Well, candidate filing is completed, and it seems the gloves are off already. Rumors and gossip are swirling like an Oklahoma tornado about who is going to do what when they get elected to the Watonga City Council.
First, this isn’t the White House and council members aren’t the president. They can’t executive order whatever they want like this is the ala carte menu at Pizza Hut.
There are restrictions on what council can and can’t do.
News flash – council has no authority to hire or fire anyone except the city manager. Other than that position, hire and fire is the wheelhouse of the city manager. So bragging about going in to ‘clean house’ is a falsehood.
Next up is the nonsense about changing back to the old form of government, aldermanic with council members and an elected mayor. Yes, it can be done. In odd numbered years the change question can be put to a vote of the citizens. That means the question can be on a ballot in 2027, the same year some of the council seats-Ward #4 and the at-large seat - that are up for grabs in April will be up for reelection.
If the people choose to change the form of government – and in my opinion that would be a giant step backward – it can be enacted two years after the vote, so in 2029. That is the same year the remaining council members who are elected in April – Ward #1 and #2 will be up for re-election. How about a little chaos, everyone?
Then there is the hogwash about a forensic audit. You don’t just pick up the phone and call the State Auditor and ask for a forensic audit.
It takes a petition of at least 10 % of the registered voters inside city limits to call for such an audit. Guess who gets to pay for this witch hunt? The city does.
Once the requisite number of signatures are collected, the requesting party must tell the auditors what they are suspicious of – corruption like kickbacks, or nepotism, where the city hires the mayor’s cousin’s uncle for a job, or illegalities like embezzlement, theft or fraud. You can’t just call the auditors up and say ‘We don’t like this, so please dig into the city finances and find some dirt.’
If candidates are so concerned with the goings on of the council, they should all be at every council meeting and for the love of Pete, read the audit that is posted on the website. I’m not saying that all the answers are there, but it is a good place to start and it will allow anyone – candidate or not – to ask intelligent, specific questions.
I have been told the financial report from RS Meacham will soon be posted on the website monthly as well.
In my opinion, the argument isn’t with this city manager, it is with the change from the city being run like a non-profit organization to being run like a business. Back in the bad old days a resident with a friend on the council could call that friend and get an issue solved PDQ.
Now if a resident has a problem, they must go through the steps that every other resident has to go through. Yes, you can call the council person from your ward and discuss the problem, but the days of favors and pulling strings are past. The issue will get put on the list of other issues that need to be addressed and must work its way through the process.
I had lengthy discussions with the newspaper editor from Holdenville last week. That town is going through the transition from aldermanic to city manager government right now. In fact, they hired the same interim manager we had, Larry Mitchell. And they are having the same growing pains we had.
And if the candidates who are elected don’t want to continue to employ Ms. Little as city manager, so be it. Let her go and get another manager. It isn’t rocket science.
But don’t be under the illusion that changing managers is going to change the job description of a city manager. Only the personality will change, not the job.
One more question. Let’s just say, for instance, we do go back to an elected mayor to act as our city’s CEO. What if that mayor decides he/she doesn’t like the job? Or he/she isn’t going to do the job or attend the meetings? It isn’t like they can be fired. They are elected. Watonga isn’t a charter city, there is no recall option. We would be stuck with a dink in office until the next election. How many steps backward do we take until four years elapse?
Consider this hard when talking to council candidates. Remember we all get to vote on all wards, not just our own. Do we really want to throw the baby out with the bathwater? It’s your choice. Let your voice be heard.