ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
I have long maintained that the two most important functions of elected government are to solve problems and be a fair referee. Unfortunately, I found the Wayland City Council lacking in its performance last Tuesday evening.
The council unanimously refused to permit a group of residents to use a special assessment process to resolve drainage issues and the presence of ditches at Geneva Drive and Marlo Lane east of the city just off 135th Avenue. Acknowledging such additional work for a street project this year would benefit only those residents, they expressed willingness to share the costs themselves through a special assessment.
Council members voted against this special assessment proposal because they insisted on 100 percent approval from all residents in the subdivision, which couldn’t be guaranteed. This is a bar they set too high and it flies in the face of common principles of local government in which millages are implemented with just a simple majority.
To be sure, a project that benefits only those who live in the immediate area is a different animal, but it seems prudent to consider some kind of policy to take care of these kinds of issues.
I suggest all requests for special assessments require petition signatures of at least two-thirds of the residents affected. Though such a requirement could result in some having to share in the costs of a project they didn’t want, welcome to the real world of school and local millage requests, which indeed have much wider impact.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that there are 15 residences in the proposed assessment district. That would mean, under the one residence-one vote system, at least 10 signatures would be necessary to get the project off the ground. The one-third minority may not like such a policy, but I don’t think anyone who lives there is poor and can’t afford sharing costs for an improvement project.
There are municipalities that have established policies regarding special assessment districts. Apparently Wayland could use them as well.
My sympathy goes out to the people living on Geneva Drive and Marlo Lane. They deserved better from their local elected officials.
REMINDER: I write about what I see and hear. And sometimes I comment on it.
