Sedgwick County leaders call colleague’s bar behavior ‘disturbing,’ point to ethics code

Sedgwick County Commission leadership released a written statement Friday morning rebuking Commissioner Lacey Cruse after she was thrown out and banned from an Old Town gay bar and dance club.

The letter, signed by Chairman David Dennis, a Republican, and Chair Pro Tem Sarah Lopez, a Democrat, calls Cruse’s behavior “disappointing and disturbing” and hints that she may have breached the Commission’s Code of Ethical Conduct, which includes “modeling decorum, respect for others and civility in all public relationships” as an elected official.

“The situation that occurred over the weekend involving a Sedgwick County Commissioner is disappointing and disturbing,” the letter says. “This demonstrates to us, as elected officials that we must be ever-present and ever-vigilant to always have positive interactions with our community.”

Cruse did not immediately respond when asked for comment about the letter.

Cruse, a Democrat running for re-election, was kicked out of XY Bar on Saturday night after after she called a bartender a name that the bartender said was racist and that Cruse said was misunderstood in the noisy bar.

After ordering a drink, Cruse asked the bartender, who is African American, for her name. When she decline to tell Cruse her name, Cruse, who is white, decided to call her by a nickname. The bartender said in a social media post that Cruse called her “Shaquetta.” The bar owner, Chad Porter, told commissioners and some city officials in an email that the name was “Chiquita.”

Cruse said she told the bartender that she would call her “Sheena” — as in, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, a leopard-skin-bikini-clad white woman comic book character from the 1930s. “I thought she was fierce,” Cruse said. “And that was the first name that came to my mind.”

The bartender said she replied to the commissioner: “No, you’re (expletive) not, that’s racist as (expletive).” In the social media post, she said that Cruse looked “affronted” after she was accused of being racist. She was then asked to leave and escorted out by security.

Cruse said on Wednesday that she did not mean to offend the bartender but acknowledged that she had made a mistake by not respecting the bartender’s wishes. Porter, the bar owner, said this was the third time Cruse has been kicked out of his club. Cruse said she has never been kicked out of a club or bar before.

“It is important that, we, as elected officials take responsibility for our mistakes and show leadership to you, our constituents. The citizens of Sedgwick County deserve elected leaders who model respectful behaviors and professionalism to all we serve,” the letter by Dennis and Lopez says.

Also included in the news release are separate statements from the other two members of the commission, Republicans Jim Howell and Pete Meitzner, who are both running for re-election.

“I don’t need to say much regarding the recent embarrassing news story about one of my colleagues,” Howell said. “The lessons learned are obvious. In situations like this, we all can better understand how words can become racially offensive and hurtful. It also demonstrates that elected officials are human too even though we expect them to model the highest levels of civility. Nevertheless, the County Commissioners adopted a code of ethics for a reason and it should be honored.”

Meitzner also mentioned the code of ethics.

“The recent news regarding the behavior of one of our commissioners is a reminder that Sedgwick County does have a code of ethics that was approved, and mirrors the one adopted statewide by the Kansas Association of Counties,” Meitzner’s statement says. “We all, as county commissioners, need to adhere to the code of ethics we adopted.”

In the past, the County Commission has used violations of its code of ethical conduct to censure a member and call for his resignation. In 2020, commissioners passed a resolution censuring Commissioner Michael O’Donnell and formally requesting his resignation for breaching the code of ethics after The Eagle reported on a secret recording of O’Donnell plotting to frame then-Sedgwick County GOP Chairman Dalton Glasscock as mastermind of a smear campaign that falsely accused Brandon Whipple of sexual harassment during the 2019 mayoral election.

The censure and request for a resignation had no binding effect and O’Donnell declined to resign for another two weeks, after it was clear he had lost re-election and after the district attorney decided there was sufficient evidence to pursue his removal.

Contributing: Michael Stavola with The Eagle