As Iola ponders just what size it would like its new governing body to be, let alone whether that body is a council or commission, residents can look south to Chanute for an example of a commission/city manager government that seems, by all accounts, to be working just fine, thank you.
Chanute, population 9,411, has had a five-member commission governing with the help of a hired city manager for more than 30 years.
“I think it runs efficiently,” said City Clerk Joan Howard.
Chanute also has a mayor, but that position “is no different than a commissioner — he just runs meetings and signs documents,” Howard said. The mayor is selected each year from sitting commissioners, noted current mayor Ed Cox.
Commissioners hold meetings the second and fourth Monday evening of each month, plus stay in touch with City Manager J.D. Lester via e-mail and phone at other times.
Lester estimated commissioners work about 10 hours per week, for which they receive $3,000 annually, he said. The mayor is paid $3,600; the city manager gets “approximately $90,000 per year,” Lester said.
KANSAS municipalities typically use either of two basic government structures. In the mayor/council form, the mayor holds a non-voting position where his or her vote is cast primarily to break ties. The council sets policy and makes major decisions. There may or may not be a hired city administrator to run daily city operations.
In a commission form of government, the mayor is a voting member of the body. Commissioners are typically elected at-large, whereas councilmen are selected by wards.
Because Iola is ruled by charter ordinances, the governing body has more leeway in establishing itself as it likes. Iola now has a three-man commission with voting mayor and non-voting city administrator.
According to the Kansas League of Municipalities, the commission form of government is declining in popularity and the mayor-council form is “the most prevalent.”
IN CHANUTE’S governing form, the city manager “runs the city, the commission sets policy,” Howard explained. Daily operations include hiring and supervising department heads and determining how resources “are maximized in the community,” Cox said. Simply put, that means establishing budgets for city departments and needs.
Department heads and city staff bring proposed expenses to Lester, who then brings his recommendations to the commission, Cox said. The commission sets the budget. It’s a never-ending process, Cox noted.
“From the time the budget is passed we are looking at future needs and expenses,” he said.
Decisions made independently by Lester include patching potholes, addressing water leaks and prioritizing snow removal, Cox said.
“We’re served better, I think, to have a hired professional deal with those things. If you do a good job hiring a city manager you don’t have to micro-manage,” departments or operations, Cox noted.
Chanute’s commission has been good at picking managers.
“This is my twelfth year as a commissioner and we’ve had two” managers in that time, Cox said. “We have never had any issues with this form of government in my years here,” Cox added.
Every two years, three commissioners are elected. Two hold four year terms, three hold two year terms. All commission members are elected at large. The top two vote-getters in the four-year cycle each receive four-year terms, the third is given a two-year term. At the next election cycle, all three two-year seats are up for grabs.
That the manager is hired and not elected helps stabilize a community, Lester said. With elected officials, “the tides can change from one election to another quite a bit,” he said.
But, Mayor Cox noted, “there isn’t anything in the world that can’t be made political. The key to the whole deal is hiring the right people.” Cox believes, with Lester, Chanute has done just that.
LESTER was hired about a year and a half ago. He holds a business degree — “That’s the acumen I bring to the job,” he said. “I have 10 years experience in municipal utilities management” from Hermann, Mo., Lester said. He views the city as a business and “that’s how I try to run it.”
Lester has consolidated departments and strived for more transparency in government since being hired, he said. He is intent on moving the city forward.
Chanute acts as an Internet service provider for USD 413, Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center and local non profits, as well as business that need faster Internet speeds than those available commercially, Lester said.
To further transparency, he hosts a radio show the day after commission meetings. He answers questions sent by the public via e-mail, videotapes and archives the broadcasts online for public perusal. Commission meetings are broadcast live on cable TV, then made available for Web viewing afterward.
“You get rid of the hearsay,” with such boradcasts, Lester said. “If someone has a question about something someone said, they can watch it for themselves. I wanted to get ahead of the coffee shop talk. Transparency, transparency, transparency,” is his motto.
Cox agreed such openess is important.
“It’s imperative for the community to employ someone whom the public feels they have access to,” he said. “The key here is communication.”
Communication must also be open between the city manger and the commission, Cox said. The state’s current financial stress “really taxes communities, regardless of their governance,” Cox noted.
“Government at the local level is, to me, the last stand of true democracy,” Cox said. “Heaven forbid there’s not enough people running for election.”
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