Iola mayoral candidates are incumbent Jon Wells, Ron Ballard and Larry Walden.
A lack of interest among the general public in how Iolas city operations function has sparked Larry Waldens 2019 mayoral campaign.
He points to the general antipathy among citizens about everything from learning about the citys budget to becoming more involved in guiding Iolas direction.
As evidence, he points to the eight-member city council, which was formed when residents voted to do away with the old three-member city commission a decade ago.
Of the eight, only one the outgoing Aaron Franklin was voted in via contested election. The others, including Mayor Jon Wells, were either appointed, or were elected without opposition.
We have to be involved with the city, the county and the state, but theres just no interest, Walden said. The average citizen doesnt see anything.
Walden takes that as his charge to show how a city can operate more efficiently and at a lower cost.
Walden is one of three candidates for mayor. Voters will choose between him, Wells and Councilman Ron Ballard on Tuesday.
THE OUTSPOKEN Walden, 73, saw his campaign derailed last month, when complications from knee surgery have largely kept him homebound for the time being. (Hes optimistic he will be fully recovered by January, when he would be sworn in if elected.)
Everything was going great until the surgery he said. Now, Im done with it.
He has since emptied his campaign account, announcing he was splitting the proceeds between the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility and the Iola food pantry.
But while his campaigning has come to an end, his hopes for the election have not.
I have some ideas Id really like to instigate, he said.
MUCH OF Waldens prescription for a better Iola lies in a different organizational structure, he opined.
He agrees with much of was revealed in a recent Wichita State University staffing analysis of how the city operates. The study recommended combining several departments, thus reducing the number of department heads, and lessening a top heavy organization.
As an aside, Walden was critical of authorizing the study to begin with: Everybody knows we have too many chiefs.
