From the Roundtable: Mayor’s retirement news kicks off humdinger election season

It’s been a long and productive run for five-term Mayor Darwin Hindman.

Hindman grew up on Edgewood Avenue in the Old Southwest, the son of a University of Missouri physical education professor who served for awhile as the dean of men.

Hindman was a member of the MU Class of 1955 and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After a stint as a pilot in the Air Force, more study, a Juris Doctorate, a successful law career, and years of unpaid service as mayor, Hindman, at age 76, certainly earned the right to finally take a rest.

While most of us merely like Columbia for one reason or another, one can say without question that Darwin Hindman is one of those individuals who really does love Columbia.

Hindman is a contemporary of former city manager Ray Beck and Columbia Daily Tribune publisher and editorialist Henry J. Waters III. His retirement represents another step in Columbia’s passage from one generation to another as a decidedly different cadre of leaders is poised to take over.

As Columbia crosses the hundred grand population mark, the six-member City Council and its councilman at large — the mayor — find themselves smack up against a stalled stream of revenues and pressure to maintain city services amidst a growing shopping list of needs too numerous to enumerate here. The budget-balancing act will be one of Hindman’s final missions.

In his 15 years as mayor, Hindman has served the city well. As he dealt with Columbia’s traditional town vs. gown rivalry and the disagreements over growth, the mayor got things just about right.

Angering both aggressive-growth and slow-growth advocates from time to time, Hindman’s largely positive position vis-à-vis issues the business and development community hold dear should alone be enough to grant him a positive grade and earn our respect.

While some might argue that Hindman’s personalization of issues such as park expansions, trails and non-motorized transportation came to dominate his thinking, the mayor should be defended for vigorously promoting Columbia’s quality of life. Assuredly these are issues that must be pursued so Columbia can remain competitive for both residential settlement and economic development. Ask any economic development director worth his salt just how important quality of life issues have become in the daily dogfight for jobs that pits Columbia against communities all over the world.

The business community should pay close attention during the run-up to next April’s election as various candidates saddle up and jockey for position in the races for mayor and City Council wards three and four. By most assessments, the present council represents a new level of intensity and collegiality, generally harmonious and professional in demeanor. But anger has been building in some quarters; people are complaining about the way the city conducts its business, although they rarely specify their grievances or proposals for change.

The desire to compensate the mayor and council representatives for their increasingly complex responsibilities is also growing in our community. The move would require amending the 1949 Home Rule Charter, however. One catches the drift from a small group of people who believe that as long as the charter is being amended, we should roll back the clock and return to the way things were before 1949. That is, toss out the present council-manager system and reinstitute the old mayor-council form of government.

We should be careful for what we wish; the grass is rarely greener on the other side of the fence. If those who champion business and economic development really believe that they have been somehow wronged in the past, now’s the time for them to start lining up candidates because almost half the council seats are up for grabs.

This is shaping up to be one humdinger of a municipal election. Hindman deserves credit for making his intentions known early and giving the electorate about seven months to decide who his successor should be.