Mission Hills City Council President David Dickey told attendees at a Northeast Johnson County State of the Cities luncheon that the Kansas Legislature is the biggest challenge facing cities. Or, as the Shawnee Mission Post deemed it in a headline, “…State legislature poses threat to city rights.”
There is no such thing as “city rights.” The U.S. Constitution deems that individuals derive individual rights from God or natural law, and the founding fathers defined the limited powers of the federal government in that document reserving remaining powers to the people and to the states.
Article 2, Section 21 of the Kansas Constitution says the legislature may confer powers of local legislation and administration upon political subdivisions. What the state constitution doesn’t do is give any special authority to cities or counties. They exist because the legislature allows their existence.
Individuals have rights. The states have rights. Even the federal government has some authority. Cities are given no such “rights” by God or man.
