City elections in Westwood to remain nonpartisan

City elections in Westwood will remain nonpartisan – at least, as long as city officials have a say about it.

On Thursday, the City Council voted unanimously for an ordinance designating that all local elections will not require candidates to choose a party.

Nonpartisan elections have been the norm for most Kansas municipalities for decades. But then the Kansas Legislature in 2015 passed legislation that required cities to move their local elections from the spring to the fall. It also initially sought to make those races partisan but ultimately left it up to the local governments to decide.

The Kansas League of Municipalities last year noted that many cities, perhaps thinking nothing had changed, had yet to formally choose partisan or nonpartisan elections and nudged them to make that choice.

Several other local cities, such as Mission, have already begun doing that.

Westwood Mayor John Ye said the subject has come up at regional meetings of mayors in Johnson and Wyandotte counties, as well as within the Mid-America Regional Council.

“All of us have consistently been very ardent supporters and advocates of nonpartisan local elections,” Ye said.

He said watching the sometimes rancorous political debates playing out in Topeka or Washington, D.C., is enough reason to not want to replicate that at the local level.

“Everybody needs the police to show up, everybody needs the streets salted or plowed, everybody needs leaf pickup, everybody needs the services that City Hall provides,” Ye said. “Those have nothing to do with partisanship.”

Councilman David Waters added that the Legislature, which has started its 2017 session, may not have given up on politicizing local races.

“A lot of people expect that legislation will be coming to make city elections partisan at some point,” Waters said. “So I think it’s important to send a message to our Legislature that our city and other cities in northeast Johnson County appreciate our local control and appreciate being part of a functioning governing body.”

Councilman Jason Hannaman said he also worried that making the races political would thin the slate of potential candidates as some people either wouldn't want to choose a political party or are not allowed to for professional reasons.

“Partisan city elections is a problem in search of creating a bigger problem rather than any kind of solution,” Hannaman said.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 10:50 AM with the headline "City elections in Westwood to remain nonpartisan."