NEWTON, Kan. — The Newton City Commission again discussed the idea of an independently elected mayor at their meeting Tuesday.
Newton currently operates under a Commission-Manager form, with five elected at-large City Commissioners. City elections take place in the fall of odd-numbered years. The top two vote-getters are elected to four-year terms, and the third-place vote-getter serves a two-year term.
A mayor is appointed each year from within the Commission. Commission policy is that the highest vote-getter in the last election is appointed vice mayor and becomes mayor the following year. Following that policy, during the annual reorganization on Tuesday night, Leroy Koehn, the top vote-getter in the 2021 election, was selected as mayor for the ensuing year. Rod Kreie, the second-place vote-getter, was selected as vice mayor.
The mayor conducts Commission meetings and executes contracts on behalf of the City but has no additional authority or voting powers. The Commission hires a professional city manager to serve as the City’s chief executive officer, carrying out the day-to-day operations of the City and working to implement the long-term vision established by the Commission.
Commissioners said they see value in a mayor serving a longer term – perhaps two years – providing continuity of leadership and more time to accomplish goals.
Changing the City’s form of government would require either a citywide election or a Charter Ordinance, which could still be put to a public vote if a protest petition were filed. The Commission also could choose simply to maintain the Commission-Manager form and change Commission policy to extend the length of the mayor’s term.
The Commission directed City staff to work with the City’s new survey provider, FlashVote, to create a community survey to gauge residents’ interest in changing the form of government.
Residents can sign up to participate in FlashVote surveys by visiting www.flashvote.com/NewtonKS or calling 775-235-2240. Sign-up takes less than one minute, and survey data is anonymous. Personal or demographic information collected by FlashVote is never shared with the City or anyone else. When residents sign up, they can determine how their surveys are received – whether by email, text or phone call.
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