In terms of the local Branson news stories for 2007 that will have the most lasting impact on Branson, now and in the future, the April election for mayor and aldermen just has to be right up there. Overnight, it literally eliminated the arrogant manner in which some of the people and businesses dealing with the city of Branson were treated by certain senior staff members and the elected officials of the city of Branson.
The election was stunning, not only in the fact that a long term mayor and alderman were defeated but, in the margin of that defeat. After the election, there was a new mayor, and three new aldermen, all of whom ran on a platform of change.
The character and need for that change was summed up by, then mayoral candidate now mayor, Raeanne Presley. She pledged that if elected, the “attitude at city hall that boarders on arrogance” would change. Then candidate for alderman, now alderman, Bob McDowell said that the leadership of city government had to earn back “the benefit of the doubt position” from the community. Although the voters could not vote against the senior unelected staff within the city of Branson’s government that a lot perceived as being responsible for the situation, they could vote against those elected leaders that permitted and enabled it and, vote they did.
Almost immediately, it became obvious that the newly elected mayor and aldermen were not only not going to be rubber stamps for certain senior staff but were going to be actively involved in trying to earn back the benefit of the doubt position from the public. Symbolically, one of the first major acts of the new administration was to reverse the unpopular, ill advised, deceitful, and arrogant actions condoned by the previous administration in pursuing some mythical legal right that the city of Branson owned the generic term “Branson.” Ironically, the three remaining board members from the previous administration, who did not have to run for re-election in April of 2007, Jack Purvis, Dick Gass, and Stan Barker, evidently had an epiphany and voted to reverse the position that they had taken just a few short months prior to the election.
The new administration set about the job of putting procedures and policies in place that would make the workings of government more accessible to the public. This included but was not limited to the recording and on line availability of board of aldermen and work session meetings, putting the detail back into the written minutes of the meetings that the previous administration had removed, and the revamping of the public comment portion of the board of aldermen’s meeting to insure that the public was not interrupted by senior staff while they are speaking. In addition, the public comment portion of the meeting has been moved back to the front of the meeting rather than leaving it where the previous administration had moved it, to the very last item of the meeting.
Among other things, the newly elected board and mayor, have taken a more proactive role in establishing the meeting agenda. Rather than having it determined and virtually presented to them by senior staff, sometimes in packets received over the weekend, just before a scheduled Monday meeting, they established a policy of meeting the Tuesday before each scheduled Monday meeting to discuss the agenda and potential future agenda items. They also modified the agenda schedule to permit more time for them, and the public, to receive and review materials prior to their schedule board meetings. In addition, citizen members were added to the three major committees that advise the board, the Budget/Finance, Personnel, and Capital Improvements Committees to provide added expertise and perspective to the information that the board receives to use in its decision making process.
In what some consider a direct result of the election, a July 31press release from the city of Branson announced, “the departure of Terry Dody, ten year employee and city administrator” pursuant to a separation agreement approved by the Branson Board of Alderman on July 30. The separation agreement specifically stated that “It is the mutual desire of Dody and the city to now end Dody’s employment with the city.” The city is currently in the process of finding a new city administrator.
As the year 2007 comes to an end, it appears that process of regaining the benefit of the doubt position from the community is well under way. For that an Ole Seagull sincerely says, “Thank you.”
