Iola commissioners are nearly ready to adopt a charter ordinance to establish the city’s next governing body.
Commissioners discussed with City Attorney Chuck Apt language regarding charter ordinances — in particular, how to set up staggered elections for incoming city commissioners — as well as new boundaries for Iola’s four voting wards.
The ordinances will establish a five-member city commission next April, with one member from each of the voting wards and a mayor elected at large.
Commissioners said they planned to create a hybrid commission, with commissioners representing wards as is done with city councils, but unlike city councils, the mayor would remain a voting member of the commission. In a council, a mayor votes only to break a tie.
Commissioners Bill Shirley and Craig Abbott suggested using next April’s election results to determine terms for the four new commissioners. The two candidates receiving the most votes would serve four years. The other two winning candidates would serve two-year terms initially, after which an election would be held for those seats offering four-year terms.
The mayor would serve a four-year term from the start.
Iola voters, in 2009, elected to disband the existing three-member commission. In a non-binding vote this April, voters recommended a five-member commission over a seven- or nine-member governing body.
Commissioner Craig Abbott noted that regardless of what is established, incoming commissioners could reset any charter ordinances.
ASSISTANT City Administrator Corey Schinstock showed commissioners proposed ward boundaries.
Ward 1 would be west of Cottonwood and north of Lincoln Street. Ward 3 would be west of Cottonwood and south of Lincoln.
Schinstock had to adjust the boundaries between wards 2 and 4 to ensure each had roughly the same population. Their boundaries run along Carpenter, Second, Douglas and East streets.
Schinstock said he used the number of residential electric meters as his gauge for determining populations in each ward. Ward 1 would have 602 meters, while Ward 2 would have 608, Ward 3 would feature 611 and Ward 4 would have 587.
“That’s as close as I could get the numbers,” Schinstock said.
The city hopes to have the charter ordinances in place by early August in order to give sufficient time for County Clerk Sherrie Riebel to ratify the new ward boundaries.
Having the ordinances in place then also would provide ample time for any protest petitions to be filed before the November general election.
