Carla Eckles with Jody Blunt

Wait, it sounds really bad. Why is it doing that, huh? Okay. You sound good now. When you first said how well we hit, sounded real. I don't know. Just stored it. Okay. The only thing is, let me see if I can turn there. Boy, it's still a little bit of background noise, but nothing I can do. Okay. Is he around, please? David, I'm sorry. Yes, he is. Carla, just a moment. Thank you. You're welcome. Hello, this is Dave. Hi, this is Carla. We're ready now. Thank you. Listen, my first question, obviously, is, can you tell us what took place in Topeka today? Well, today several of us from both county and city government, and from business leaders in the community, traveled to Topeka to be with the governor as she signed the Senate Bill 58, which is the Secretary County Downtown Arena Bill.

And understand that the tax will start, is it the first of July? Yes, this authorizes a 1% sale tax that will be added to our local tax and starts July 1st of this year, and we'll continue for up to 30 months. And so it can run actually through 2007, but I know we've talked about this before, but if you get enough money for the project, you would stop the sales tax? That is what we've committed to do, and there's a little bit of a caveat in that it takes 60 days. We lag 60 days approximately from when we get the money, and it takes about 60 days for the Secretary of Revenue to be able to stop the tax. So it's going to take a little bit of estimating if we want to get it stopped early, but if the revenues are coming in strong enough, and we have the 60-day lag time to stop it earlier, then we're going to consider that because we've said in the very beginning that it would take no longer than 30 months,

and when we collect enough to do our project, we're going to stop the tax. And how much is the project expected to cost? Well, the total amount is $184 million. And I wanted to also ask you about this advisory committee that's, I guess, is sort of, can you describe what will the task be? There's actually probably going to be two advisory committees established. One will be a citizen oversight committee to kind of watch how the revenues are coming in, and how they're being spent, and what level of revenue we have, those sort of things, just kind of doing a watchdog function. And that's, you know, the chair doesn't mean to imply that the government needs to be watched, but it just implies that we want citizen involvement. Another advisory committee that we're wanting to get established is one that will be a planned design and development oversight committee where we can have citizen input on, you know,

how this thing ought to look, and how it ought to be configured, and how many seats, and what should be included, and those sort of things. And this board will function in an advisory capacity, you know, and they're not going to have veto power, those sort of things. But we want citizen input. Well, that sounds interesting. So how will you go about doing that? Well, we can, there's a lot of ways to establish that committee. What we did when we were working on the Coliseum design and renovation. Each commissioner just appointed three citizens to set on that Coliseum design review committee, and we listened to their input. I don't know how many times before they got down to the final plan. But we could follow a similar pattern, and that each commissioner could appoint three persons and have about a 15 member committee for input. Is that something you're thinking about? I'm just thinking about it for persons right now,

and street listening saying, oh, I would like to be a part of that. How do they find out more information? Well, at this point, we're not ready to make any appointments or put that committee together, but it's going to be happening very shortly. So I would suggest that if anyone has a strong desire, interest to be involved, and they ought to let their county commissioner know, and with full knowledge of the fact that we may take a different approach to developing the committee, but if we don't know their interest within, they're not going to be able to, you know, probably will not be selected to participate. So there'll be any upcoming weeks that there'll be the advisory committees will be formed? Yeah, it should be with it. I would think that we will have these committees put together and our process established within the next month. Okay, and the governor says that she believes that the downtown arena will help revitalize Wichita, or I should say the downtown area. Any comment about that? Well, that's, you know, one of the reasons we want to have a downtown, if not just to make it convenient traffic wise to get one place or another,

but we just think it's going to have a significant and profound impact on how the economy of downtown Wichita exists. You know, whether it's going to thrive or whether it's just going to continue to wane away. The activity of the Colosseum during the construction phase, I think, will have its own revitalizing effect, but after it's established, we anticipate that commercial and retail establishments will develop down here just because of the synergism that's created. Commissioner, that was a great bright, but you mentioned Colosseum. I bet you met the arena. Oh, yes, I did. Okay, let me set up the mics real quick. Mine seems a little hot. Okay, could you give me your name and title please? My name is Jim Davis, a business manager with the International Brotherhood, Electric Workers' Local Union 271, here in Wichita, can. Okay, you just said something, I'll make sure I need to add.

