Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jan 30, 2009
The Topeka City Council’s authority to override a mayoral veto has received a second endorsement, although a Shawnee County District Court judge has yet to weigh in on the issue.
Mayor Bill Bunten, in a lawsuit filed last year that included other issues, asked a district court judge to clarify the mayor’s veto power. The judge hasn’t yet ruled on the case.
However, city attorney Jackie Williams ruled Tuesday that a state statute granted the council override authority, even though the issue was not addressed in the charter ordinance that created Topeka’s city council-manager form of government.
Assistant city attorney Braxton Copley, when acting as interim city attorney, had made a similar ruling earlier and noted a successful override would require seven votes, the same number Williams cited Tuesday.
Topeka City Councilman Bill Haynes, who requested Williams’ opinion, said Wednesday that he thought it negated any reason to amend the charter ordinance to address the veto question.
We aren’t sure about that, although we can accept Haynes’ reasoning if a majority of the council and the judge agree the state statute works for them. But we do support a thorough review of the charter ordinance during a scheduled Feb. 7 work session of the council and mayor.
Bunten has recommended several amendments to the ordinance, which he would like to put to a public vote during the April 7 general election. We aren’t ready to say whether any of them should be adopted, but they certainly deserve a fair hearing.
The mayor’s proposed amendments include: trimming the council from nine members to seven, two of them elected at large and five from districts; opening all council seats for election every four years; confirming the council’s authority to override a mayoral veto; vesting legislative powers with the “city council” instead of the “governing body;” and establishing clearly the duties, powers and functions of the mayor, city council, city manager and deputy mayor.
Bunten also suggests amendments that would include the mayor in the selection and evaluation process for the city manager and give Topekans the right to petition city government for elections on ballot questions.
We think several of Bunten’s suggestions have merits, and will watch the work session with interest.
If nothing else, council members might want to consider whether a two-thirds vote of the council, six of nine members, should be sufficient to override a veto