More than a few years ago, the council and I, as mayor, looked at the possibility of changing to a council-manager form of government. We had advisers from the Association of Washington Cities and others talk to us about pros and cons of such a change.

We, the mayor and council, weighed all the information and found there was no reason to change a form of government that is utilized in over 80 percent of the cities in Washington state. The mayor-council form of government gives the city the checks and balances that need to be in place for a fair government.

Although the council-manager form can work well, it has its problems. If a city manager, who is the person in charge and is hired to run the city, is undesirable, it takes a majority of the council to fire that person and usually occurs after considerable community strife. Often times, the city manager is hired with a five-year contract.

To fire a city manager before the contract ends usually comes with a high cost to the taxpayers. Washington cities are currently experiencing difficulty in hiring good, experienced city managers, especially when a city is exhibiting any kind of turmoil.

The price tag for someone to take the position here could approach $200,000 per year.

Where will that money come from? What city services will need to change or be cut to pay for the manager? The police? Fire protection?

A large portion of the salary would come from the general fund.

With Proposition No. 1, we have an attempt to change what has worked well in Black Diamond for over 50 years. The position of mayor is an elected position. If people do not want the mayor in office, then at the next election they simply vote the person out of office. The same is said for council members. It works well and citizens get to exercise their right to vote for the people who run their city. If we are not satisfied with this new form of government, it cannot be changed back for six years.

An elected mayor has close ties to and is a neighbor in the community. A city manager could live many miles from here. It is a job to them, not a way of life. An elected mayor is invested in the community.

Make certain that your vote this election is for the right reason. Changing the form of government will not stop YarrowBay. Those projects are vested. This is bigger with more consequences than any one mayor or a disagreement over how Black Diamond will grow. Do not lose your right to vote for the city executive. Do the wise thing in the next few months, find a worthy candidate to run for mayor in 2013. Find worthy citizens to run for the two council positions in 2013. That is how it is done.

As your former mayor for 26 years I am asking you to vote “no” on Proposition No. 1.

Howard Botts

Black Diamond