It's 271, local, okay, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local... Local Union number 271. Now, how many members are in the union? Well, with all of our groups, we have a little over 800 members, but with the Boeing unit that we're going to be discussing, I believe, we have 205 members. And that's who it had been voting tomorrow? Yes. Okay, because I started my story saying that the ONX Corporation has retracted our probably I'll put, withdrawn a contract offer to you. And then I have a union spokesperson, Jim Davis, says, more than 200 maintenance electricians. Is that right? Yes. We're expected to vote in the contract tomorrow. Yes. Okay, and so what happened? Well, we'll give you a little bit background. Those 205 people out there, they maintain the production equipment, the power distribution system at the Boeing company, and the maintenance and construction of the buildings there at the Boeing company. So we're a very vital link to what needs to be done at the Boeing, without the power being on, and the machines being capable of running nobody coming here and pushing back and doing nothing. Well, we were in negotiations with the ONX company,

and we still had a lot of questions on the table. And some of it had to do with what they call effects bargaining with the Boeing company itself, that would make differences in regards to whether or not the membership could effectively vote on a contract because there was too many unanswered questions in regards to what might be happening with their pension benefits or with their health insurance benefits or with their accrued vacation sick leave things like that. So a lot of questions that they call effects bargaining that had been answered yet. And what happened with the negotiating process? We still had a lot of questions on the table, and we hadn't come to any kind of tinnitus agreement, or we hadn't come to any kind of impasse. The company just decided to give us the last best and final offer. So we were going to take that to our membership for a vote. But in regards to that, we were not going to recommend it to our membership. And I think the ONX corporate... Okay. All right. For the take, could you give me your name and title please?

Yes, Dean Hedley, my associate professor of marketing in which does the university. And I'm curious what you think about this whole idea with the FAA and of course air trend. Do you think that the dispute you offer the subsidies could affect how airports and cities across the country offer incentives to attract low-cost, low-redor cost carriers? It certainly could, which it was kind of a test case in that area. Others have been doing this in various combinations. But I'm sure they're going to watch this quite closely. But yes, this seems to be a new wrinkle on the FAA's mindset. And I'm sure people are going to watch this and definitely react What do you think is going to happen? You know, I know that air trend can either say, well, we'll stop the subsidies or separate the airport from the city. What do you think may take place? Well, first and foremost, we need the FAA and the funding resource that it brings with it for airport maintenance and operations and certainly building a new one. So they have to pay attention to that. Whether or not we stop the subsidy really comes down to a definition of

is this a subsidy through the city and its business community or is this a subsidy that is somehow attached to the airport operations which would make it less desirable, certainly for the FAA? And we were talking earlier that the city, that's probably that fine line there that they can say, well, this is separate somehow. The city of what you tell would probably like to say, well, this is associated from anything to do with the airport. This is just an arrangement we have to incentivize better competition. The FAA is saying, well, no, but that's ministered through the airport authority and that's the city council. So it's all tied together. This separation of those or the sorting out of those kind of fine lines will be what tells us whether or not the subsidies can continue as they are now or if they have to cease and change and something. Now, I know they have 30 days, April 6th, so I guess May 6th, they have to have to make some kind of a decision.

Have you heard any kind of thoughts on that through maybe your context or the city? Have you heard anything in regard to what they may do? I haven't heard anything as to what the city plans to do. I'm sure they're going to keep that close to the vest for the time being. But Delta raised a pertinent question. They may have picked us as a kind of a test because it's one of the more obvious subsidy combinations of city and airport authority and things like that. We'll have to wait and see. I just, I would hope that the FAA would give us more time than 30 days to figure this out. I wonder if they'll be able to maybe get an extension. Who knows? And I have tried to reach someone at the FAA trying to get more details. But I think they're putting it, they'll leave me in the city's court so to speak until they respond. The city must respond to that initial memo and make its case. And as we all know, we're having two different governments deal with each other, the levels of government deal with each other. So it's probably going to take longer than 30 days anyway.

