NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Mayor Jon Richardson wants to continue the discussion in 2024 about when Hutchinson City Council meetings should take place. They are currently the first and third Tuesday of each month at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
"This is a personal opinion, but I think if we were to move the meetings to after 5 p.m., not just one meeting a month, but all meetings, it would encourage more involvement," Richardson said. "It would also allow people to possibly entertain the idea of running for city government if they couldn't do it before, due to their job."
One of the challenges of having the Mayor title is when outside vendors need to talk to both the city's professional staff and a member of the governing body about the same information.
"A lot of activity happens between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.," Richardson said. "Sometimes, you don't know about it until it's close to time for that meeting. To be involved and actually balance that with your other job can be pretty difficult."
That isn't to say that running for office will be easy, regardless.
"There's really no great solution for it altogether," Richardson said. "It's worth chewing on and figuring out, as a council, if we want to do something different."
The next meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
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