At any level of government, checks and balances are essential for fair and equitable decisions made in the best interests of the people they serve. It applies from the highest levels of our government, right down to our own Cheney City Council.
It is everyone's constitutional right to run for any office they wish to. The ultimate deciders are the voters themselves. That is called “direct participatory democracy.” I just wish more of the voters would take the word “participatory” to heart more often.
When Mayor Allan Gainer ran for office, he was adamant on trying to get everyone involved in the affairs of the city. I guess he really means it. In the coming election, the mayor's brother, Mr. Tim Gainer, and the mayor's assistant manager of his bookstore, Mr. Chrystalwolfe Baker, are both running for seats on the seven-member City Council. Of course, both the mayor's brother and his assistant manager have the perfect right to run for office. That's not the issue.
The issue is “perception of nepotism.” When the mayor tried to appoint his brother to the Planning Commission, the City Council rejected the attempt at favoritism and rejected the appointment. When the mayor tried to bring in a friend for the open position of city administrator, he was again rejected by the City Council for showing favoritism.
It's only my opinion, but the question arises as to whether both the mayor's brother and his assistant manager could exercise independent thought when making important decisions about the future of our city without undue influence from the office of the mayor, should they be elected. As always, the voters themselves will decide – hopefully by more than a little over one-third of the eligible voters who voted in the last election.
Graeme Webster
Cheney
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