We'll look at it. Yeah. And now the county's chipped in about a million dollars too. So I wonder if that has any effect on how this all will play out in the end. Because what is the seven million that's already been given so far? Yes, and that neighborhood. The counties, one million addition, would seem to be far less of an issue. Because it is a local government trying to incentivize for what they would consider. I'm sure economic development purposes and activity, a business activity that has produced economic development benefits for the city. But IE AirChan being here. So that one's a little more removed, although given the nature of this beast, it could get wrapped up in there rather quickly as well. And then, Heather, it's interesting. The whole point of them subsidizing AirChan was to get lower fares and more people on planes. But it seems like they're, you know, I don't know if it'll backfire any thoughts in every garden. Well, without... I'm sorry, I shouldn't say backfire, but you know what I mean. Without AirChan or without a low-fair carrier,

which you talk will have some problems in the price of airfare. We'll go back up as much as 30 or 40 percent. We'll return to the older days that we didn't have, much desire for, and economic development will suffer. And the ball rolling down hill that's been started by this will definitely fall off a cliff if we're not careful. Any other comment about this? Because it's interesting. Now, the city has to make some determination and get back with AFA and see what happens. Because obviously this is really a major issue for us here in this city because we do need a low-cost carrier. Really, the only comment that my name is that the FAA is following through with its policy on a discriminatory practice at the request of a valid airline and has concern. They have to follow through with that. It's a matter of how they interpret that and how stringently they want to enforce that process. Because it's gone on in the past without them worrying much about it.

So we're in that delicate time of, has the FAA's position shifted if it has? Have we been caught short in the process, or can we explain it away in, with the details that make sense to all parties concerned? Thank you so much for that by so it really remains to be seen. There's a lot left to be negotiated here. A lot of it has to do with perspective from our standpoint here, in Wichita and the city government, as well as FAA and its potential new scrutiny of a policy that's been on the books, but not necessarily on the front burner. So we're in a delicate time here of change and we're not exactly sure what all the rules are yet. Well, thank you so much for your time this morning. I really appreciate it. You always give back with me. Party, no problem. Okay, thank you. Bye-bye. People, though. It's a matter of how they interpret that and how stringently they want to enforce that process

because it's gone on in the past without them worrying much about it. So we're in that delicate time of, has the FAA's position shifted if it has? Have we been caught short in the process, or can we explain it away, with the details that make sense to all parties concerned? Intending to come back here, I just got back in town about an hour ago. But we're intending to meet or exceed the Governor's expectations and we're going to press forward. You know, it's the choice now of the Central County Commission and clearly a large majority of citizens want this facility. So we'll see what they're prepared to do. So that will be the next step is presenting it to the Central County Commission? Well, I've talked to each County Commissioner with the exception of Tim Norton, and Tim and I just keep missing. I'm out of town, or he's out of town. But he's a good friend of mine,

but I haven't talked to him. I've talked to the others informally with the new Commissioner, Lucy Burke-Net. But I'm going to be giving a presentation tonight to the Valley Center City Council on. I'm going to be speaking at Packarderm, this Friday. There's going to be a lot of speaking going on, but the County Commission is familiar with the project. I mean, if they have any questions, we're available to answer them. But, you know, I feel confident that they're going to see it's clearly in the County interest to try and staunch the flow of money out of this region in two other gambling jurisdictions, where there's no benefit to Sykeswick County, or in most cases to the state of Kansas. And I'm wondering, too, then. The governor said,

what is she saying in terms of the compact? Because I know, so it's first giving local support, and then she'll, you can consider, she'll consider. She said that that is a requirement to initiate discussions of the compact. Now, we think the compact will go very quickly. We've been trying to initiate discussions on the compact for the last eight or ten months. But we think it'll go quickly once we engage in that, because we're willing to accept the template that's been established in Northeast Kansas. With the Y and dot project, we expect to pay local governments and the state government the same. So basically, all you're doing is changing the name of the tribe and the location. So that really shouldn't require a lot of time. What about going before approval, rather, from the Kansas legislature and the Department of Interior? Well, I don't think they have the approval of Kansas legislative delegation. I can't imagine that Congressman T. Hart

