The Wichita City Council met on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 2:38 PM in the City Council Chambers. The meeting included proclamations, public comments, consent agenda approvals, debate on historic preservation appeals, property acquisitions, facilities maintenance, and an extensive discussion on reforming the city's proclamation process. Key votes included deferring demolition of a historic duplex, initiating historic designation for the Crown Uptown Theatre (4-3), and approving a police department property purchase.
Well, good morning, Wichita, and welcome to all of you here at City Hall. We'll call this meeting to order. With us today is Rabbi Schmoleck Greenberg of Shabbad Lubavitch of Wichita to provide our invocation. Following that invocation, we will have the Pledge of Allegiance. I invite you to stand for both. Rabbi. Thank you. Almighty God, sovereign of the universe. As we approach the Jewish holiday of Passover, Saturday evening, April twelfth, let us invoke the ancient lessons of Passover today. We pray that we always ensure that the meaning of Passover becomes visible in our daily lives. The biblical narrative of the Exodus is the story of the Israelites being redeemed from Egypt. The biblical Hebrew name for Egypt is Mitraim, which means limitations and boundaries. Today we are all enslaved to personal limitations, and we pray to be delivered from these obstacles that limit our potential to create a better future for ourselves, our families, our city, and the entire world. The Rebbe emphasized the importance of education and good character and instilled the hope for a brighter future into the lives of countless people in America and across the globe. The Rebbe taught that education in general should not be limited to the acquisition of knowledge and preparation for a career. Almighty God bless Mayor Lily Wu and the honorable members of this distinguished council. Give them guidance so that they will always be conscious of your presence and will strive to enact laws with honesty and integrity in accordance with your will. One nation, under God, indivisible, liberty, justice for all. Thank you, Rabbi, and your two children. Mr. Clerk, can you please call the first item? Approval of the minutes of the regular meetings, March 18th, 2025, and March 25th, 2025. Are there any corrections? I see none. I approve the minutes of the regular meetings for March 18th and March 25th of 2025. Second. Motion and a second, any further discussion. I see none. Mr. Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Mr. Clerk, please call the next items. Awards and proclamations. The proclamations this week are Child Abuse Prevention Month, Arab American Heritage Month, and Crime Victims' Rights Week. Can I please ask the members of the Kansas Children's Service League to please come forward and any council members who would like to join me at the front. Hi, good to see you. Good morning. Hi, good morning. Good to see you. The proclamation reads the City of Wichita, Kansas, founded in 1870, whereas children are our nation's most vulnerable members as well as our nation's most vulnerable resource, helping to shape the future of Wichita. Positive childhood experiences or PCES, like loving caregivers and safe, stable, nurturing relationships can help mitigate trauma and the negative impact of adverse childhood experiences or ACEs to promote the social, emotional, and developmental well-being of children. Whereas childhood trauma can have long-term psychological, emotional, and physical effects throughout an individual's lifetime and impact future generations of their family, childhood trauma, including abuse and neglect, is a serious problem affecting every community in the U.S. And finding solutions requires input and action from everyone. Whereas prevention is possible because of the partnerships created between families, prevention advocates, child welfare professionals, education, health, community, and faith-based organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and governments. Whereas we acknowledge that in order to solve the public health issue of abuse and neglect, we must work together to change hearts and minds through storytelling and sharing. We're committed to advocating systems that ensure all children and families are healthy and thriving. Now, therefore, be it resolved, the Wichita City Council does hereby proclaim the month of April 2025 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Wichita, and encourage all citizens to recognize this month by building a narrative of hope for children and families through collaboration and the creation of an ecosystem of primary prevention that does not currently exist in the country. Thank you for inviting us today and for signing the proclamation declaring Child Abuse Prevention Month. I'm Rachel Harper, the assistant director of the Prevent Child Abuse Kansas Chapter at Kansas Children's Service League.