THE EMPORIA Recreation Commission is wise to wait before taking action on a proposal to shrink the group from nine members to seven. Not that there is any question that the size of the board should be reduced, but some thought should go into just how the change will be made.
The nine-member board is just unwieldy. An organization that controls a recreation center and a wide-ranging recreation program that serve the entire community needs to be able to act quickly and efficiently. That is not always possible when the board has trouble scaring up a quorum for its meetings.
Although the commission has the authority to change its composition, it is not entirely independent. Members are appointed by the city commission and the Emporia Board of Education, both of which bear responsibility for the support of the recreation program. Both the city and the school board should be consulted before a change is made.
Now, the board includes two city commissioners and two members of the school board. The city and the schools also each appoint two citizen members. Those eight members of the recreation commission then appoint one at-large member from the community.
The easiest way to cut two members from the recreation commission would be for the city and the school district to each lose one spot on the board. The question at the moment is whether the cut should be made in the number of city commissioners and school board members or in the number of citizen appointees.
The former makes more sense. As a part of their jobs, city commissioners and school board members also serve on a number of committees, joint boards and working groups. They are the members of the recreation commission mostly likely to run into scheduling conflicts and miss meetings.
Also, it would be a bad idea to reduce the number of “civilians” serving on the commission. As a general rule, the more citizen volunteers there are in government, the better and more fairly that government runs.
We hope the recreation commission keeps that in mind when it makes its decision.