ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
The Wayland City Council Monday evening somehow overlooked an opportunity to do an appointment right.
Four of the five council members decided to appoint Joe Kramer to a council seat being vacated by the resigned Tracy Bivins. This is not to say Mr. Kramer was undeserving. It is to say the process was flawed in terms of fairness.
Three citizens applied for the appointment — Kramer, Jeff Salisbury and Abe Garcia. As was made very clear during the meeting, all three were solid candidates with excellent qualifications.
But one of the applicants, Salisbury, very publicly stated he was interested only in serving the remainder of Bivins’ two-year term, which would expire just after the Nov. 6 general election. Salisbury was willing to be an interim council member until the election.
Had the council appointed Salisbury, a retired government teacher and former school board member, it would have opened up expanded time for Garcia and Kramer to seek election to the position. This would have given both of them more than four months to take their campaigns to the voters, who should be the ones ultimately to decide who should serve.
Salisbury was offering to buy the city some time, which is the same as what interim city managers such as Larry Nielsen and Terry Hofmeyer did so ably until a more permanent selection could be made. And picking Salisbury for the interim would leave the real power with the voters, where it belongs.
Anyone who has studied political science is aware that incumbents have an advantage in virtually all elections. Incumbents obtain more publicity and a better chance to become known to voters. The only time incumbents fail at the polls is when they become unpopular or when they do something awful.
The council inadvertently gave Kramer an electoral advantage over Garcia in the Nov. 6 general runoff. Kramer already is better known as a Wayland High School graduate, a Boy Scouts leader and emergency medical technician. Now he has the power of incumbency to boot.
Garcia is fairly new to the community, but he has shown a keen interest in civic affairs. He already is a member of the Planning Commission.
Had the council selected Salisbury as a five-month interim, it would have leveled the playing field for an election between Kramer and Garcia. As always, may the better man win, but it helps when painstaking efforts are made on behalf of fair elections.
