Commissioner Trent Davis: 'The sky is not falling,' commission's deliberate process protects both sides
SALINA, Kan. — Salina City Commissioner Dr. Trent Davis said Monday, Oct. 26, that despite recent high-profile issues facing the city, "the sky is not falling," and that the commission's deliberate pace is meant to treat everyone fairly.
Davis, who presided over the Salina City Commission meeting in the absence of Mayor Mike Hoppock, made the comments during the commissioners' comment portion, just before the citizens forum.
"Every commission has its issues, and we've had some rather popularized ones recently," Davis said. "But unfortunately, this is business as usual. Government is a complicated business."
Protecting the process
Davis said he believes it is important for the commission to protect the process it follows when handling an issue.
"Sometimes you're on the popular side of an issue, and other times you're not," he said. "And our process has to be good enough that it protects folks on both sides of an argument, so we're somewhat deliberate. We're somewhat slow at times, but we have to be fair to everyone."
He contrasted government with private business. "Unlike private business, we don't have the luxury of changing our mind every other day and changing our policy and changing our course whenever we want to," Davis said. He said the commission moves slowly so it doesn't have to backtrack on too many decisions, and that when a change is clearly needed, "it needs to be a thought-out decision."
The animal shelter
Davis thanked residents for their patience during the city's efforts on the animal shelter. Earlier in the meeting, the commission approved, 4-0, an agreement for Prairie Paws Animal Shelter Inc. to take over operation of the Salina Animal Shelter on Dec. 13.
"It's not an easy thing to change, but we felt that we had to do it a certain way so that we can protect everyone," he said.
Davis said the commission serves two groups: city residents and city employees. He said both need information, because the commission may have to persuade people in each group on decisions "be it salary increases, lack of salary increases, reassigning folks, you know, divesting certain city functions."
"Just because we move slow doesn't mean we're not concerned," he said. "[We] would like to do it once and do it right the first time."
Upcoming
During commissioner comments, it was confirmed that a study session presentation on the East Magnolia Bridge is still planned for Nov. 9.
Before opening the citizens forum, Davis reminded speakers to follow the commission's decorum guidelines. He said those who agree with a previous speaker may simply come up and say so, and he asked that speakers be polite.
