Voters will be the ones who address Marion's mayoral dust-up

As a resident of the beautiful north side of Marion, I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to live there full-time. It's vinyl vistas tug the heart strings.

So, of course, I was taken aback when I watched KCRG-TV9 Sunday night and heard that Marion Mayor Allen “Snooks” Bouska isn't residing 100 percent of the time at his Agate Street address less than two miles from my neighborhood. Outgoing City Council member Craig Adamson, also a nearby north-ender, is questioning whether Marion's mayor really lives in Hiawatha.

OK, truth is, I was not taken aback. This came up in 2011 when Bouska was running for mayor. He's owned a home in Hiawatha for years, among several others in the metro, he says, and has rented apartments in Marion. Now, he owns a home in Marion, where he told KCRG-TV9's Forrest Saunders that he spends “70 percent” of his time.

This just in, Bouska's Marion living room is furnished. But his dog resides in Hiawatha. “I don't know how I keep my sense of humor, but I do,” Bouska told me Monday.

So does Marion's part-time mayor have to be a full-time resident?

From a legal standpoint, probably not. His voting address is in Marion. It's the same address listed on his driver's license and on his mail. He's been a Marion business owner for many years, so his ties to the community are strong. He's not some carpetbagger.

Still, this sort of thing is fair game, even if it does lead to uncomfortable questions about which town the mayor is in when he kicks off his shoes at the end of a long day. People tend to like it when leaders making decisions for their community actually live in that community.

If Adamson and some citizens want to challenge Bouska's residency, the law provides that option.

There's always more to dust-ups like this one than a simple question of addresses. It's no secret that Adamson and Bouska don't see eye-to-eye on the proper course of city policy, particularly when it comes to redeveloping the city's central business corridor.

So, ultimately, this is a dispute grounded in differing visions for Marion. And those are the sort of disputes that get settled by voters. Do folks care whether the mayor's living arrangements are somewhat unconventional?

The residency issue didn't seem to hurt Bouska much in 2011. We'll see in 2013. Bouska said it's likely the City Council will discuss the issue Thursday.