By MARY L. EHLIS, Federal Way Works

Why tamper with something that has been proven to work?

The council-manager form of government works, not just for Federal Way, but for many other major cities as well.

As it is, the citizens of Federal Way elect seven diverse non-partisan individuals to represent us. Each year, from among these seven council members they then choose one individual who, as our mayor, has no more power than the others except that they become the spokesman for the group and chair council meetings.

This way, the individual is still part of the council and must discuss issues and ultimately adhere to a majority vote.

A separately elected mayor does not necessarily have to be part of any discussion and has the power to veto what the council passes. They can take conflicting and sometimes opposing positions, which can create delays and costly wastes of time and resources in the daily operations of the city.

Plus, running any campaign is expensive and requires the support of powerful individuals and major contributors, which can then create situations where the candidate feels a strong obligation to those who supported them.

It is much easier therefore to get into circumstances where one particular sphere of influence has direct access to and influence over one individual who has a lot of clout.

With seven council members who are all supported by different groups or individuals and share equal power in making decisions for the citizenry, it makes it much harder for a particular bias to dominate. Each issue must then be weighed on its merit to the community, not on who is backing the position.

Why add another layer of bureaucracy? Do we need the expense of a mayor, their office equipment and support staff added to the city payroll?

A city manager is an educated professional who has the expertise and experience for the business of operating a city. They are city employees that must meet certain standards and requirements — or they could be subject to disciplinary actions and possible dismissal.

Other city employees are subject to the same criteria and deserve an assurance that as long as they are doing their job as required, they will not have to be concerned about whether they should be looking for another position every time a mayoral election comes around.

A vote for a separately elected mayoral candidate can mean that the individual may have the personality to win the election, but does not provide the assurance that they have the expertise or experience to manage the business of running a city.

Therefore, we will probably be paying for a city administrator even if we do add in the job of mayor.

If it ever became necessary to remove the mayor, a voter’s recall is not only expensive, but can have lasting negative repercussions for a city’s image.

The idea of changing our form of city government from a council-manager to an elected mayor and separately elected council does not seem well thought-out in light of these questions and concerns.

It is not more accountable than the system we are currently operating under and ultimately could be a very costly proposition.

Vote no to a change in Federal Way city government on Feb. 19!

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