Following the resignations of Hutchinson City Manager Enrico Villegas and City Attorney Cody Smith on Wednesday, Sept. 9, it is time for the City of Hutchinson to get back to basics. That goes for the city council and staff, too.
Even before those resignations, the city was trying to juggle an unyielding number of issues. Our own editorial board discussed that observation before hearing rumors on Sept. 4 that Villegas and Smith might be on their way out—rumors that Villegas denied when reached by reporter John McLaughlin.
Discussions of the city’s public art ordinance, rules for public comment at meetings, E-bike regulations, Flock surveillance cameras and a potential plastic shopping bag ban were all postponed from the council’s Sept. 1 meeting, which lasted about 4 hours, 45 minutes without those agenda items.
There are still unresolved issues regarding incentives for the Plum Creek housing development—which the Sept. 1 meeting did touch on—and a lawsuit by a former human resources director against the city is pending in federal court. And the city involved itself last month in a confidential state investigation of the Hutchinson Recreation Commission and related foundations, with Smith suggesting the demotion of the chairperson and removal of top staff and threatening legal action in a letter to the Rec.
The city would do well to take some items off its to-do list and get its own house in order, at least for the time being. Some issues will be easier than others to shelve. Certain things are time-sensitive, and waiting could take options off the table. Some things have to be done and have to be done according to someone else’s timeline. But some others can be set aside until the workload is more manageable, with the only loss being time.
It appears that some at the city have come to the same conclusion. At a budget work session on Sept. 10, Finance Director Angela Richard said staff were setting aside a proposal for the city to take over “fixed-base operator” business at Hutchinson Regional Airport from Wells Aircraft. At the same meeting, Utilities Director David Guinn urged the council to allow an application for financing for a pipeline to use treated wastewater for irrigation in Carey Park to continue. The application is a time-sensitive matter, but the city could decide not to go through with the project at a later time.
The city council also moved quickly to fill the city manager vacancy, appointing Gary Meagher as interim city manager on Monday, Sept. 14. Meagher is already familiar with the area from a decade as Reno County administrator and with the City of Hutchinson and many of its department heads specifically from a 2022 stint as interim city manager.
After the budget, filling the city manager and city attorney positions on a permanent basis should be the city’s top priority. That will take time, but starting now is better than starting next year. Work on data center rules probably should stay near the forefront, too.
But the city shouldn’t make things harder for itself by trying to do too much. Local government isn’t a judged Olympic event where you get more points for a higher degree of difficulty. Do the things that have to be done. Do them well, and do them efficiently. Maybe that means waiting to implement some good ideas. But if they are good ideas now, they should still be good ideas in six or 24 months.
Now is the time to get back to basics.
– The Hutchinson Tribune Editorial Board