ORIGINALLY WRITTEN SHIRLEY GROENING, MARION
Why are two of the Marion City commissioners not respecting the wishes of the voters of Marion?
The mayor claims that only 615 people got out to vote on the landfill issue on March 5, and that was a disappointment to her.
In the last few years that number is typical of voter turnout in Marion. In the 1995 mayoral race, there were 632 voters, the gubernatorial race in 1998 brought out 655 voters, and in the 1998 mayoral race, only 399 cared to vote.
For the sales tax issue in 2001, 670 votes were cast; 679 votes were cast the same year for the mayoral race.
Not once on any of these election results did we get an editorial on the front page of the Marion newspaper with a color pie chart, telling as what those who did not vote really meant. Not once did the Marion County Record editor or the current mayor express their disappointment with the turnout.
Some people were hesitant, and some did not vote, because they figured that two of the city commissioners would do exactly what they are doing-ignoring the wishes of the people who voted them in office.
Would the editor and mayor be putting out such nonsense if the vote had gone the other way?
People have been talking about voter turnout for years; it is nothing more than a discussion topic while sitting at the coffee shop. The election process we have in place says one thing: the voters who don’t vote aren’t factored into anything.
If the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Marion County commissioners and the Regional Solid Waste Board say the Marion City commission has no authority to negotiate for a landfill, why do we need to keep “our” options open?
