Dear editor,
One of the greatest honors of my life was to serve as Iola’s mayor for over a decade. Our next council meeting has brought back fond memories.
Every year the Kansas League of Municipalities puts on a seminar for Kansas’ elected officials. I assume they still do and I would hope that our council members still attend. I found them to be so beneficial that I attended 12 years in a row. The League covers everything from open meetings law to utility management. In fact there are so many sessions that it is difficult to decide which ones to attend.
Without question my favorite presentations were always the case studies on divisive issues. Real scenarios are outlined that are certain to put elected officials in an unpleasant box. Sometimes they involved annexation or utility rates or personnel. Other times they might involve condemnation or employee health insurance or even zoning changes. Invariably, they involve making some people happy and some people mad.
Usually the council’s decisions are no-brainers. Do we pay the bills, Yup. Do we approve the minutes, Yup. Do we meet on Tuesday, Yup. Probably 95 percent of the council’s decisions fit into this category, something that could be accomplished by a third grade class at Jefferson School.
The decision that our council will face at their next meeting brings a smile to my face. The ones outlined in the case studies test your intelligence, your vision and frankly, your courage. The one our council faces next week is one of those. It will test their mettle.
Personally, I think it is in Iola’s best interest to reclassify the property in question to multi-family. I won’t belabor the points so eloquently made by other letters to the editor. I especially appreciated the blunt evaluations presented by Maude Burns and Rosemary Bass. Those are members of the Greatest Generation speaking loud and clear.
I’ll close with thoughts about former Commissioner and Mayor Bill Shirley. His wife, Roberta, is a resident in the residential facility in Chanute, the one we lost several years ago because of our council’s lack of vision. It breaks my heart to see him drive to Chanute every single day to be with Roberta when he should be driving just a few blocks from his house down Kentucky.
John McRae, president
Iola Industries Inc.
