Also on the Nov. 7 ballot is a second question about county government. That question asks voters to decide whether the county should create two more commission districts, raising the county commission from three members to five.
The Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce study group which recommended hiring a county administrator also suggested to expanding the commission. The proposals for a county administrator and expanding the commission have gone hand in hand.
“We feel that five districts with equal population will give citizens of Lyon County better representation,” stated the study group summary. “It will also give the county more voices when looking at policy on county issues.”
County Controller Dan Slater said Lyon County is a model county for a three-member commission.
“We went to some of the (study group’s) meetings like the one at the vo-tech school,” Slater said. “The things they were saying they could do with a five-member commission and an administrator, we’ve been doing for 15 years.
“To a lot of counties, we’re the model on how to do things.”
Slater said that most counties in Kansas still have three commissioners and no county administrator.
Slater said the system in Lyon County works.
“Right now, the group I’ve got is very good at working together in different situations,” he said. “The system, if you elect the right people, works very well.”
Jeanine McKenna, executive director of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce, said she understands some people’s feelings on the way things are working right now.
“We don’t want to make this a personal issue,” McKenna said. “We think the citizens of Lyon County want the same result — we’re just trying to evaluate ways of doing things better and we feel there are ways of doing things better.”
In a recent town-hall meeting in Emporia, Butler County Commissioner Dan Woydziak said that county went from three to five commissioners four years ago.
“Our people are happy with five,” Woydziak said. “They feel there is better representation in the rural area. Also, when you’re communicating and two other people are there, it makes for a much more lively discussion.”