Five is enough for council

opinions

February 15, 2017 - 12:00 AM

Beverly Franklin has a good idea.
An Iola council member, she proposed Monday evening that Iola once again change its governing body from eight council members and a mayor to a council of five and a mayor.
Franklin didn’t give specific reasons for proposing the reduction, but others apparently have had the same idea. Councilman Aaron Franklin said he had been approached by many citizens who thought a smaller body would be better. So, too, has Administrator Sid Fleming, perhaps telling in itself since he has been on the job only a few months.
In 2009, Iolans voted to abolish a charter ordinance that established a three-person commission decades earlier. A new ordinance to elect five councilpersons and a mayor failed in 2010, which, by nature of the law, led to default to a council of eight and a mayor.
Those machinations occurred in large measure from discussions by a committee of about a dozen, some of whom preferred to stay with three and, eventually, a majority that put a five-member council to a vote.
Beverly Franklin’s proposal is to have one council member from each of Iola’s four wards and a fifth elected at-large.
A reason for the larger council was it would give better representation and more discussion would ensue. Maybe, maybe not. Some council members are naturally talkative; others barely say boo.
We suspect that five good minds — not to say there aren’t eight now — on the council would provide for sufficient debate to arrive at good decisions. Also, it would be easier to have a quorum with a council of five. The current council has been afflicted by high absenteeism throughout its tenure.
Sometimes too many cooks spoil the broth. Finding the right balance is the goal.

— Bob Johnson

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