don McManamey and Donna Roberts, who were eliminated in the District 4 primary
Officials with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which represents about 600 current and retired police officers, endorsed Blick and Clendenin.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/19/1769581/groups-offer-candidate-endorsements.html#ixzz1H3ZxLCG6
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/19/1769581/groups-offer-candidate-endorsements.html#ixzz1H3ZgMBzc
Officials with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which represents about 600 current and retired police officers, endorsed Blick and Clendenin.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/19/1769581/groups-offer-candidate-endorsements.html#ixzz1H3ZxLCG6
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/19/1769581/groups-offer-candidate-endorsements.html#ixzz1H3ZgMBzc
3/6 - Election could shift power on Wichita City Council
Joshua Blick, a financial aid officer and part owner of a computer and gaming business, has similar dislike for the incentive.
With local government strapped for cash in a down economy, it's important that all property taxes flow to services for everyone, he said.
"We're diverting taxes away from the city, the county and the school board for 20 years," he said. "And we never know what's going to happen with our economy."
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/06/1749703/election-could-shift-power-on.html#ixzz1GXObrqrP
With local government strapped for cash in a down economy, it's important that all property taxes flow to services for everyone, he said.
"We're diverting taxes away from the city, the county and the school board for 20 years," he said. "And we never know what's going to happen with our economy."
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/06/1749703/election-could-shift-power-on.html#ixzz1GXObrqrP
2/25 - Blick can relate
What a pleasant surprise it was to answer a knock on the door and find a gentleman running for Wichita City Council in District 4. That gentleman, Joshua Blick, brought back memories of another young man who, many years ago, was running for the City Council, knocked on doors, won and was elected mayor. That young man's name was Bob Knight.
Blick displays the same qualities as Knight. He is traveling among his potential constituents, listening to their concerns. He can relate to those concerns because he has experienced them himself.
I ask District 4 constituents to vote for Joshua Blick, a man who cares enough about your concerns that he walks among you so you can express your worries and needs to someone who actually cares.
MYRLE J. McCULLOUGH
Wichita
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/25/1735398/letters-to-the-editor-on-anti.html#ixzz1GXMgqQE5
2/20 - Endorsements
District 4
The standout candidate in this southwest Wichita district, where Paul Gray has reached his two-term limit, is former nonprofit executive June Bailey , whose wealth of experience with housing, neighborhood, police and parks issues means she could assume the council duties without missing a beat. It is difficult to imagine a better-prepared candidate for City Council. She believes in the prudent use of economic development incentives ("They're a valuable tool") and would push for more city-county cooperation.
Another good candidate is Joshua Blick , a District 4 Advisory Board member and neighborhood association leader whose priorities include building community relationships and creating jobs. Don McManamey , Michael O'Donnell and Donna Roberts also seek this seat.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/20/1728481/endorsements.html#ixzz1H3YOH8pn
The standout candidate in this southwest Wichita district, where Paul Gray has reached his two-term limit, is former nonprofit executive June Bailey , whose wealth of experience with housing, neighborhood, police and parks issues means she could assume the council duties without missing a beat. It is difficult to imagine a better-prepared candidate for City Council. She believes in the prudent use of economic development incentives ("They're a valuable tool") and would push for more city-county cooperation.
Another good candidate is Joshua Blick , a District 4 Advisory Board member and neighborhood association leader whose priorities include building community relationships and creating jobs. Don McManamey , Michael O'Donnell and Donna Roberts also seek this seat.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/20/1728481/endorsements.html#ixzz1H3YOH8pn
2/17 - District 4 candidates say jobs are top priority
Blick, 33, who works in admissions at Wichita Technical Institute, said the city needs to build better relationships with existing businesses and go from there.
"Wichita needs to look at the private sector and find out what it can do to help them grow, instead of looking outside and trying to pull jobs from other cities and outside our county, because that's pretty much what everybody else is doing right now," he said.
Blick also cited a need to improve the quality of life for seniors in the district.
"There's a huge community of seniors in that area, and making sure we have resources for them because they are living on a strict income."
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/17/1724370/district-4-candidates-say-jobs.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1GXNOm69V
"Wichita needs to look at the private sector and find out what it can do to help them grow, instead of looking outside and trying to pull jobs from other cities and outside our county, because that's pretty much what everybody else is doing right now," he said.
Blick also cited a need to improve the quality of life for seniors in the district.
"There's a huge community of seniors in that area, and making sure we have resources for them because they are living on a strict income."
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/17/1724370/district-4-candidates-say-jobs.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1GXNOm69V
