VOTE ICT!

Music, barbeque, and voting—all part of June’s First Friday! Now in its third month, Wichita’s music crawl, presented by House of Schwan, KMUW, & Heffys BBQ Sauce, promises to be an event to remember as Wichitans start their summer. 22 venues will showcase 24 artists during the event that will take place on the evening of June 5. This free event seeks to draw residents and visitors of all ages to the heart of the Wichita metropolitan area to enjoy live, original music.

First Friday festivities will kick off at 6:00 p.m. at City Arts with a press conference announcing VOTE ICT, a non-partisan voter registration and activation drive. Seeing a need to get the younger generation and creative people more connected with their city, this initiative is being launched by ROK ICT with the goal of registering 2,000 new voters within a year and educating voters on the importance of voting in local elections. Volunteers will be on hand at First Friday venues with voter registration cards and information about the voting process. “Fostering a positive sense of pride about Wichita is one of the tenants of our mission statement,” said Jared Brickman, Owner and Executive Director of ROK ICT. “Voting is the number one way to take ownership of your community.”

ROK ICT Community Development Director Jason Dilts agrees. “If every person in this city under the age of 35 was registered and voted, we could quite literally rock Wichita! In the April 2009 municipal election, only 9% of registered voters cast a ballot. That’s 23,205 people who showed up out of 249,971 who could have. Within that small number, only 1,765 of those voters were under the age of 35!” Dilts believes that it’s time for young people to take accountability for their community’s future. “I see a lot of excitement and enthusiasm among people my age. They are enjoying their city and are happy about developments downtown. Wichita seems to be full of hope and possibility. The only way we can maximize this possibility, though, is by taking responsibility. Voting does just that,” Dilts implores.

After the press conference, Heffys BBQ Sauce will sponsor a free barbeque and concert in the Old Town Farm & Art Market. “Nothing brings people together like good food and music,” said Adam Hartke, Deputy Executive Director of ROK ICT. “This is going to be an important summer for Wichita, with our entertainment scene really taking off and people becoming very engaged and interested in what is happening downtown. We wanted to do something special to kick off what will likely be a defining season for our city.”

First Friday is a collaborative effort involving ROK ICT, Hartke Records, Naked City Magazine, and The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation. It offers a unique opportunity to support the burgeoning music scene in Wichita. Trolleys, provided by the WDDC, will shuttle participants between venues throughout the night. Fans, bands, venues, businesses and/or any others who are interested in becoming a part of First Friday or learning more about the times and locations of musical acts during the event can go to www.FirstFriday.org, or www.ROKICT.com.

Enhance is Coming to Life!

We’re just one month out from the Enhance CommunitYProject. Why does this matter to you? This is your chance to take a few hours out of one Saturday to give back to the community and really make a difference.

Enhance falls within the YPW Community Relations team and has been in the works for over one year. With the help of Councilmember LaVonta Williams, other City of Wichita staff, and members of the neighborhood associations, the team has been able to develop a great day of giving back to the community. On Saturday, June 13th from 7:30 a.m. to about 3 p.m. we will be making facade improvements to various homes around Gordon Parks Academy, as well as joining the area residents for some fun and celebration.

Lately the team has been very busy organizing the celebration at Gordon Parks Academy, as well as talking with homeowners and getting the scope of work for individual properties figured out. It is amazing the amount of work that goes into this project, but already we have received so much gratitude from homeowners.

Join us on Saturday, June 13th to help improve our community! Go to the events calendar and register for Enhance if you are interested.

City votes to fund Downtown Development

The City Council voted yesterday, 7-0, to approve $175,000 toward funding a downtown master plan and an additional $50,000 to make sure this plan also addresses transportable needs. The $175K comes from an exsiting "stabilization fund", which consists of the savings from previous projects, and the $50K from available transit funds.

Find out where the money is coming from, get all of the back information on why there is a need for this plan and listen to what has been going on behind the scenes to move this initiative forward by watching the video of the city council meeting here (click on "jump to:" and select "2. Funding for Downtown Revitalization Master Plan.").

This $225,000 is in addition to the $175,000 that the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation has already committed to developing a master plan. $20,000 in private sector investment has also been obtained.

You can also check out the article on Kansas.com.

Current news on Downtown

For your information and to those interested in downtown issues:

At its April meeting, the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation Board of Directors unanimously voted to commit $175, 000 as seed capital for a downtown comprehensive strategy. It is anticipated this seed capital will forge partnerships and secure additional support and funding through the private sector, the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County.

The private sector began responding with $20,000 committed in the first week after the WDDC announcement. Tomorrow the Wichita City Council will vote on funding of a comprehensive downtown strategic plan. All those interested are invited to attend, Tuesday, May 5 at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall.