Wichita ? Under attack for months by media who scrutinized everything from his travel expenses to his handling of city contracts, City Manager Chris Cherches resigned Friday — ending an 18-year tenure at the helm of the state’s biggest city.

“It is something that needed to happen because the citizens demanded it,” said Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans.

Councilman Phil Lambke said the turmoil in city government was due to a change in “atmosphere” at city hall that came with Mayans’ election in April and the departure of seven-term Mayor Bob Knight.

“There was a friendly relationship between the former mayor and city manager. … It was a buddylike operation,” Lambke said. “You get a new mayor and he is not that tuned in — he wants to clean up city hall.”

Cherches came under fire in August when The Wichita Eagle and KWCH-TV reported the city manager recorded about $28,000 in credit card charges and travel expenses during the previous 18 months. Pressure mounted last week after The Eagle and KWCH reported that Cherches told a contracting company to hire a friend of Knight’s as a subcontractor as a condition of getting a $3 million city job.

KAKE-TV also aired stories critical of contracts with a consultant that sold Cherches some lake property.

Cherches’ office released a one-sentence statement that said the resignation was effective Dec. 31, allowing for an orderly transition in the office.

He declined further comment. But in a statement to KSNW-TV, Cherches blamed his decision to quit on “often biased and inaccurate assaults” by the media during the past several months “in an effort to discredit me and other members of the city staff.”

Joan Barrett, general manager of KWCH, said the station stood behind its reporting.

“Our efforts were aimed at making sure that public money was spent responsibly. It is our role as journalists to hold public officials accountable,” she said.

Rick Thames, editor of The Eagle, said Cherches did a lot of good for the city.

“But the very accurate reporting he now criticizes was based on the actual records of his own administration, as well as the interviews with a number of contentious city employees,” Thames said. “To hear him talk, you would think that none of this is even the public’s business. That’s wrong, and deep down, a public servant of his caliber has to know it.”

The council unanimously accepted the resignation after a brief closed meeting.