2009 16 Jul

Strong mayor will be disastrous for Muskogee

People are ready for change. There’s no doubt about it. Muskogee elected a 19-year-old mayor in the hopes he would bring new and bright ideas to Muskogee. America elected their first African-American president on the hopes that the same old B.S. would not continue. People want change and they’ve made their message loud and clear. However, people need to not take a change as a good thing simply because it is something different?

We need to take a look at any proposed changes and try to look down the road and see what the ramifications are for the future. One of these changes the mayor is proposing is a change from the current strong manager/weak mayor form of government to a strong mayor form of government where the mayor runs the day-to-day business of the city. I don’t think we’ve had a mayor in recent history who has the ability to run the city as effectively as a qualified city manager. The city manager is under the direction of the city council as a whole, so he does not have carte blanche. A city manager can be fired by the council if he is not doing his job. A mayor cannot be replaced as quickly as a city manager.

Our form of government provides continuity by keeping the city manager and department heads in place through any change in council or mayor. A strong mayor government provides too much uncertainty every time there is a new mayor. Too many times, especially in cities our size, a new strong mayor will change departmental leadership. How does anything get done in that system?

The person running the daily business of the city must have the experience and knowledge to run that city, or the city will suffer. Tulsa, Oklahoma has a strong mayor form of government and they are floundering. Why? Because the mayor simply does not have the experience to run the city. If it can happen in Tulsa, it can certainly happen here.

The mayor and his supporters are putting out the cry to let the people decide and are making it sound like the council does not want to allow the people to decide. In a democratic society such as ours, we must let the people decide, but don’t put the council and the city in a bad light to get people on your side. Give the facts and let them decide. I call on each and every citizen of Muskogee to think long and hard about this issue if it does come to a vote. Think about the future of Muskogee and know that this is the wrong thing to do.

Be a voice of reason, think before you vote!