Wichita City Manager Dennis Marstall came under fire Tuesday for authorizing a $110,000 payment to a contractor to remove a large homeless encampment near Chapin Park without seeking approval from the City Council.
The city and a contractor — Boulevard Construction Group — will begin clearing the city’s largest homeless encampment on Wednesday after demanding residents of the long-running community known as “Narnia” and “Tent City” leave the area by Tuesday. The cost of the cleanup was not disclosed until Tuesday’s meeting, and only after City Council member Joseph Shepard pressed Marstall.
“How did this happen without a vote,” Shepard said Tuesday. “How did this occur without a vote? I don’t understand the authority that one has to move something forward without any conversation from the bench.”…