Using for the first time an ordinance created to deal with council vacancies, Great Bend City Council Monday night declared the Ward 4 seat currently held by Brock McPherson vacant due to his continued absences and lack of participation.
Now, Mayor Cody Schmidt “with advise and consent of the council” will begin the process of finding a suitable elector for appointment at the next council meeting Monday, Aug. 21.
The city will begin accepting applications for the opening Tuesday, Aug. 8, Schmidt said. Applications can be found on the city’s website at greatbendks.net or at City Hall, 1209 Williams.
They may be submitted to City Clerk Shawna Schafer at City Hall or emailed to her at schafer@greatbendks.net. Applications will be accepted until 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14.
“The fourth ward has been at half representation for several months due to the failure of one of its council members to take the oath or attend any meetings since the last election,” Schmidt said, referring to McPherson. “Pursuant to Ordinance 4409, when a council member fails to take the oath or is absent at four consecutive regular meetings they are deemed to have resigned and the position is vacant.”
The reason for the ordinance approved in June by the council was the repeated lack of attendance by McPherson. Each of the city’s four wards has two council representatives, leaving Ward 4 with only one who attends meetings regularly, Natalie Towns.
Council members serve two-year terms and Towns is up for reelection Nov. 7. But, McPherson’s seat isn’t up for election until 2024.
The city is divided into four wards, each with two council members. The terms are staggered so one from each ward comes up during each election.
“Mr. McPherson has not taken the oath and has been absent at four consecutive regular meetings since the ordinance was passed,” Schmidt said. “That seat should, therefore, be declared vacant and the mayor, with the advice and consent of the council, should appoint a suitable elector of the Fourth Ward to fill the position.
“I think we all are aware of this and knew it was coming,” he said. “We have reached that point.”
McPherson was not present for the meeting Monday night.
Prior to the ordinance, the city had no clear definition of what creates a vacancy or any procedure to address the situation where a person is elected to a position on the governing body but fails or refuses to accept the office, take the oath and/or attend meetings. This either left a portion of the citizenry not fully represented or left the city with only the cumbersome and expensive process governed by Kansas state statutes that require a recall election initiated by the residents of the ward in question.
Great Bend City Council meeting at a glance
Here is a quick look at what the Great Bend City Council did Monday night:
• Approved making Baker Avenue a one-way street going north between 11th and 12th streets to allow parallel parking on both sides of the block. This would help create more parking for the new Justice Center at 12th and Baker.
• Approved adoption of a new City Code of Ordinances.
The city retained Municipal Code Corporation (Municode) of Tallahassee, Fla., to conduct a recodification of its ordinances pursuant to state statute, Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns said. “City staff worked extensively with the Municode to produce the new Code of Ordinances of the City of Great Bend.”
To complete the process, the city council needed to adopt and pass Ordinance 4413. “This will establish the new code as the baseline for going forward. All future amendments will be made to this code.”
While it might be tempting to tweak this new code before adopting it, City Attorney Allen Glendenning strongly recommended that this be passed as presented. If there are any immediate tweaks the council would like to see, those can be requested, and he will draft an amending ordinance to effect any such amendment to be acted on as early as the next meeting.
If this code had not been adopted Monday, then the zoning amendment to this code that was also on the Monday agenda would have needed to be postponed since it is an ordinance amending this code, Burns said.
• Approved amendments to zoning regulations.
At the April 24, Planning Commission meeting, members of the commission heard the proposed changes to the Great Bend Zoning Regulations that consisted of changes including, but not limited to, setbacks, accessory building location, previous inclusions and general editing. They unanimously approved the changes to the Zoning Regulations and recommended approval to the City Council, City Administrator Logan Burns said.
Approval of this was tied to the approval of new City Code of Ordinances that were also on Monday’s agenda.
• Declared the Ward 4 City Council seat held by Brock McPherson vacant and started the process to fill it.
• Heard a report from City Administrator Brandon Anderson. He focused on the citywide limb cleanup, water meter leak repairs and Party in the Park (this Saturday).
• Held a 15-minute executive session to discuss “date related to financial affairs or trade secrets in regards to a second party.” Along with the council, Mayor Cody Schmidt and City Administrator Brandon Anderson, in the session was Paul Snapp, president of First Kansas Bank.
After reconvening in open session, no action was taken.
• Finalized the resolution that sets the salary ranges effective Aug. 20. This was approved as part of the 2024 budget. The effective date is the start of the payroll for Sept. 8.
• Approved door-to-door licenses and tree trimmer licenses.
