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Wichita council considers narrowing proclamation process to reduce staff time and meeting delays
Summary
Staff reported an 88% increase in proclamation requests over three years and proposed administrative and ordinance changes — including moving proclamations to consent, reading short summaries, limiting presenter time and requiring sponsors — to reduce staff workload and council meeting length.
Shana Workine presented options to streamline Wichita’s proclamation process after staff documented a large increase in requests (an 88% rise over three years) and noted administrative burden: each proclamation can require one to two hours of interrupted staff time and touches many staff hands from intake to presentation.
Workine proposed several changes: place proclamations on the consent agenda as a "receive and file," require a council sponsor before a request advances, read a two‑sentence summary from the bench rather than the full text, limit submitter speaking time (one to two minutes), group proclamations together or stage them off‑site, and tighten submission timelines. She also noted some proclamations could be issued without formal presentation, and recommended updating municipal code to reflect current practice.
Council members debated trade‑offs: some favored keeping more proclamations read from the bench (and doing full‑council votes), others supported a consent model and stricter timelines to cut meeting time. Several members suggested a sponsorship model to put initial vetting responsibility on council members. The consensus was to have staff draft ordinance revisions and administrative updates for council consideration at an upcoming May meeting.
Next steps: staff will prepare a draft ordinance and updated administrative process that incorporates council feedback and return with a proposal for council consideration in May.
