THE ISSUES

Building a Wichita for the future.

Wichita must …

Support our emergency services

✹   Dalton believes we must fully fund our emergency responders – police and fire, as well as support personnel in our city’s administrative offices. Our first responders and public service workers must be given competitive pay and state-of-the-art equipment. For too long, Wichita has worked to catch up with pay scales for our firefighters and police officers instead of leading in offering salaries that draw people to our community.

✹   Wichita has seen a rise in homelessness, almost all of which is tied to unaddressed mental illness. Our City leaders must work with our partners in the County and in the State to equip all our community facing staff with the training and information to better serve our most vulnerable.  

Ensure Wichita is open for business

✹ Dalton is committed to cutting red tape and rolling out the red carpet. The more we empower our business leaders and remove burdens to development the more we will see Wichita thrive. We must work to create the environment to attract private investment on the South side and build on its’ legacy as the manufacturing core of our city.

✹ Focus on zoning that removes unnecessary geographic limitations on certain businesses, allowing the city’s businesses and economy to evolve over time.

Invest in our neighborhoods

✹   The City of Wichita must address the blight and dumping we see across our town, most especially in South Wichita. If we don’t start there, we cannot expand affordable and safe housing options while working to encourage homeownership. 

✹   Our neighborhood associations must have a voice on city committees and advisory boards and be given the tools to advocate for their residents.

Get Government back to the basics

✹   Governments, at all levels, have lost their purpose. Wichita must get back to the basics and that includes maintaining a high quality of life, first and foremost, with strategic improvements to our city’s roads, bridges, and transportation infrastructure.

✹   Our community gathering places demands world-class facilities and amenities as well as routine investments in order to avoid deferred maintenance.