(Editor’s note: Iolans will be asked in the April 6 city election whether they prefer a five-, seven- or nine-member city commission. This is the fourth in a series of articles detailing the issue.)
Iola has plenty of factions on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to considering the size of the city’s next city commission, Nancy Ford notes.
On one side are advocates for a nine-member body, featuring eight commissioners and a mayor. A commission that large provides better representation for the entire city, they claim.
At the other end are those in favor of a five-member commission. They opine that having five in office would ensure an efficient and high quality governing body while erasing the notion that only two members could wield an inordinate amount of power.
Ford, who served on a citizens committee last fall to discuss Iola’s future governance, noted that several considered it a “black-and-white” issue, and that their opinions weren’t going to change regardless of what their research uncovered.
Both sides had valid points, Ford said; and weaknesses.
That’s why Ford backs a third alternative: a seven-member commission.
Ford envisions a commission featuring representatives from each of Iola’s four voting wards, plus three others — including the mayor — elected at large.
“I really think having a seven-member commission is the best of both worlds,” Ford said. “It’s a compromise, but it also has the strengths of both of the other two concepts.
FORD’S recommendation is for a hybrid commission, with both ward and at-large voting.
Ford, who lives along Walnut Street in the northwest part of town, recalled driving through a residential area near Allen County Hospital last week.
“I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been in that neighborhood,” she said. “I wouldn’t know what their needs are. And who’s to say one part of town has better candidates?”
Iola commissioners appointed the 14-member citizens committee in the aftermath of last April’s vote to disband the existing city commission.
The committee met over several months last fall before ultimately endorsing the seven-member body that Ford favors.
Ford acknowledged that the advisory committee meetings were frustrating at times, because of the members who entered the discussions with opposite points of view.
“There were a lot of people with black-and-white views of what they wanted to see,” she said.
Those disagreements also soured Ford on the notion, somewhat, on having a nine-member commission.
With a commission that large, hot topic discussions would be more prone to bickering, she said.
IOLA commissioners, who have the final say on the size and role of the incoming government, eschewed the committee’s recommendation and instead called for another citywide vote April 6. Then, Iola voters will endorse one of three commission sizes — five, seven or nine.
While the upcoming election is advisory only, both Commissioner Bill Shirley and Mayor Bill Maness said they would go with the voters’ recommendation in setting the size of the new commission.
“It was a little frustrating to see the commissioners reject our recommendation without even really discussing it,” Ford said. “We put a lot of time and effort into it.”
(Coming Monday: Former mayor John McRae favors a governing body of four commissioners and a mayor.)