is going to support something for Northeast Kansas, which we can't have in South Central Kansas. But when we get the negotiation started, then we can give them the precise conditions of the agreement. I intend to contact everyone in Washington. And I feel confident that we're going to have the support. A Foxwood really has an influential presence in Washington. They have two or three lobbyists there. And they have really great relationship with the Department of Interior. So while it's no real easy task, I think our chances are certainly enhanced with our partner. I was going to ask you how confident you felt about this project proceeding, you know, what your thoughts are on that. Well, we're either going to do it here or we're going to be required to do it up on the reservation at the very tip of Northeast Kansas clearly. I want to do it here because I think there's an enormous

financial benefit for this part of the state. The other reason is it meets a demand whether people agree or disagree with gambling a large percentage once that form of entertainment. So for the life of me, I don't understand why we wouldn't keep that opportunity here rather than them going to Oklahoma or on a Native American reservation in the state getting nothing for education and local governments getting nothing. So I don't understand that. But from your meeting Monday, you felt the governor was, she at least listened and... I think we can meet her requirements. So from that point of view, I'm optimistic. Okay. Any other comment about this? Well, I think this is going to be one chance and one chance only, Carla. You know, this train called gaming is going to be coming through this region and if we're not prepared to build a station

which is kind of a casino-resort destination casino, I won't stop this way again. So my view is it's certainly now or never. You know, the mayor has talked about having one in Wichita. Any thoughts about that? I'm sorry to say that was the last comment. Well, it's my understanding that he really doesn't have a plan and he has acknowledged that to people so I don't know why he would go on confusing people. There's no plan for downtown. I looked at downtown. I have a passion for downtown. Number one, it doesn't belong downtown. But if you wanted to put it downtown you can't get the land. It would be equivalent to 20 square blocks. And then with the arena. I'm not sure whether they're going to put that, but that would be probably another six square blocks. So, you know, it doesn't work. Okay. Well, thank you so much.

I really appreciate you taking my call, especially with you just getting off the road and all. Well, it's good to talk to you always. Okay. Take care. Bye. You all discuss maybe who you think. What kind of candidate you're looking for? Well, we'd like to have somebody that really listens to us who pays attention to the concerns of the neighbors who is not influenced by outsiders or by the, I hate to say, developers, but by the people who try to run this city. We'd like to have somebody who is his own man and is influenced more by what's right for our district than what other people want for the city. You know, what have they said? Because it's interesting that you talked about economic developments and no new businesses started in that area. Again, have you heard any, are they trying to do that? Is that going to change? What do you feel or whoever, maybe those in charge? How else did they respond?

We know that there is a plan to perhaps move into an area at George Washington Boulevard and Oliver, possibly a new, where the old giant store was, possibly we'll get something in there and that would be very, very good for our neighborhood. I don't really think I should say what it is, but it's not a business per se, but it would be very good for our neighborhood. We have, the old Wichita Mall is being redone and there are a couple of new businesses in there, but they're not what we would like to have in there. We would like to have some small restaurants, possibly some... I don't know how to say it.

It's something that the children can do, you know, something that... I'm sorry. Did you sound great on all of this? Okay. That was great to hear. Oh, hi, Frank. Sorry. That's okay. Oh, it's okay. It's okay. Do you know if you ever heard something, I thought you'd say a little mouse? That's a good guy. Do you know how to do a chance to listen? No, I'm usually out in the yard or with the grandkids or doing something at this time of the morning. That's what you were saying. You were saying it turns into a mall? Yeah, it would be nice if we had some kind of things for people to do, you know, like an activity. I'd love to have... We would have loved to have had a YMCA in that area. Anything like that that would keep the kids busy for one thing.

