Citizens Government Review Committee urges limited charter changes, new city auditor and better follow-up

The Citizens Government Review Committee delivered a seven-part report to the Topeka City Council on June 17 that recommends keeping the city-manager form of government, creating an appointed city auditor and adopting formal procedures to ensure follow-up on consultant studies and citizen requests.

The committee, chaired by Jim Kaup, presented the report after meeting 11 times over four-and-a-half months and hearing testimony from former officials and academics. "We recommend that the present structure be continued," Kaup told the council, summarizing the committee's first conclusion about the city-manager form.

The report’s central recommendations include creation of an independent city auditor appointed by the council to perform performance and financial audits; amendment of charter language governing how council district boundaries are drawn (including deleting a provision that calls for considering a councilmember’s home address during redistricting); and a formalized follow-up procedure so consultant reports and citizen-initiated recommendations do not "fall through the cracks," Kaup said.

On the auditor proposal, Kaup said the committee viewed the position as a tool to improve accountability and trust: "An audit function in City Hall cannot only save taxpayer dollars, it can operate to increase the level of trust that the citizens of a community have with their city government." The committee noted Topeka is the largest Kansas city without a city auditor and cited model legislation and professional associations as resources for implementation.

Other recommendations included exploring more interlocal cooperation with Shawnee County and neighboring jurisdictions, increasing the size of the decennial review commission to 10 members (one appointed by each council member and one by the mayor), and refreshing an affirmation of the charter provisions that limit council members’ administrative interaction with city staff. Kaup said the committee heard testimony alleging occasional intrusions into the city-manager chain of command and recommended an annual reaffirmation of the council’s role and ethics rules to discourage such occurrences.

Council discussion touched on how to act on the recommendations. Councilman Marcus Miller moved to receive the report; the governing body voted 7-0 to receive the committee’s recommendations. Council members and the committee chair discussed next steps, including referring parts of the report to council committees for more detailed work before any charter or code amendments.

The committee’s full report, minutes and video of its meetings are posted on the city website, the chair said, and the council directed staff and members to consider implementation pathways and next steps.