Iola City Council members will vote in June on a proposed charter ordinance to reshape the governing body.
“We really need to get this going by the end of June,” City Administrator Carl Slaugh said Tuesday.
Council members will consider an ordinance that keeps the existing eight-member council in place while setting up staggered elections so only half of the members are up for re-election at once. Each councilman would serve four-year terms.
The proposed ordinance also would reshape the mayor’s powers, removing his ability to make personnel changes or veto council actions, and make the city treasurer an appointed position instead of an elected one.
Councilman Kendall Callahan spoke about sentiment from some in the community to pare the council from eight members to four, plus a mayor.
He suggested a petition drive to prove citywide support for such a proposal, “and I’d be more than happy to look at that. I want what the people want. But I don’t feel like we can sit back and wait on that.
“By proceeding with this, we’re not going to hamper that at all,” he said of a petition drive to go to five members.
Callahan said the council has provided ample opportunity for community input, from council meetings to other public sessions hosted by Mayor Bill Shirley.
JAKE LAWRENCE, Iola’s assistant recreation director, submitted his resignation, effective June 28.
Lawrence has accepted a teaching position in Wilmington, N.C., and will relocate to the east coast.
Council members also approved annual evaluations and subsequent pay raises for two other employees at 2.5 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
