Public Hearing To Be Scheduled for "Strong Mayor"
Getting things done at city hall in Yakima could soon happen much faster.
Leaders are thinking of giving the mayor more authority and making that position full time as party of the "strong mayor" system of government. But there are pros and cons to the system.
When the seven yakima city council members disagree, decisions like putting an E.M.S. on the ballot two years ago can take a long time.
Now, council member Dave Edler wants to give more authority to the mayor to speed up the decision making.
"I don't just, do not believe we can do the things and move in the directions we need to move in the future, with this form of government," says Edler.
Edler wants to change city government from the current council-manager system to one where a strong mayor is fully in charge.
He says a paid full-time mayor can be more effective than a council now consisting of part-time volunteers.
"I think we'd see some very high capacity, high quality people decide yeah I'd like to be the C.E.O. of the city of Yakima," says Edler.
"I think you're gonna have a better community, it's gonna change a little more often, I think it's a, I really think it's a good idea," says Ron Larin.
But others disagree.
Council member Kathy Coffey says the city would still need an administrator to help the mayor.
She says the city can't afford both especially in these tough economic times.
"I don't think any of us would be in a position where we would be able to be the mayor of this huge corporation without having a city manager," says Coffey.
Others see problems with a strong mayor having more power over other council members.
"One opinion is not as good as two or three or four opinions," says Justina Humphrey.
"If you put one person in charge, maybe the system, maybe everything's gonna move faster, but faster isnt always better," says Sandi Prather.
Leaders will hold a public hearing before they move further with the strong mayor.
Coffey wants to keep things the same, but it's voters who will have the final say.
"I'm not sure that we need to go and make this step, but let's listen and hear what our community wants," says Coffey.
"It's not broken don't fix it, keep it the way it is," says Justina Humphrey.
The city has not yet set the date for the public hearing on the strong mayor system.
We'll keep you posted as soon as we know more.