Iolans, who voted last April to disband the existing city commission, will return to the polls April 6 to endorse one of three potential governing bodies.
They can choose from either a five-, seven- or nine-member city commission.
If voters endorse the nine-member commission, Iola will carry the distinction of having the largest city commission in the state.
While several other communities have nine-member governing bodies, all of those are city councils, not commissions.
There are two notable distinctions between a council and commission: the mayor’s role and how its members are elected.
In a city council, the mayor typically votes only to break a tie, or if the council is one vote shy of enacting a charter ordinance.
The mayor has little political power and instead serves a largely ceremonial role, primarily as a representative of the community for ribbon cuttings and the like. In this form, the mayor may be chosen from among the council.
Most major American cities have a “strong” mayor-council government, in which the mayor is granted executive powers to act independently of the city council, essentially as a separate branch of government. In that system, the mayor prepares and administers the city budget, although those budgets may be subject to council approval. These mayors are typically elected independent of council position.
In a city commission, the mayor is considered one of the voting members, with legislative duties equal to, but not above, any other commissioner. Iola has operated under this form of government for years.
Cities the size of Iola — identified by the state as cities of the second class — that have councils, have its members chosen by wards. City’s Iola’s size require four equal voting wards. Those wards already exist, although population shifting to the north through the years would require Iola would to redraw ward boundaries.
Ward-based voting remained a sticking point to the end for those who served on a citizens committee to study Iola’s future governance last fall.
John McRae, former mayor, contends that Iola’s geographic footprint is not large enough to require ward voting and that nearly all of the issues facing the city are not exclusive to specific neighborhoods.
Ray Shannon, however, favors ward voting, noting that having aldermen chosen from across the city provides better representation.
He and other Iolans — he estimates their numbers at about 100 — have formed a coalition calling itself “Iolans For Representative Government.” They have vowed to protest any charter ordinance that does not include ward voting. They also would likely protest the city’s adoption of a five- or seven-member commission, Shannon said.
Sandy Jacquot, legal adviser for the League of Kansas Municipalities, noted that Iola is granted, through the state constitution, the right to set up — through charter ordinances — any form of government it wishes.
The city could, for example, develop a city council that uses both ward and at-large voting. Such an option for a seven-member council was endorsed by the citizens committee in January. Existing city commissioners eschewed that recommendation and instead called for the upcoming advisory election.
AN INFORMAL survey of 35 communities similar to Iola’s — with populations between 2,000 and 10,000 — reveals that nearly half, 17, have five-member governing bodies. Thirteen have five-member commissions and four have five-member city councils.
Fourteen, meanwhile, have nine-member city councils.
Two others, Andover and Ulysses, have seven-member city councils. Garnett and Independence are notable communities that have three-member city commissions.
Closer to home, seven-member city councils are the norm, with LaHarpe, Gas, Moran, Savonburg, Elsmore, Mildred, Bassett, Kincaid and Colony at that size. Yates Center and Humboldt both have nine-member city councils.
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.
Commissioner Bill Shirley and Mayor Bill Maness both have said they will pursue a charter ordinance that adheres to what the public endorses.
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.
