JoCo charter commission revotes on partisan elections two weeks after measure was defeated

Mayor Ron Shaffer arrived late at Monday’s council meeting and consequently missed some of the lively debate about whether or not to put a sales tax increase to fund parks in front of Prairie Village voters — but it was because he was witnessing some lively debate at the county charter commission meeting.

Shaffer said during his mayor’s report that at the county charter meeting, members of the commission who had been in favor of a motion to make county elections partisan resuscitated the issue — which had been defeated at the commission’s last meeting on a 14-9 vote — by claiming that it had been called to vote too quickly and had not been not sufficiently debated.

Shaffer said the group brought in a parliamentarian to observe proceedings at the meeting, and that the group re-opened debate on the issue. After more than an hour of discussion, the group voted on the election partisanship motion again. It failed again, though this time with a 13-11 vote.

“We think,” Shaffer said, “that this settles the issue for good.”