Ark Valley News - Council members get terms extended

Council members get terms extended
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: August 18, 2016

Four Valley Center City Council members will have their terms in office extended whether they want to or not.

A new state law that takes effect in 2017 requires local races (city and school board) to be decided in November during odd-numbered years, rather than in the spring.

The law was designed to increase voter participation and save money by combining elections.

The city council on Aug. 16 gave first-round approval to an ordinance that sets details of the new election format.

Council members affected by the change are Al Hobson, who represents Ward 4 (primarily the southwest part of the city); Lou Cicirello, Ward 1 representative (northwest), Brendan McGettigan, Ward 2 representative (northeast) who was appointed to the post when Laurie Dove was elected mayor in 2015, and Jake Jackson, Ward 3 (southeast).

Cicirello may not have to worry about the extension. He is the Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Steve Huebert in the Kansas House. The election this November will determine whether Cicirello returns to the city council (for what will now be an extended period of time) or goes to Topeka.

The council asked city staff to check whether expiring terms could end on a Tuesday, rather than a Monday, as the state law indicates, because city council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

The ordinance will be finalized at the council's Sept. 6 meeting.

In other business Aug. 16, the council:

•Voted 6-1 to approve a resolution that expands the city's annexation of the Valley Center High School property to include the roads surrounding the school. The move comes just before Sedgwick County is scheduled to consider whether to allow the city to annex the school property. The initial plan called for the annexation of just the north half of 93rd along the school property and the east half of Meridian. City Attorney Barry Arbuckle said county planners are recommending the full annexation of the portions of the roads that border the high school property. Arbuckle figured the resolution would help facilitate the annexation process. Council member Dale Kerstetter voted against the resolution. He said he feared the county will back-track on its planned reconstruction of 93rd, from Meridian to Broadway, which is a joint project with the city. City staff said the county and city have a binding contract to get that work done, and it will start after Labor Day. Even with the roads, the annexation of Valley Center High School would be considered an island annexation because it does not border current city boundaries.

•Approved Dove's appointment of Helen LeBlanc and Stacy Alexander to the library board. In other library news, the council learned that the Friends of the Library and the library board had raised $884,488 toward the Community Center project.

•Approved a resolution and set the maximum spending and taxation budget for 2017. Budget was set at $12 million, while taxes collected were set at $2.5 million.

•Met in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss land acquisition. No binding decisions were made.

•Met in executive session for 10 minutes to discuss personnel. No binding decisions were made.

•Learned that a 6-inch water main broke in the 700 block of North Meridian on Aug. 15. It was quickly repaired.

•Heard Hobson praise Neal Owings and the parks department for how nice the parks looked and how friendly his staff has been.

McGettigan was not at the meeting.