By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Junction City Commissioners have voted 3-2 to do a request for proposals ( RFP ) to seek a firm to assist with the city manager hiring process. Commissioners Richard Pinaire and Al Gordon voted no. Current city manager Allen Dinkel has announced that he is retiring / resigning no later than Sept. 27.
Before that motion Commissioner Richard Pinaire made it clear that he wants to look at a change in the form of city government, and there are two ways that can be done. One could involve a referendum or, two, 10% of the voters in the community can sign a petition.
Pinaire mentioned his ideas including dividing into districts with five commissioners and an elected mayor serving as the CEO. State law allows the city manager form of government to be abandoned and if you go to the mayor council form there could be two at-large and four commissioners by district. "I don't know if the commission is willing to study this and come up with a task force with a little bit different model. If you're not I'm going to circulate a petition. I'm going to ask others in the community to do so and I think it's going to be easy to get 10% of the community to look at a different model."
Pinaire wants the model studied to be something that the commission can support. He indicated that's why he asked the governing to consider hiring an interim city manager. "Because no good city manager's going to come here if there's a possibility that they won't have a job."
Pinaire went on to say, " I want to see a different model presented to the public, essentially your mayor-council form of government. The mayor is the CEO. " If this is going to be undertaken Pinaire called for an interim approach. He wants the referendum on the ballot in November and before then have a task force appointed to look at the model. Pinaire added he would like some modifications to the state model on this topic but if there is no consensus the mayor - council form is what the city would get. "My hope is that we would come up with our own model in a charter ordinance to be submitted."
Mayor Pat Landes asked why? "What is wrong with what we do? We've had a time honored tradition of doing this. We're just creating more bureaucracy. You're going to have more commissioners, or more council men or whatever you're going to call it. You're going to have a mayor. Just because you've been elected to this office guarantee me, doesn't mean you know everything at all." Landes continued to defend the city manager form of government. "We have benefitted for having someone with experience and intelligence and knows the field, knows the state, knows many other city managers. We come up with solutions by working together as a commission with the city manager. "
The mayor added thought the issue was a waste of time when the governing body could be doing other work.
Pinaire said he would circulate a petition, and added he just wanted to give the commission a heads up. Landes noted that to him the commissioners are advisors.