Mayor Mayans has announced today that he is breaking off with the City of Wichita’s 30-year tradition of having the Sister Cities budget pay for the spouse of the Mayor or Council Member representative who participates in foreign delegation visits on the City’s behalf.
"While the spouses are required by international protocol to attend, with the head of the delegation, the many meetings and functions and to represent the Mayor at other events, I will not continue these past practices," said Mayor Mayans.
Mrs. Mayans will accompany the Mayor, but her ticket will be paid for personally and not from the Sister Cities budget.
Mayor Mayans will be heading his first delegation of our Sister Cities program to Orleans, France to discuss ideas for new sister cities exchanges. He will also help celebrate the 30-year anniversary of our official Sister City relationship. The visit is part of the "American Week" activities organized by Orleans to honor their American friends and to thank them for the liberation of Orleans from the Nazis at the end of WWII by soldiers from the Wichita area. Activities will include a pictorial display of activities between Wichita and Orleans spanning the past three decades and an art exhibition by Wichita artist Bernadette Bradshaw.