Soap Lake council debates downsizing itself
NANCE BESTON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year AGO
The Soap Lake City Council is deciding whether it wants to drop the number of city council seats to five instead of seven. The council members didn't vote on the matter during the meeting Wednesday, but did say the deciding factor will be the number of applicants the city receives for the two seats currently open.
NANCE BESTON/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
SOAP LAKE – The Soap Lake City Council voted for the second time to postpone action on changing the number of city council members at Wednesday’s meeting.
The council has seven seats and five members; however, there is a proposed ordinance to drop the council down to five seats. The ordinance would not go into effect until the next election, meaning the city still has to fill the two empty council seats regardless.
The first of the two seats needs to be filled by May 5, according to Mayor Peter Sharp. He said there has been one applicant, but the person is still on the fence about joining the council.
The ordinance was proposed during the March 19 city council meeting. No action has been taken at either meeting.
Council Member Judith Gorman said she is in favor of reducing the size of the council.
“My personal experience has been that much of the time we're faced with people who want to be on the council,” Gorman said. “Once they're on it, they learn how challenging it is and the work that needs to be done. I just want to make sure that people understand that. Historically, when I was over there (in the audience at a council meeting), it just looked easy, but it's a lot of homework. It's a lot of homework. We are a small town, and I think five representatives is enough, when 10,000 people is the cutoff for five. We have 1,700 people, so I think five diverse people, and I think we got five diverse people here is sufficient.”
However, Council Member John Carlson asked that two more weeks were given to see how many applicants apply for the current two open positions.
“But you know, speaking about our citizens, for them to have confidence in our council. I think a larger number is more confidence-building than a smaller number,” Carlson said. “If it goes to a vote tonight, I would vote no. I would like to put this off until our next council meeting.”
Mayor Pro Tem Karen Woodhouse said the public will be the deciding factor on the matter.
“Pretty much the public is going to force our hand on this vote,” Woodhouse said. “Everyone complains about what we do, it’s not fair and blah, blah, blah. But no one wants to step forward and do anything. So you either have to put up or shut up. So if we do have to go down to five, it’s on you, it’s on the citizens.”
Those interested in serving on the Soap Lake City Council should drop a letter of interest off at Soap Lake City Hall – 239 Second Ave. SE, Soap Lake – explaining why they are interested.
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