Dear Editor,
Good news. Councilmen Steve French and Ken Rowe, who represent Ward 4 of Iola, are holding a public forum at Iola Middle School this Thursday evening. Councilpersons reaching out to the citizens of each ward was something envisioned by many of us who worked for so long getting to a council with two representatives from each ward.
Questions have been in my mind almost from the get-go. Now was my chance to ask. Then I realized that Wanda and I will be out of town. So I decided to write, hoping some person from the ward will ask a question for me.
Most important, when topics on the agenda are certain to be of interest to many people, do the councilmen make a diligent effort to get a feel of the public pulse, or do they just go with their own opinion?
By diligent, I mean do they contact a variety of people, state the topic and ask for an opinion? Or if they do talk to people do they just state their’ opinion and not really ask for a reasoned response. The second approach startles people enough they don’t disagree.
Emails are a good way to keep your representative aware of your opinion but the problem with this is the “aginners” are far more apt to speak out than those in favor.
French and Rowe are setting a good example. Maybe more will follow.
Ray Shannon,
Iola, Kan.
