The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

Next month, filing will open for a couple of key local elections to be held in April. For Warrensburg and the immediate area, these elections are for seats on the Warrensburg City Council and the Warrensburg R-VI School Board. These elections are important because these are the largest taxing bodies in the immediate area.

Two of the five positions on the City Council are up for election. These are currently held by David Quibell and John Culp, who cannot seek reelection due to term limits the council has imposed. There will be no primary election, so the two candidates with a plurality in April will take council seats for 3-year terms.

Two of the five School Board seats will also be up for election this year. In this case, incumbents Robert Bartlett and David Pearce have indicated they do not intend to seek another term. Again, there will be no primary election; the winners will be the two candidates with the most votes even if less than a majority. The School Board’s budget is in excess of $23 million.

Often, board members, both elected and appointed, tend to identify more with the managers of organization they govern than the taxpayers who selected them. Such misidentification occurred with the Board of Services until the County Commission appointed people who were able to view the needs objectively and take appropriate action. The results are better service to the clients of the organization with the potential of lower costs to the taxpayers. I hope that those who are elected to the School Board and City Council are willing to act in the same spirit.