We don't have a lot of children in our neighborhood other than in Hilltop, there are a lot of kids. But it would be nice to have something for the kids. Oh, man, you said it last party game because I could hear the newspaper. You said it would be something... It would be nice to have something for the kids. You know, and another thing that I remember being concerned was, and you could say whether or not you agree, but jobs for young people in that area. Now, there are not very many jobs for young people. There are fast food restaurants, of course. We have a lot of those. But I don't really think of going grocery stores. But other than that, I don't really think of anything that the kids can do in that area. Would you say that there are a lot of returned individuals that live in that area? Oh, yes. And in our neighborhood association, when we have meetings, it's, I'd say, probably 90% of the attendants are over 65. So we do have an older area, yes.

Any other comment you'd like to make? Well, I just would encourage everybody to attend the DAB meetings, to attend their neighborhood associations, to get involved with the city and find out what's going on. It's your money. You need to find out what's going on. Thank you so much. Okay. Just in my particular area. Two creeks in our area. Two creeks in our area. Okay. There are two creeks in our area. There's dry creek, which is in my particular area. And there's, I can't remember the other one. That's over on, that's over a little bit further east. But they both flood very badly. They go together down by plain view and joy land. They get together. So there's a lot of flooding down in that area, too. In our particular area of dry creek, there have been three houses taken out already.

And I understand the city is talking to other people to see if they, if their houses are prey such that the city can afford to buy those, too. We don't really think that's exactly the way to approach flooding. We'd like to see it taken care of further north. A lot of it's been done because of development. And not taking the flooding into consideration when development is done. Kellogg is making a problem. As have George Town has had made a problem for us originally. And all the development up north eventually sends flooding down south. We'd like to see it stop that way instead of with buying houses. Let's talk about code animation in terms of joy land. Give me your name in title. My name is Carlos Contreras.

I'm the current president of the Pueblo Neighborhood Association. Thank you for representing me. Current president of the Pueblo Neighborhood Association. And what are the boundaries for the association? I can hear myself. The boundaries are from 21st to 29th Street from Broadway to the Little River. The reason why I don't know if I kind of preface it, I might have told you earlier Carlos. But what we're doing is we're doing a series of stories on city council and school board and interviewing all the candidates. And that's what Frank's doing with my job is to talk to people in the community. And my question to you as well as others is what you think are the most important issues. And at this point I'm talking to you about, I'll probably get two answers from you. My as well is sitting here. Let me ask you first about, because you said, Sharon Ferrier, Richard Lopez are the ones that are running your district. Okay. I mean, what do you think are the most important issues in the district's six race? For the association, it seems to be the development of the area.

You know, that's perfect. But I'm going to have you say it again, because I can hear the paper turning. Say that part again. For the association, it seems to be that the main issues are. I want you to say for that El Pueblo Neighborhood Association. For El Pueblo Neighborhood Association, the main issues seem to be the development of the area. Say it again. And it was perfect. I did that. Okay. Okay. For El Pueblo Neighborhood Association, the main issues seem to be the development of the area. Tell which me. Such as the parks, for instance, we have a lot of parks space, but they seem to be very underutilized, and they could use more either benches, trees, brush, things that would attract people, even if it's a soccer field, baseball field, something that will bring the people in to the park and have it used. Was that something that was brought up in the forum that they need?

Now, let me understand this, because I know people are saying, are you saying you just basically need equipment in the park? Well, we need equipment, but the idea behind this is that we need things for our youth to do. We have a lot of gang activity. We have a lot of graffiti in the area. We have a lot of kids that roam the streets. And in talking to our community police officers, the issue is that we do not have activities for them. We spoke to the Evergreen Rec Center, and they do not have sufficient space or funding to really do stuff for them. So, we're trying to find other things for them to do in the neighborhood. We created a program to where we are going to gather the kids together and give them a project. This project is going to... Say, say, for some of you, is your pizza pocket, but you're fine. I think that's the way I talk. No, no. No. Oh, okay. I'm on a mic. I just got to angle it off of you a little bit. But you said something about you create a program or something? Yeah, we decided to focus on the arts.

