NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — New Hutchinson City Manager Kendal Francis wants to make one thing clear.
"I am not running off council members," Francis said. "I have went through this. Unfortunately, in Great Bend, we experienced this about three times, never multiple openings, but I have been through that. The challenge though is, now its two-fifths of the people that just hired me will no longer be serving on the council."
He does believe there are certain attributes to those who serve the public well in this way.
"Someone that understands that they probably won't know everything when they come in, that is open to learning, who will listen, not only to the citizens, but to myself and my team," Francis said. "We're hired as professional managers, our executive team and the other employees and we're hired to do a job and we have expertise in this area. They need to trust and lean on us."
Francis said service on the council will be challenging.
"It's tough," Francis said. "It will be time intensive. It's not just showing up for a meeting twice a month. You'll be engaged in other meetings from the public. You're going to get phone calls. I will do my best to intercept those and be the buffer for them as well, because that's my job, as well, but they are still going to be inundated. I think it's important that people have that realization. It will not be an easy tenure."
With that said, it is a good opportunity to try out public service, if that's something you are interested in, as there is less than a year of time to serve until an election.