Letter to the editor: Best person for the job
To the editor:
On Tuesday, May 22, you will be asked to vote on Charter Ordinance 12. Charter Ordinance 12 is simple: It asks to allow the city clerk to live in an adjoining Kansas county and not just Leavenworth County. I would like to ask for your support in answering “yes” to this question.
I have been in public administration for over 12 years and have hired many people. The rule I always use is to hire the best person for the position. Why hire the best? So we can serve the people better. It has been a rule that has served residents of other communities well.
A “no” vote would result in having to limit your government from selecting the best person and instead limiting it to the best-qualified person within a certain “zip code.” The adjoining counties are some of the most populated and would widen the resources potentially available.
Please help give the city of Tonganoxie the tools it needs to serve you better. Vote “yes” on Charter Ordinance 12 on May 22.
Christopher Clark,
City administrator,
Tonganoxie.
Letter to the editor: Vote no on Tuesday
To the editor:
Your vote is important at the May 22 special election. This letter should help voters understand what the adoption or rejection of this issue will mean.
A charter ordinance allows cities to depart from the rules of the Kansas Constitution and make their own laws.
Kansas law 15-209, cited on the ballot, states that officers elected or appointed, “shall be qualified electors (residents) of the city.” If any elected or appointed officer fails to meet the residency requirement a vacancy is created in that office.
In 1984, the Tonganoxie governing body adopted Charter Ordinance No. 6, which allowed the city clerk to reside outside the city limits but inside Leavenworth County. This is still law.
On Oct. 25, 2000, our governing body hired Kathy Bard for city clerk. City officials chose to ignore that she lacks the most essential qualification residency of our county!
In an attempt to retain Ms. Bard, our city government passed Charter Ordinance No. 12, which you will have an opportunity to vote on Tuesday, May 22. If passed, Ms. Bard will be allowed to live outside our county in an “adjoining county.”
Kansas law 15-209, is cited as the basis for this action. However, an important element is excluded from the language of the ordinance. It should include, “Provided, That nothing herein shall authorize the appointment of nonresidents of this state.” We do have a Missouri county adjoining us at the northeast boundary.
Did city government knowingly break our law? One news article stated, “It’s possible that Bard would move from De Soto to Tonganoxie.”
A survey of nine local cities revealed that not one city allows their clerk to live outside the county! Intriguingly, De Soto requires their clerk to reside within the city.
The election is not about zip codes. It is about economics! Tonganoxie already has one large salary, $38,500, going to Roland Park. Is our economy so viable that we want another $29,000 salary going to Johnson County?
Defeat Charter Ordinance No. 12 and keep our city clerk a resident of Leavenworth County. Vote no on May 22.
N. Jean Lenahan,
Tonganoxie.
Letter to the editor: Vote yes on Tuesday
To the editor:
Tuesday we vote to decide if the city of Tonganoxie may hire a person, who lives in an adjacent county, as city clerk.
The role of a city clerk is not just clerical. This person is responsible for many financial functions including municipal fund accounting, purchasing, budget preparation and administration, managing investments, payroll and accounts payable and receivable. Tonganoxie has over $2.5 million in 20 separate funds for which it is accountable. The city clerk is also responsible for benefits and insurance coordination, personnel administration, and other record keeping and minutes taking tasks.
Last year Tonganoxie was searching for a suitable candidate for city clerk. Two separate searches were instituted. The first search resulted in 14 applications of which six interviews were granted. Two applicants were offered the position but turned the offer down. Another search was instituted. This time 10 applications were received. Two persons with assistant city clerk experience applied. Both lived outside Leavenworth County. No one at City Hall noticed the residence requirement for this position and Kathy Y. Bard, of Johnson County, was hired.
Ironically, Ms. Bard discovered the error and immediately reported it to the city administrator. The council unanimously passed a charter ordinance to change the residence requirement to any adjoining county. However, a petition, filed by a Tonganoxie resident, forced the election, which will cost taxpayers approximately $1,500.
Tuesday we must decide whether to retain a quality city clerk and go on about the city’s business of making Tonganoxie an even greater place to work and live or make another, probably futile, search for an applicant who lives in Leavenworth County. In an apparent effort to minimize the position of city clerk, I heard one person complain, “This job isn’t rocket science.” And it’s not. But I still want a qualified and conscientious person managing our $2.5 million.
Ms. Bard is knowledgeable and accommodating. So why not keep a person we have had six months to evaluate and who is a known high-quality employee?
I am voting yes on Charter Ordinance 12 and I encourage all my friends and neighbors to do likewise.
Jim Morey,
Tonganoxie.
Letter to the editor: Support for ordinance
To the editor:
I would like to encourage all those friends who supported me all the years I served the city of Tonganoxie as your mayor to support the city administration in their effort to upgrade the ordinance relative to hiring of the city clerk.
It is hard to find qualified people to fill this position. In the years I was mayor, I held a lot of interviews. There were not many people who applied who were willing to leave their present positions to move to Tonganoxie. The few who applied from the city were not qualified.
If I were still the mayor, I would try to hire the best-qualified person I could find, regardless of the county he or she lived in, as long as it was in the state of Kansas. Let’s put our differences behind us and work together to make Tonganoxie the best possible place to live.
Please vote on Tuesday, May 22.
Herb Robbins,
Tonganoxie.