Wichita could have disclosed development deal with baseball team sooner, mayor says

Wichita city officials could have told the public sooner about a side deal to help bring a Minor League Baseball team to town, Mayor Jeff Longwell said Thursday. Earlier in the week he said he couldn’t because of league rules.

Over the course of 18 months, the owners of the New Orleans Baby Cakes, led by Lou Schwechheimer, negotiated a deal with city leaders to move to Wichita, but the city had to build a stadium and offer it land to develop around the stadium.

That the move was contingent on the development deal was not made public until Monday, months after Lawrence-Dumont Stadium was torn down and as a new stadium is being built. The existence of the side deal was undisclosed until its details appeared in The Sunday Eagle. The city has said it intended to post the agreement online as part of its meeting agenda packet Friday, but the website was down until Monday.

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