Agler, Longbine, Nelson win city
Myers loses bid for re-election
By Scott Rochat
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Emporia voters ventured into the “northwest territory” Tuesday, electing Bobbie Agler, Jeff Longbine and Kevin Nelson to the Emporia City Commission.
All three men are businessmen who live in northwestern Emporia. The incumbent Agler led the unofficial count with 1,850 votes followed by car dealership owner Jeff Longbine with 1,714 and departing school board member Kevin Nelson with 1,513.
The election brought an end to a 14-year run for City Commissioner Tom Myers, who finished fourth with 1,161 votes. During his time on the commission, Myers had been especially active in social issues such as domestic violence and housing conditions.
“Oh, Tom,” Agler said, patting him lightly on the back as the two watched the last results come in at the Lyon County Courthouse. “Tom, it isn’t going to be the same.”
“Well, my cardiologist approves,” Myers joked.
Political activist Phil Dillon finished fifth with 1,041 votes while Jesse Solis, who owns Elbert Liquor Store and Solis & Solis Security, brought up the tail end with 1,030.
“I think one of the things I’ve seen is that it really takes a lot to overcome inertia,” said Dillon, who intends to continue working on local issues at a grass-roots level. “But also, you get to a point where you think ‘I must be the only guy thinking this.’ But when you get on the stump, you see there’s others that understand.”
Thanks to his campaign’s Web site, some of those others had an international flavor. One e-mail even came from a former Emporian living in Germany.
Coming abroad
The new commissioners take office April 18. When that happens, four of the five commissioners will have two years of experience or less. The exception is Commissioner Julie Johnson , who has served on the commission since 1999.
“I thought I knew an awful lot two years ago,” joked Agler, who came on the commission two years ago. “Thank goodness I knew as much as I did, because there was a lot to learn.”
He said he was impressed with how much information was available to the voters, adding that they seemed to be looking at preparation more than personalities this year.
“I think this time, people really wanted to know what you believed in, whether you had done your homework and had a foundation for what you were talking about,” Agler said.
Longbine, who also chairs the Regional Development Association board, said he was pleased with the results and eager to get to work.
“I’m one of those guys who doesn’t have a lot of down time and I don’t really want a lot of down time,” he said. “It feels like I’ve always got to have a project or something to do.”
Longbine and others saw it as a positive race, but not a boring one. There was plenty of debate, but no rancor.
“The thing that I know I’ve appreciated most is that people have different views, different ideas on how to get to the common goal,” Longbine said.
Nelson had planned on spending election night at home with his family rather than watching the tally at the courthouse. Then he found out his family didn’t want to stay home.
“We got to talking about it and the kids were interested,” said Nelson, who came with his wife Lori, their 11-year-old son Nicholas and their 7-year-old daughter Reagan. “So we thought we’d check it out.”
A four-year veteran of the Emporia school board, Nelson said that his city campaign required him to study a much wider scope of issues. But of all of them, he said, the first priority would be to forge a good working relationship with new City Manager Matt Zimmerman.
“We need to get to know our city manager, what’s his background and where does he want to take the city,” Nelson said.
Solis could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
End of the line
Myers took his defeat in stride. He is the first incumbent city commissioner in more than 10 years to lose a bid for re-election.
“Well, the good news is, now I can make a book deal,” he said with a chuckle. “The important thing is we’ve got good candidates in the race. No matter which three of the six of us get a seat at the table, the city’s going to be just fine. That’s the important part.”
The hardest thing about this election, Myers said, was letting the public know the good things the city had done.
“It’s hard to combat misinformation or mis-impressions,” Myers said. “For instance, the budget situation we were in, I thought it was probably not well understood. It probably wasn’t understood about the budget cuts and other cutting we did to keep from raising the mill levy. The mill levy actually declined. But it’s hard to explain that in a minute or two at a forum or a short written form without sounding defensive.”
It’s been good to be able to give back to the city, he said. But stepping down is not the end of the world.
“I’ve got alternative methods of paying my light bill,” he grinned. “It’s a sub-minimum wage part-time job, after all. And some would say we’re worth nearly every penny of it.”
Doug (anonymous) says...
It's pretty sad when you can predict the outcome of an election as soon as the names of the candidates are announced! Maybe we should divide our commissioners into districts so the whole city will be represented not just the wealthier west side.
April 4, 2007 at 10:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
4_Emporia (anonymous) says...
That is so TRUE!
April 4, 2007 at 10:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bdprotheroe (anonymous) says...
Divide the city into districts, with one commissioner elected from each district? That's a good idea that should be given honest consideration. Emporia wouldn't be the first city in the country to implement such a plan for equal representation. It is a plan that works well out here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governme...). An added benefit of such a move would be greater civic involvement in each of the districts. Enhanced community participation is a good thing, and a sense of "ownership" will contribute to that activity.
Brian Protheroe
San Francisco, CA
April 4, 2007 at 12:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hottopics (anonymous) says...
I agree, it always seem the one with the most money wins. Like we need people who have forgotten what its like to make ends meat in Emporia living on low wages and high high and higher taxes. You cant even afford to be poor here. This town is drowing. Big business's grow and we dont. Take that to the table commissioners.
April 4, 2007 at 1:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
4_Emporia (anonymous) says...
I agree with you Brian and everyone else. This is a prime example of the haves and the have nots.
April 4, 2007 at 2:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Phil_Dillon (anonymous) says...
Last night I was asked whether or not I was disappointed in the outcome of the election. All I could say was that I was disappointed, but not surprised. One of the things I did say was that I was going to start up a grassroots organization to confront the issues the city faces, particularly in the area of leadership. There are several tasks at hand, including developing slates of reform candidates who have the interests of the average personal at heart, finding a way to get a complete audit of how the city has been spending money for years. The city funds the Regional Development Authority to the tune of $250K per year and hasn't brought a business into Emporia in over six years. Where is all that money going? Large corporations, including Menu, Tyson, Dolly Madison and others are getting about a million and half dollars a year in tax abatements. This while our median incomes sink and our taxes skyrocket.
If anyone has an interest in being a part of grassroots change, please visit my website (http://www.anothermansmeat.blogspot.com/). The site is interactive and I welcome feedback, comment, critique, suggestions, ideas.
Things have to change here and the results of the election tell me that it's going to have to be a grassroots effort.
Thanks to those who supported me. I place great value on that. Don't give up. We can change things
Phil Dillon
April 4, 2007 at 4:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )