Hays Post
There are five men running for three open seats on the Hays city commission.
Two are incumbents, Ron Mellick and Henry Schwaller IV. The three other candidates are all political newcomers, Michael Berges, Mason Ruder and Ryan Rymer.
This week Hays Post will run a series of interviews with each candidate.
Ron Mellick, 67, says he has no immediate plans to retire. In another 18 months, he will have worked 50 years in the floor covering business as in installer. All but two of those years, he will have been self-employed.
He and his wife Mary, who runs an in-home daycare, have four adult children and 12 grandchildren.
Mellick previously served as a Hays city commissioner from 2007 to 2015. In July 2018, he was appointed to fill Commissioner Chris Dinkel’s unexpired term.
Mellick is proud of two major accomplishments made during the time he has served on the city commission, but is quick to say, “I don’t believe any commissioner, individually, can take credit for accomplishments that the commission achieved because it takes a majority of the commissioners.”
He points to the city’s stable mill levy. It’s remained at 20 mills for 12 of the past 13 years.
“You won’t find any city in Kansas, outside of Johnson County, that has a lower city mill levy. Nor will you find another Kansas city still operating on the same mill levy that they were in 2007.”
Mellick is also proud of the city commission’s adoption of a “pay-as-we-go” policy.
“We save our money. We pay for our projects in cash. We’re no longer bonding them and paying that interest for years to come.”
He doesn’t want that to change.
What Mellick does want to change is the stability of the city’s long-term water supply with activation of the state’s Water Transfer Act.
“I think once we get that water here (from the city-owned R9 Ranch in Edwards County) we could see a huge economic development driver not only for Hays but the region for years to come.”
The top two city commission candidates will serve for four years, while the third-place vote-getter will serve for two years.
Advanced voting is underway. The election is Nov. 5.