NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As the Hutchinson City Council prepares to consider night meetings at its regular meeting Tuesday morning, new City Manager Enrico Villegas, who comes from a city in Warrensburg, Missouri, where the meetings are held at night, went over with Hutch Post what the reasons might be for making such a move.
"I'll start with the rationale behind going to evening meetings for many cities," Villegas said. "It typically hinges on two points. Point one is it opens up the candidate pool for future for future council members. The thought is that that way someone doesn't have to take time off of work in order to attend a business meeting, because that's what council meetings are business meetings. If it were in the evening that opens it up really for anyone that would want to apply for council. Point two is applied to community engagement and so if the meetings are in the evening that could potentially draw in more people to discuss the business of the city or be able to point something out that maybe the city should be looking at. That's typically the two points there, but you know as with anything there are a series of trade-offs. One of those, with it being in the evening, that could cause a challenge for say consultants to want to come in to present on items or just anything like that."
Council member Jon Richardson has been pushing for the council to take a vote on the issue. It is on the Tuesday agenda.
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