By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Not a second-class city, but a city of the second class. Great Bend falls in the middle of the three classes set forth in Kansas Statutes Chapter 14. The classification helps define a city's structure and regulations. City Attorney Allen Glendenning recently appeared on 1590 KGVB/95.5 FM's "City Edition" show to explain the differences in classification.
"By and large, if you have a population of 15,000 or more, you're going to be a city of the first class," he said. "If your population is between 2,000 and 15,000, you're a city of the second class. If your population is under 2,000, you're a city of the third class."
Typically, cities of the second class, including Great Bend, are governed in the mayor-council format. As attorney for a city of the second class, Glendenning estimates that around two-thirds of his job is providing legal counsel to the city, and about one-third is prosecuting crimes.
"Some of the larger cities in Kansas, particularly up in the northeast around the Kansas City-area - Overland Park and those kind - they actually have an in-house law firm," Glendenning said. "Some of them have multiple lawyers, then they break down the various tasks like advising the police department, the street department, and different departments."
Glendenning said in Great Bend's governing format, most decision-making is supposed to be conducted out in the open. The city council makes most of the decisions. The mayor oversees affairs of the city, appoints officers, and runs council meetings. The mayor can vote when there is a tie on regulation motions and resolutions, to get a necessary majority to pass a regular ordinance, and on first instance on charter order.
Regular ordinances are routine matters and require a majority of the entire elected body to pass, not just those present and voting. Charter ordinances come from the Kansas Constitution, which says cities can opt out of a state statute as long as that statute is not a state-wide concern and not applicable to all cities. Those require a two-thirds majority to pass. Glendenning said examples of charter ordinances in Great Bend include court costs to help offset incarceration fees and guest taxes.