Bid for control
Cecil Bollinger
Thursday, October 26, 2006
I BELIEVE Commissioner Myron VanGundy has rankled a few members of the chamber of commerce. A few potential developers were miffed because some of his constituents asked him to not approve county housing developments in their area. Now the chamber leaders want voters to approve a method of running Lyon County without providing any tangible evidence of savings or additional costs to the voters.
In my opinion, the chamber wants to control all of Lyon County by establishing a five-person commission and a county administrator. By establishing five districts rather than three, the majority in each district would reside inside of Emporia. This can potentially lead to a majority of chamber-backed cronies elected to fulfill the chamber’s wishes.
The commission budgeted an additional $235,000 in case the voters decide to approve the chamber’s recommendation. This amount is for only a half year and doesn’t include all future costs.
I read that nine counties out of 105 have hired county administrators. This is less than 9 percent. Evidently, this method is not as grand and glorious, nor as accepted, in Kansas as the chamber leads voters to believe.
I will not vote to implement any measure that benefits a few taxpayers and places the increased costs on the shoulders of all taxpayers. I support Scott Briggs as a replacement for VanGundy. Briggs feels additional commissioners and a county administrator are, along with the additional costs to taxpayers, unnecessary. His opponent is in favor of the Chamber’s proposal and the increased taxes required to support it.
My advice is if it isn’t broken don’t mess with it unless you want higher taxes and more bureaucracy.
Cecil Bollinger
Emporia