By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The democratic process is an ever-changing one. At Wednesday's Barton County Commission meeting, outgoing Commissioner Kirby Krier tried to tackle an issue that he feels may impact the county in the future. In the end, the body voted 3-2 against a resolution that would prohibit a sitting commissioner from voting on specific matters that would pertain to family members who are county employees.
"We have an unusual circumstance right now, and maybe again in the future, too, but we need to address it now," Krier said. "There might be a conflict of interest between, say, a sitting commissioner and a maybe a brother/sister, mother/father, son/daughter that may be a director of some department in the county. This would address that."
More specifically, the resolution would have prohibited commissioners from making motions or voting on agenda items that would directly affect employees with familiar relationships. The resolution would have applied only to specific items like salary increases, and not items that would affect an entire department or the annual budget.
County Counselor Patrick Hoffman said there are established policies in place already, and he was not sure the resolution would be legally binding for future commissioners.
"The current system is all commissioners should always recuse themselves if there is a possible perception from the public of a conflict of interest," he said. "I trust all the commissioners we have to do that. I'm not completely certain that you can legally bind future commissioners who are elected by the public to not vote on things just because we have a policy."
Krier countered that was Hoffman's opinion, and Commissioner Jon Prescott asked if that meant future commissioners would not have to abide by policies set by the body. Krier said future commissioners could always rescind the resolution.
"The theory of government is, the public elects the commissioners, and as elected officials, they have certain powers inherently, including the power to vote on things," Hoffman said. "You're telling future people who are put in by the voters what they can and can't vote for."
Outgoing Commissioner Jennifer Schartz said the body has encountered these issues before and did not need a resolution then to adequately address the issue.
"My policy has always been if it ain't broke, don't fix it," she said. "We have had people who have had to recuse themselves from votes in the past. I think we should trust those incoming commissioners to do the same. They're going to do the right thing. If they aren't, they can be called on by the other commissioners."
Schartz, along with Shawn Hutchinson and Barb Esfeld, voted against the resolution. Krier and Prescott voted in favor.
"I think the policy stated in this resolution is a good general principle, but I do worry in general about future commissioners could be elected and say they don't know if they're bound by these resolutions," Hoffman said. "State statutes give me the authority to do certain things as a commissioner."