Kiowa governing body narrows mayoral duties and creates Town Coordinator role

The Town of Kiowa governing body voted unanimously Oct. 2 to amend the duties of the mayor, create a new Town Coordinator position and update the town’s employee handbook to reflect those changes. The motions carried on unanimous recorded votes.

Councilmembers said the changes align the mayoral role with statutory requirements and add administrative support. The ordinance to amend mayoral duties passed on a motion by M. Sexton, seconded by T.S. Barker. A subsequent ordinance to create a Town Coordinator and revise Section 5 (Temporary Relief Emergency) to provide administrative support within legal boundaries passed on a motion by M. Sexton, seconded by D. Drake. The council then approved amendments to the Employee Handbook related to the mayor’s duties on a motion by M. Sexton, seconded by D. Drake.

The measures were presented as organizational and administrative clarifications rather than personnel appointments. Meeting minutes record all votes as yes from the five present members: M. Sexton, J. Ray, T.S. Barker, T. Horn and D. Drake. The minutes do not record substantive debate, public comment or direct quotes about the policy reasons beyond the motions and their seconding.

Taken together, the ordinances change the formal scope of the mayor’s responsibilities and create a Town Coordinator post intended to provide administrative support and temporary relief under the town’s Section 5 emergency provisions. The minutes state the coordinator role is designed to operate ‘‘within legal boundaries’’ but do not specify job description, salary, hiring process or an effective date for the position. Those details were not provided in the minutes and are listed as not specified.

Next steps: the minutes indicate the ordinances and handbook amendments were adopted at the meeting; the record does not show further implementation steps such as recruitment or an administrative timeline.