Benedikt Middleton wants to change how people view community involvement. “I think there is this idea that to be a member of the city council, you have to be of a certain position in the community,” said Middleton. “I know, growing up, that was the way I felt.” As the newly appointed Iola City Council member to Ward 4, Middleton hopes to see a change in this outlook.
Being semi-retired, Middleton worked for 32 years with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) as an engineering technician specialist. He now does remote consulting work for an engineering firm based in Arkansas.
Middleton was appointed to the vacant Ward 4 seat at the July 8 council meeting. The seat had previously been held by Mark Peters who resigned in late April.
In his new role, Middleton hopes to serve as the “ears and voice” of the ward. “I think I should have ‘ears’ to listen to those in my ward, and then ‘voice’ what I hear,” he said.
The 60-year-old has lived in Iola his entire life and has seen many changes through the years. The one area he thinks has remained the same, to the community’s detriment, is the lack of people stepping up to serve.
“I don’t know how the change can come about, but we need to let people know that anybody can serve on the council. I think there are sectors of people who think the door is not open to them.”
It is too early for Middleton to safely say whether he will run for election when his term ends in 2025. However, what he would like to see in the next council election are more options. “My vision would be that there are multiple people to choose from,” he said. “That would mean the message has got out that it is open to anybody.”
“There are people on the council who are first generation to the city of Iola and see the community in a different light,” he said. “They may have a different view of it than what I have and it’s always good to see it through the lens of someone else.”
Middleton has seen the ebb and flow of the community. He recalls when Gates Manufacturing first came to town, bringing an influx of people from outside of the area.
“They brought things with them that we had not experienced,” he said in terms of retail. “Some of those things have stayed and some have gone.” Because of this, Middleton says he has the unique insight to know whether something might work for the community.
“When I hear things brought up, I look at whether I have seen it tried before,” he said. “That doesn’t mean to shut it down. New ideas are good and we should alallow that to happen.”
Looking at some of the pressing issues of the community, Middleton thinks there is a “want” from the community for some sort of recycling program.
“I volunteered in the last recycling efforts a number of times,” he said, adding that he learned a lot about the different types of plastics. He noted that even after there were talks of the recycling being shut down, he and his wife Julia continued to recycle at home. “We had nowhere to put it, though, and it eventually went into the trash,” he said.
Middleton says he is sold on the fact that to recycle is to be a good steward to the community by taking pressure off the landfill.
“As far as the city’s role, or any government role, I don’t know what the best path is to go down,” he said. “I’d definitely like to see if there is something feasible that we can do.”
