EMPORIA may celebrate its sesquicentennial by striking out in unexpected directions. The community’s power structure is changing and the city will change along with it.
Emporia State University has had a new president for less than two months now. When Michael Lane begins to hit his stride — probably sometime in the spring — the face of the university will begin to change. Those changes will be felt in the community.
On Friday, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius appointed Emporia lawyer Jeffry Larson to replace Judge John Sanderson on the Fifth District bench. The laws will be the same for Larson as for Sanderson, who is retiring after 18 years on the bench, but every judge exerts influence on the community. With Larson at the courthouse, Emporia will become a subtly different town.
But Lane and Larson will not be the only sources of community change.
The search continues for a new city manager, perhaps the most powerful official in the city. Steve Commons, the former city manager, was here for decades. A new person in the office will mean new ways of doing things. There will also be a learning period as city commissioners adapt to the new manager and the manager learns to work with the commissioners.
Along with the manager, Emporia will be getting a new police chief. Mike Heffron retired Friday and a search has begun for his successor. The police chief is responsible for allocating resources in law enforcement, hiring and firing personnel, recommending equipment purchases and making dozens of other decisions that affect the safety — and the sense of safety — of the people of Emporia. A change in that office means more changes in the city.
All of these changes have been in the works for some time. Now another change has been added to the list.
Friday afternoon, Mary Helmer, director of Emporia Main Street, announced that she has accepted a job with the state Main Street organization. Helmer has led the downtown revitalization organization through the Streetscape project and other beautification projects. Today’s downtown is, in many ways, Helmer’s creation. Under her leadership, Emporia Main Street has won many state and national awards and become an integral part of the effort to make Emporia a better place to live.
A new Main Street director will mean the creation of new projects and changes in emphasis in old projects.
As if all the changes were not enough, there will be more coming in the new year. After the spring election, Emporia will have at least one new city commissioner.
The changes have begun and they will continue. That is not a bad thing. Change makes people nervous, but Emporia did not survive and prosper for 150 years by refusing to face the future.
It is fitting that the city should begin its 151st year in a flurry of changes.