Since so many kids like doing graffiti, we figured we'd actually give them more paint and give them a wall to do something nice on, to do some graffiti artwork, but give it a theme. Give it a... Whatever theme you want to decide on, but make it nice and attractive as opposed to some writing on the wall. So, you say one of the main issues is activities for neighborhood, or neighborhood kids. Have anybody spoke about jobs in Everghart 2 or what? Yeah. Go ahead. We have explored different grants and funding, such as YouthBuild Grant, which will allow us to take high school dropouts, teach them a trade, a license or an unlicensed trade, earn their GED while they're learning this trade, and then once they're finished, they'll be receiving a certificate that'll make it more marketable out in the job market. Great. What other activities or concerns are there, would you say, with the neighborhood association, that they would hope that the new city council person, if it's a new person, or the incumbent, would address?

Safety. Safety is one of the bigger issues. Right now, we have a lot of stray dogs that roam the streets, and it's become such a problem that these stray dogs, they run in packs. Now, I mean, if you ever run into a stray dog, that's one thing, but if you run into three or four of them, that's another thing. And it's become an issue to where kids are running to the bus stop, or running home after school, because there's just dogs out there on the street. Now, police have done a good job of either picking them up, or actually disposing of them. But we still have that as a main issue. Okay. So, neighborhood kids, dogs, stray dogs, and safety. Any other issues, as it relates to safety? As far as safety goes, the business is in the area, over there on 21st street, we have one of the oldest business districts, and it's a historically Latin district, and we've had instances where in broad daylight, they've been robbed. And stores have been robbed two or three times, and has caused them to shut down,

because they cannot afford that loss two or three times a year. The things have been just breaking in, breaking windows. That caused the store owners not only that, but it gives a bad perception of the area to where people do not want to come down and shop. We have a lot of good stuff, a good quality, culturally specific stuff, that the people love to sell, and they love to sell to people from all backgrounds. But yet, if certain people are afraid to come into the area, because they might get robbed, or because their car or vehicle might get broken into, then that doesn't do anybody any good. What about, and I don't want to put any words in my Carlos, is there a concern about the 21st Street redevelopment? Has anybody been talking about that? That is the biggest issue of all. The 21st Street redevelopment, or actually the 21st Street revitalization plan, is the biggest issue of all. Because it is the plan that after 50 years has been approved,

and now it has to be implemented, and the lot has to do with who's going to implement it and how. A lot of it has to do with who's going to implement it and how, and where is the funding going to come from? Is that something you want the City Council to address? That's something that the City Council will need to address, especially in this election, whoever is running for this position, that will be probably the biggest issue on the agenda. You might say, because you know who's running. So between the candidates running for this election, say something like that. Between Sharon Fury and Richard Lopez, the 21st Street revitalization plan will be the biggest issue in the area. And so what is it that you actually are looking for, or I know you can speak for the whole neighborhood association, but what are their concerns? The concerns are mainly that some progress be done. Because the feeling is that for many years,

nothing has been done. And really, you know, nobody is ready to blame, or I don't know who would be to blame for that. But the people in the area really feel that it's been neglected, ignored, or even avoided, as far as the needs of the neighborhood or the businesses. So they're looking for funding? Funding is going to cause the progress to move forward. Yeah, money talks, basically, is what we found out. There's a lot of plans, there's a lot of ideas, there's a lot of issues. But the bottom line is the money. Where is it going to come from? And when is it going to get there? So we've talked about 21st Street, the neighborhood, those are issues. Any other issues you want to bring out? Because you have a run here there. Oh, you've got some of them on the front. Yeah, we have, I'm sorry, what? In terms of maybe what was brought up at the farm? Oh, the railroad.

