(Editor’s note: Iolans will be asked in the April 6 city election whether they prefer a five-, seven- or nine-member city commission. This is the second in a series of articles detailing the issue.)
HUMBOLDT — Humboldt has an eight-member council; if Mayor Bob Sharp has his way the number will be halved.
“I’m waiting on Fred (Works, city attorney) for advice on what to do to get it to a vote,” Sharp told the Register. “I’d like to bring it (the proposal) up at the next council meeting,” April 12.
He would prefer a five-member council, but would be satisfied with four if reconfiguration would work better that way, Sharp said.
His experiences as mayor for nearly three years and comments he has heard at regional and state meetings have convinced Sharp that “eight members are too many, they have too many different opinions. I think four members would be better for a city of Humboldt’s size. I think we could operate better and get more done.”
Humboldt’s population is about 1,800.
Citing conversations with representatives of other cities, Sharp said few cities with populations of less than 6,000 had governing bodies of more than four members, and “those that previously had eight and went to four are very satisfied.”
“I’ve talked to three (Humboldt) councilmen about it and two were OK with a smaller number and one was strongly against a change,” he said. “We have a big problem here. We don’t have enough councilmen who know business and that bothers me. In the three years I’ve been mayor, there have been three who have come up with good ideas.”
Also, he said, “We seldom have a full house (all eight members at a meeting) and sometimes we’re lucky to have five members at a meeting. We absolutely could get more done with four members instead of eight.”
Sharp said his proposal to reduce the size of the council isn’t an indictment of the “many good people working for the betterment of Humboldt. I just got home from a Planning Commission meeting,” he said late Wednesday evening, “and we have wonderful people on it.”
As for Iola, Sharp said: “It’s a bigger town and maybe eight would be OK there.” But, the “advice I would have for Iola is to have five members — four elected from the four wards and one at-large — and a mayor.”
MEANWHILE, Larry Tucker, who watches over day-to-day operations as Humboldt’s administrator, is comfortable with an eight-member council.
“With eight on the council, we can have committees of two members who can meet informally anytime with me to discuss and research issues ahead of a council meeting,” Tucker said.
A benefit at the very start of his tenure, he said, was that having the committees gave him opportunities get to know each of the council members better than could have been accomplished in the formal setting of monthly meetings.
“I immediately was pleased with what I found in Humboldt with a council that was positive and progressive,” said Tucker, who has been city administrator 21⁄2 years.
Prior to taking the Humboldt position, Tucker worked in county and city government nearly 20 years, all as a financial officer. He was in Reno and Lyons counties in Kansas before moving to Hillsboro, Texas, in 2004 as director of finance.
“The Humboldt council is one-minded and always is looking to the future,” Tucker said. “They don’t dwell on the negative.”
Case in point, he said, is Humboldt’s involvement with the Rebuilding the Public Square initiative, which was recommended by a council committee. Terry Woodbury is president of initiative, whose purpose is “to build and rebuild community across Kansas,” through coordinating efforts between business, education, health and human services and governmental entities.
Tucker works closely with City Clerk Jean Flores and Craig Mintz, director of Public Works and code enforcement officer, in administration of the city.
TWO council members are elected from each of Humboldt’s two wards every two years. Councilmen serve four years; the mayor two years. Mayoral voting is at-large.
The mayor is the town’s official spokesman and moderates meetings, but votes only to break ties.
Council members range in age from their 30s to about 80, Tucker said, and are a mix of retirees and those still in the daily work force. Having meetings once a month — the second Monday — at night opens the pool of potential candidates for council seats as well as making the meetings more accessible to the working public, he said.
Council members are Sam Murrow, Jerry Griffith, Sean McReynolds, Vada Aikins, Jeremy Weilert, Dan Julich, Don Walburn and Otis Crawford. Walburn is president of the council and moderates meetings in the absence of the mayor.
Every year, two councilmen are appointed to each of seven internal committees: Claims, Finance and Licenses, Public Safety (fire, ambulance, police and animal control), Utilities (gas, water, sewers and such hearings), Swimming Pool, Parks and Buildings, Personnel, and Growth.
Committee meetings do not fall under provisions of the Kansas Open Meetings Act, according to Tucker, because two is fewer than the quorum of an eight-member council.
VOTING IN Iola’s April 6 advisory election will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 801 N. Cottonwood St.
Iolans also will vote that day at the North Community Building in a mayoral race with the winner — Bill Maness is unopposed — serving a one-year term. Whatever reorganization of Iola’s governing body occurs will be within the next year.
State law prohibits the mayoral election and advisory question from being on the same ballot or at the same polling place.
(Coming Friday: Iolan Ray Shannon favors an eight-member city council and mayor.)
