Fort Scott commission holds contested mayoral nominations, elects president and names board liaisons

The Fort Scott City Commission on Jan. 7 opened the year with contested nominations for mayor, a separate vote that elected a president of the commission, and a slate of appointments to local boards and liaisons.

The mayoral selection process drew the most debate. Commissioners conducted multiple nominations and roll-call votes; a roll call recorded on the nomination of Commissioner Matthew Wells showed two votes in favor (Commissioner Matthew Wells and Commissioner Dylan Olsen) and three votes against (Commissioner Catherine Salisbury, Commissioner Tim Van Hooky and Commissioner Tracy Dancer), per the meeting transcript. That roll call meant the Wells nomination failed. The commission then proceeded through additional nominations and roll-call votes before closing the mayoral item.

The panel completed the vote for president of the commission. Commissioner Catherine Salisbury was selected as president after a roll-call vote on competing nominations; commissioners congratulated Salisbury when the result was announced.

The commission also made a number of representative appointments and liaison assignments during the action-items portion of the meeting. Motions and recorded roll-call votes show the commission: - appointed a representative to the Fort Scott Housing Authority (Commissioner Tim VanHookey was nominated and the roll call recorded his appointment as the commission’s representative); - appointed a commission representative to the Fort Scott Public Library (Commissioner Matthew Wells was nominated and the motion carried on roll call); - appointed a commission liaison to the Streets Advisory Board and confirmed Commissioner Matthew Wells as that liaison by roll call; and - accepted a nomination and confirmed a commission representative to the Fort Scott Land Bank (a nomination for Commissioner Wells was made and recorded; follow-up on the Land Bank item was discussed during unfinished business).

Several items were left for follow-up or tabled. The commission opened discussion about whether to continue appointing a commissioner to Bourbon County R.E.D.D.Y. (Bourbon County Ready) now that the city’s contract with that entity has ended; commissioners agreed to revisit the matter and table the formal appointment until the next meeting while availability and the organization’s intentions are clarified.

Quotes from the meeting captured the procedural dispute and rationale. Commissioner Dylan Olsen urged following the code of procedure for nominations and roll-call votes, saying the body should “open nominations, make nominations and then take a vote on who would be the mayor.” City Attorney Robert Farmer (Esquire) advised the commission that a motion already adopted could be undone only by a subsequent motion to rescind, saying, “My position is you’ve already done it. The action is over. I suppose you could have a motion to undo what you did and start over again if that was passed.”

Ending: Commissioners scheduled follow-up on several appointments at the next meeting; several nominees agreed to check calendars before final confirmation. The commission moved on to other agenda items including code and policy reviews, unfinished property matters and routine consent items.