The railroad crossing has been a big issue, because that also prohibits people from coming into the neighborhood. It's a big noise pollution. It's a big, actually, air pollution when it sits there for so long, and it releases all the smoke. And it's a big, you know, it's just a big problem in general that hasn't gone away, and it's actually grown. The railroad trains get longer and longer. They make shorter stops, but they get longer. So not only are you blocked over at 29st Street, but you're blocked at 23rd, 25th, and 21st all that once. And sometimes for hours at a time. So that's an issue that both the business and the neighborhood is concerned about. Okay. And if crows, you can speak, say one thing to Richard, and she's like, what would it be? I mean, one thing, if they could maybe address it, the person in that position could address, and charge their name and association. What do you think would be their main issue they'd like for? The candidate to focus on.

And it may be one of the main things that the people are concerned about. And one of the main things that the people are concerned about is having a center where to gather, where to go to as well, whether it be a business or community. But we have Evergreen Rec Center, which is full and funded. They just open a Hispanic Learning Center or at Blasameco, which is already overcapacited, and it barely opened a month ago. We have things going on at the churches. We have the people over at La Familia, who have already outgrown their space. We have businesses along 21st Street. But it seems that the people don't have one place to really gather. There is a different lack of facilities in our area, whether it be to serve the young or the old. But there is no one place where anybody can go to,

and there is no resource center, I guess, where anybody can go to to get help. That's a very good point. That's one of the things they want to resource center. Most of the time, what do they do? What do they go to La Familia? Either La Familia, or you call the people from the Sunflower Community Action, or you call Blasameco, or they call it Trinity Christian Center, or they call... There's a whole list that we have in the newsletter of people that are helping and serving the community. But if you notice, they're all spread out over the neighborhood. If we had one central location to put all our resources in, that would better facilitate the people and better help fill the people's needs. So with those some of the things they need by bringing up issues that are slanted with Richard Lopez, or with Isaiah. But then he just basically addressed the public. He went to go address a group of young university students so that they could volunteer for them.

Yeah, it wasn't so much talking about the issues it was about getting out the vote. Okay, in the last time, one more time, let me just say, would you still say you said the main issue? Is it redevelopment? Yes, the redevelopment of the entire area. Would it be the revitalization of 21st, or the parks, or dealing with the kids, or dealing with the arts, or having a resource center? I mean, it's just the development of the area. That's the main issue. That's the main issue. Anything else? We are having the forum on the 31st if anybody would like to come out to it. That really doesn't matter if you live within the association boundaries, or even within district six, what we found out is that it actually takes four votes from the council to vote on something. So, even if you do get to know another council person from another district, that'll eventually help out your district as well. That's a good point. So, again, who's hosting it? Where? The federal neighborhood association is hosting it. It'll be at Blasa, Mexico, on March 31st at 6 p.m.

and we'll have food for everybody. Where's Blasa? It is on 25th in Arkansas. And again, tell me what is the purpose of the forum? The forum is for the people to get to know who the candidates are. So, they can come listen to the issues and then they can decide to come March 5th who would be the best representative for the area. I'm sorry, April 5th. Did I say March 5th? Then they can decide on April 5th. Okay. What's the purpose of the forum? The forum is so that the people can come and listen to the candidates, listen to the issues, and then they can decide who will be the best representative to come April the 5th. Okay. All right. And El Pueblo, what does it mean? El Pueblo in general translation means the town, but it also means the people at the same time. In a sense, it is basically the community. El Pueblo is the community because without the people

you don't have the town. Absolutely. So, what is the most representative of Spanish, in your area? In the neighborhood association, the percentage? Of the Spanish, but do you know? I would know. But I do know that it is a historical location for Hispanics. As a matter of fact, I found out that when 21st Street was annexed into the city of Wichita, there was already a majority of Hispanics living in that area. Dance, what somebody told me, we did not come to what you taught, what you taught came to us. Interesting. Because I'm just thinking, see I used to, when I played tennis, I always played edge more woodland and then went over to Mac Alps. So I got up with a number of Hispanics that, I mean we just played tennis together, I mean we just part of what we did and, you know, that is, you say that I didn't think about to just what you said, how it was just natural, I mean it was like you say normal, I mean a number of Hispanics grew up, I was just backing like that.

And part of that, she fooled me.