We honor our forefathers for their wisdom, and recognize that wisdom comes from experience. We believe our forefathers used experience to make the decisions that guide us today, driven to do good for the general public welfare, not their personal political welfare.
This conclusion should add some thought to the upcoming election changing Iola city governance and suggest the best would be a NO vote on Charter Ordinance No. 17. A NO vote on Charter Ordinance No. 17 will give Iola eight representatives.
More than 100 years ago, city governments were comprised of commissions that managed various departments or councils that represented the citizens while overseeing hired managers. In either case, a mayor represented the city in its activities and presided over commission or council meetings.
About a century ago, our Kansas state Legislature looked at these systems and decided that if any city operating with a commission form of government voted to change, it would change to the council system. The Legislature then created state statutes mandating council sizes and ward voting based on the city’s population.
I can see no political motive for their actions. Their decision surely came from experience. They made the wise decision. City government should be representative, not managerial.
A NO vote on Charter Ordinance No. 17 will give Iola the level of representation that has existed in Yates Center and Humboldt for years. It works well for them and it will work for us.
We will differ some. Due to our larger population, we have a larger pool of possible candidates for the two council positions in each of four wards. They will represent us on a neighborhood basis when there are issues affecting our neighborhoods.
As a group, they will set policy for the city and have the responsibility of hiring city management. But they won’t be managers.
We voted for this change with a two to one majority in April of 2009. That should have been final, but current commissioners disagreed with the people’s vote.
When we vote on Nov. 2, a NO vote on Charter Ordinance No. 17 will eliminate any further action against representative government for Iola.
Ray Shannon
Iola, Kan.
