The big question after last Tuesday’s big election is the next big election.
April 6 settled a few questions temporarily, the hospital sales tax (no), the new city commissioners (Gary Skaggs and Jeff Taylor) and whether they will serve with term limits (yes).
But those answers leave more than a few issues still looming. Consequently, Pratt voters may have to wait more than few years before stepping up to a normal, ho-hum, small town election — and the next big election is only a few weeks away.
On May 25, after much legal wrangling and much rhetoric about who’s really serving the voters and doing or not doing their jobs, the people of Pratt will finally decide whether Maple Street should be extended to K-61.
It’s a seemingly simple question and one that would normally be handled by the City Commission without a fuss. The $900,000 project is already funded and won’t require a tax increase of any kind. One can hardly avoid recognizing the economic benefits and simple convenience of linking the northeast section of Pratt with a state highway. Indeed, almost two-thirds of respondents to an online Tribune poll think the project is a good idea, and so does re-elected Mayor Jeff Taylor and commissioner-elect Gary Skaggs.
Of course, Taylor and Skaggs opposed term limits, too, and term limits passed with about the same level of comfort that Taylor defeated Karen Detwiler, who championed both a vote on term limits and Maple Street while claiming to have no position on either question.
If voters reject Maple Street’s extension, the next big election might see Detwiler challenging for a seat on the Commission again. If the vote goes in favor of economic development and common sense, Detwiler may very well give up politics.
And if that happens, the next big election might be a second attempt by Pratt Regional Medical Center and the Pratt County Hospital Board to seek the taxpayers’ blessing on a major upgrade of the hospital campus, and this big election, whether it’s soon or late, can’t be avoided. Voters would be well advised not to put it off too long.
