It will be up Iolans to decide if the size of the City Council should change.
The existing Council members discussed the matter again Monday before agreeing that any decision about Iola’s future governance should once again be decided by the voters.
They directed City Administrator Sid Fleming to start reaching out, perhaps with a community forum or two, to discuss the different types of governing bodies.
From there, if there’s a consensus, he can draft specific proposals for consideration.
There’s not much urgency, because the next round of city elections is this fall, and Fleming said he’d prefer a vote on the matter during an off-year election period.
“Logistically, it’d be better to do this (vote) out of cycle,” Fleming said. “Then you’d go into an election cycle, and you’d know how that election would be.”
He also will look at other communities Iola’s size to see if any of their governing bodies have changed in recent years, and if so, why.
THE COUNCIL members gave their views.
Councilman Aaron Franklin said he had been approached on multiple occasions from residents in his voting ward who would rather see a five-member council in place.
“I’m hoping some of the people who have voiced their support for a smaller council will be willing to participate in the public forum,” Franklin said after the meeting.
Franklin summarized the commentary he’d received, noting the difficulty in garnering interested candidates to fill each of the eight council seats.
Others weren’t as convinced anything needs to change.
“What we have has worked well,” Councilman Donald Becker said.
“I’m more in favor of keeping it the way it is,” added Councilwoman Nancy Ford, who praised the varied demographics of the eighth council members.
Iola’s governing body size was an issue less than a decade ago, when Iolans overwhelmingly voted to do away with the old three-member city commission in 2009.
Voters returned to the polls a second time a year later in April 2010 in an advisory election. There, a plurality — 291 voters, or 45 percent of the 650 voters — favored the five-member commission. The larger options, seven and nine members, respectively, each received 179 votes, or 28 percent.
However, a subsequent charter ordinance that would have seated a five-member commission also was voted down by local voters that fall, leaving the default eight-member city council in its place.
Councilwoman Beverly Franklin said she had mixed feelings, but said the city should retain representation from each of Iola’s four voting wards, regardless of the council size.
Iolan Donna Houser noted the voters already had spoken on the matter.
“Putting it to a vote is a waste of time and money,” Houser said. “We’ve done it before.”
Houser said Iolans aren’t necessarily overwhelmingly in favor of an eight-member council. It’s just that most don’t care.
“I’m not saying that to be mean,” she explained. But putting the matter to another election likely will garner only about 10 percent of the community’s voters.
Councilman Bob Shaughnessy put himself in that group.
“We have other problems to worry about,” he said.
IN RELATED matters, Iolan Michael Middleton was appointed by Mayor Joel Wicoff and confirmed by the other seven councilmen to replace Austin Sigg on the Council.
Middleton, 25, is a customer service supervisor at Gates Corporation, having worked his way up from a floor laborer after he was hired in 2011.
Middleton, an Iola native, is married with a daughter.
“I want to do my part in helping our town grow and succeed,” Middleton said. “I won’t lose sight of being a voice of the people.”
Middleton lives in Iola’s third voting ward.
CITY CLERK Roxanne Hutton reminded the other councilmen that they have until June 1 to file for re-election.
Both Donald Becker and Beverly Franklin have announced they do not plan to file for re-election. Ford said she was leaning toward running again, while Sandy Zornes said she was undecided. Wicoff also said he has not decided whether he will run for re-election as mayor.
