If Ray Shannon had his druthers, city commissioners would simply drop their plans for an upcoming advisory election to help them determine the size of Iola’s next governing body. That’s because state law already has a mechanism in place to implement an eight-member city council — which Shannon contends best fits the city’s needs — in April 2011, as a result of last year’s vote to disband the current form of government.
The default form could be rejected, though, if the current three-man commission uses home rule powers to adopt another form of city government before that automatic change takes place.
Cities claim home rule through a constitutional amendment that provides the right to issue charter ordinances spelling out how a city will be governed, including the number of commissioners or council members, how they are elected and what powers they will have.
With that in mind, city commissioners last fall appointed a 14-member citizens advisory committee to examine Iola’s options for its next governing body. Shannon was on that committee.
The group met over several weeks before voting in January to recommend a seven-member city council — six councilmen and a mayor.
But after learning there were different opinions among committee members, commissioners instead called for the advisory vote.
SHANNON SPOKE about the appeal of an eight-member council.
“What you have now is a three-member city commission, and all it takes is two people to agree to make a decision — any decision,” Shannon said. That’s not enough, he said.
Nor is a five-member body much better. “Then, it would only take three people to agree.”
Having an eight-member council would force greater discussion on a number of topics before they are approved or rejected, he said.
Such a council also would feature two councilmen from each of Iola’s four voting wards, plus a mayor elected at large, and would give all Iolans better representation in city affairs, Shannon said.
“And if you get two representatives from each ward, it’s guaranteed to get more people interested in what’s happening,” he continued.
Previously anonymous Iolans would need only to campaign in their respective wards, a much easier route to getting elected, Shannon said.
“The system we have right now is stacked against the plain working guy,” because candidates are voted on by the entire city.
“I can list at best maybe a dozen people who have name recognition across the city,” Shannon said.
THE COUNCIL v. commission issue may be moot, however, Shannon said, because of the way ballots for the advisory election are worded.
Iolans will be asked whether the next governing body should feature four, six or eight commissioners and a mayor.
Not councilmen.
“Not only did the commissioners disregard what the citizens committee recommended, they replaced the word ‘council’ with ‘commission,’” Shannon said.
A primary distinction between a council and commission is the mayor’s role in city affairs.
A mayor is considered a voting member of a city commission; his role is substantially less in a council.
In a city council, the role is primarily that of a community spokesman. A mayor votes only to break a tie, or if his vote is necessary for a charter ordinance to be enacted.
SHANNON notes that regardless of the outcome of the upcoming election, the existing commissioners still have the right to set up the next governing body in any way they see fit because of charter ordinances.
That’s why he, plus about 100 others, have formed a coalition calling itself “Iolans For Representative Government.”
The group’s goal is simple — to see an eight-member city council in place.
They plan to publicize the benefits of an eight-member council to voters prior to the election. They also vow to seek petitions protesting any charter ordinance that asks for all of the new governing body’s members to be voted on at large.
“I think the voting wards is that important of an issue,” Shannon said.
Iolans would have 60 days after any charter ordinance is adopted to file a protest petition, which would in turn force an up-or-down vote on the ordinance.
VOTING IN the 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 be voting that day at a separate polling site, the North Community Building, on Iola’s mayoral race. Incumbent Bill Maness is unopposed.
State law prohibits the mayoral election and advisory question from being on the same ballot or asked at the same polling place.
