By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
With the hiring of Logan Burns as Great Bend City Administrator on Aug. 12, the assistant city administrator position is open. The existing ordinances concerning the duties of that position were drafted at the request of prior administration to assign specific duties and personnel to match what Burns was already doing for the city as the building inspector.
On Tuesday, the Great Bend City Council approved an ordinance amending the qualifications and duties of the two administrator positions. City Attorney Allen Glendenning said the changes include clearing up the need for appointed officials to live within city limits.
"The charter ordinance about appointing officers says that elected officers have to be within the city limits," said Glendenning. "Appointed officers are to be in the qualified electors of Barton County. Some of these other ordinances included a residency requirement in the city, but that conflicted with the charter ordinance. We have taken that out to leave it as is in the charter ordinance which requires only county residency, other than elected officers."
The amended ordinance also reworded the appointment and qualifications for the city administrator stating he or she shall be appointed by the mayor with the consent of the city council and shall be chosen solely upon the basis of comprehensive administrative ability.
The ordinance will now define the duties of the assistant administrator more generally and broadly allowing for them to be assigned and reassigned to meet the current needs of the city.