Electing the Mayor

Bartlesville's Charter Review Committee decided on an 8-to-2 vote to prevent the citizens of Bartlesville from electing their own mayor.  The City Council, who had the power to overturn the Committee's recommendations, decided to go along with it instead.  By going along with the recommendation, they also refused to allow the citizens an opportunity to decide for themselves if they would get to elect their own mayor.

The Committee gave several reasons for voting to keep the status quo; that is, leaving the appointment of the City's mayor with the City Council itself.  Some of the reasons given?  The primary one was that the mayor would come from the Ward that had the most voters turn out, thus giving more weight to one Ward over the others.  Another popular reason with the Committee members was that the mayor would have too much power if he/she was not accountable to the Council.  A third reason was that the mayor was only a ceremonial position and so didn't warrant a popular vote.

Unfortunately, none of those reasons were held up to public debate, thus preventing a full and vigorous discussion of the issue.  If a true townhall had been held, or a formal debate, it's likely that the Committee and the Council would have heard arguments that might have caused them to change their minds. At the very least, the public would have heard the debate - and perhaps would have put pressure on the Council to allow them the opportunity to vote on the issue.