First, an excerpt from the Wichita Eagle:
Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell steered what could become the largest contract in the city’s history to his political supporters, golf partners and friends, a Wichita Eagle investigation has revealed.
The city plans to spend about $524 million to build a new plant to treat drinking water. …
A city selection committee unanimously recommended awarding the contract to Jacobs Engineering, one of the nation’s leading design firms that specializes in water treatment plants.
Instead, at Longwell’s urging, the City Council gave it to Wichita Water Partners, a group that has less experience designing large water plants.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
The Mayor responded:
You may have read today’s Wichita Eagle story alleging that I used my influence to award friends of mine the contract for the new water treatment facility. I want to assure you that these allegations are simply not true. In fact, our process is designed so that this kind of favoritism cannot happen. The full City Council made this decision based on what is best for the community. Below you can read my response to today’s Wichita Eagle story…
(Read more: Facebook – City of Wichita.)