L&T Publisher Earl Watt
At last week’s Seward County Commission meeting, Chairman Scott Carr used the final 10 minutes to review the Kansas statutes that outline the role of county commissioners as well as the role of the county administrator.
It’s good information even though the reading of the rules didn’t refer to any specific commissioner. Perhaps it was just a general statement, but it would seem strange to just read the rules of being a commissioner without a reason to do so. They were intended for someone.
Since Carr made the statement, I wanted to provide the community as a whole some of those statements and perhaps clarify them.
The biggest point seemed to be about the individual authority of any single commissioner.
There is none. The only authority a commissioner has is to be one of five votes, a very important and privileged position for sure, but outside of a commission meeting, a commissioner is just a regular citizen like the rest of us.
As Carr knows, that also applies to the chairman. Other than signing on behalf of the commission and guiding the meetings, the chairman, or in the city’s case the mayor, has no added authority, either.
Carr also pointed out that a commissioner cannot ask any questions beyond “what open records law allows.”
While a commissioner cannot direct any staff member to enact a policy or take any specific action at their behest, commissioners can ask staff questions.
And they should.
How can a commissioner be effective if they are unaware of what is taking place within the organization?
Carr later added that it is the job of a commissioner to “develop and acquire knowledge” to make them an effective commissioner. How else is this done without conversing with staff? Just as the general public can ask staff questions, so, too, can an individual commissioner. There is a difference between, “What is our policy referring to this topic?” and “You need to do this or it’s your job.”
Carr also stated that commissioners should “advocate for employees to adopt efficient practices and use of resources.”
How is that accomplished without conversing with employees? Clearly it is expected that commissioners will interact with staff.
Carr added that no individual commissioner can “direct counsel to take action” on behalf of the commission.
True enough.
But commissioners should be asking questions of counsel on how policies are interpreted so the commissioner knows how he or she might want to vote on an issue depending upon the legal ramifications of such a decision, or if current practices are legal. It would seem to be due diligence to ask these questions prior to the public meeting since commissioners are not allowed to converse with more than one other commissioner on any given issue. To do so would be a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. It makes much more sense for commissioners to come to the meetings prepared to converse with one another with information they have already gained by properly visiting with staff, including counsel.
It also puts the administrator in a very awkward situation to expect only one person to answer every question from the commissioners. That opens the door to how that administrator interprets the responses received from a staffer or from a commissioner. It is more efficient and effective for the commissioner to speak directly with the department that could best answer the question.
If any commissioner is asking questions of staff, and this is making other commissioners or staff uncomfortable for trying to be informed, and that is what led to the reading, then it was misguided. If a commissioner is ordering staff to change or modify their actions based on the direction of only one commissioner, then that commissioner doesn’t understand the role, and the reading was justified. This does not apply, of course, to requests for data, budgets, policy, procedure, etc. An informed commissioner is an effective commissioner. Keeping commissioners in the dark or only hearing one voice to base all their decisions would seem to render the commission useless. Just elect one person to run the show in that case.
There is also a difference between a suggestion and a directive. “Have you considered doing this?” is much different than “Start doing this.”
One comment by Carr, however, from the Kansas Association of Counties, was troublesome.
Carr stated that a commissioner should be impartial and make decisions “unswayed by the public.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the job of a commissioner to represent the public, to listen to the public which also includes staff, leadership and everyone else. The more input a commissioner receives, the more effective that commissioner will be. Those who seem to find themselves unelected typically stopped listening to someone, be it staff or the public. They tried to go it alone or thought themselves to be superior in thought to the people they represent. Or they formed a small, exclusive circle. When a commissioner believes it is their role to buck the public, they stop being a representative and start being one of the insiders, or the good ol’ boys. Voters tend to reject a close-minded commissioner at re-election time.
Carr said it was the role of a commissioner to build public confidence by being an impartial representative. That requires listening to all sides, not refusing to listen to or converse with anyone.
City Commissioner Ron Warren knows what it’s like to have a benign question of staff result in attempted disciplinary action. It was wrong then, and I hope we are not attempting it now. As a sidenote, all those involved with that attempt are gone, and Warren is still serving. The people do have a way of making these attempts to intimidate a commissioner for asking questions go away.
The Seward County Commission will be hosting two town hall meetings, one beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Pavilion in Kismet and another at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Seward County Commission Chambers in Liberal.
This is your chance to interact with the commission and let them know your thoughts on issues like the revenue neutral rate, the upcoming half cent sales tax proposal, should the county hire a financial officer or even what type of input you expect your commissioner to receive to be an effective voice.
It takes at least three of the five commissioners to agree on an action. Carr’s reminder was a good place to start to know the difference between micromanaging and being an informed and effective public servant.
