Emporia Mayor Kevin Nelson thinks two consecutive terms is enough for people serving on local advisory boards and commissions.
In an effort to promote fresh ideas and to give an out for existing members, Nelson wants his fellow city commissioners to consider implementing term limits. He believes turnover is good because new people present new points of view.
“A change would bring some new ideas,” he said.
A problem with implementing term limits is it may not be the city’s decision to make. Some boards were established by state ordinance and others have bylaws that dictate terms of service. City Attorney Blaise Plummer is looking into what can and can’t be changed.
In those situations where the city has no say, the city may be able to limit their representatives on the board to two terms. So, for instance, while other Board of Zoning Appeals members could serve unlimited terms, city representatives would be limited to two terms.
Currently the city has representatives on 15 different boards, most of which already have a two-term limit. However, people serving on the Board of Zoning Appeals, Community Corrections and Emporia Recreation Commission have an unlimited number of terms.
The number of years per term also is uneven. Of those 15 boards, five have term limits of four years and eight have term limits of three years. Community Corrections and the RDA both have two-year terms.
“We also are looking at the idea of making it the same years across the board,” Nelson said.
Nelson said he’s seen situations where board members want a break, but feel guilty about leaving the board while they are in the middle of projects. This way the term limit becomes an excuse to get them off, he said.
“They can always re-apply the next time around” Nelson said.
While some other communities have trouble attracting volunteers to serve on boards, for the most part Emporians have been eager to step up and participate.
“Once in awhile we’ll have an opening for a month or two because the right person hasn’t heard about it,” Nelson said. “You hear about other towns having trouble finding people, but we’ve had a lot of people step up to serve.”
93shocarguy (anonymous) says...
Is this Nelson's way of getting people off the Rec Board that has made him look like the idiot he is recently? Maybe we should consider limiting the term of commissioners and the mayor as well, that would be a way to force new blood on the commission too. Heck that would help us get rid of Nelson AND Kessler !
October 12, 2011 at 12:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
October 13, 2011 at 8:31 a.m. ( permalink )
hottopics (anonymous) says...
I totally agree. I think this should go for all of them as well. We have suffered the "good ol boy" syndrome for way to many years. Its time to stop those connections that lead to bad decisions for the ones who pay for it. THE CITIZENS.
October 13, 2011 at 11:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tourguide (anonymous) says...
Does Kevin realize his job is now on the line ? 2 yrs. is long enough for any city office. RDA included means we can get rid of Steve's BOY's. And now that the City Commissioners have turned a deaf ear to the taxpayers of E Town, We can replace the whole gang. It's time to clean House.. Maybe we can FIRE ZIMMY, and hire a mayor to do the job. That would free up $ Hundreds of thousands$..... Create, Sorry THEY removed your comment. Thought I was the only one to have that done. They don't like the truth ??
October 13, 2011 at 11:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
No, tourguide, they don't like the truth. Perhaps I can state it more friendly like.
Many advisory boards in this town are short on board members because too many folks simply don't volunteer OR those boards are short on members because once appointed, they never show up for meetings, they just like the idea of listing their memberships to this that and the other, sort of like high school.
October 14, 2011 at 8:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Strange, I advocated castration and throat cutting for rapists on another thread and it got left in. LOL
October 14, 2011 at 8:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )