Meet newly selected Mayor Dr. George Knox

Newly selected Mayor Dr. George Knox is not shy when sharing his hopes for the city he and Carol, his wife of 48 years, now call home. He has been a resident of Nevada since his retirement two years ago, and says he and Carol took plenty of time planning for the occasion because they wanted to choose a location where they believed they would best fit.

The couple keeps a sail boat at Stockton Lake and over the years have traveled through Nevada when making their weekend boating trips. “I just really fell in love with the town,” Knox said. “The people were just great and everywhere we went we felt welcomed.” They eventually started looking for a house in Nevada, and relocated the day after George retired. Once relocated, Knox began serving as chairperson on the then newly formed long-term care board. He has since resigned from that post in order to avoid any possible conflicts of interest.

Knox is a former police officer and served in the Air Force prior earning his college degrees. He has held several positions in the education field, the most recent being president of Labette Community College, from which he retired after 20 years.

“I have service in my heart,” Knox said as he began describing his decision to run for city council. He had been a regular attendee at meetings and started to wonder if he could help. “I talked to a lot of people who were very encouraging about me coming on the city council. The one thing that really stuck in my mind when I was trying to make the decision was that nobody said, ‘You’ve got get people off the city council because the whole thing is messed up.’ It was all ‘I think you could help with your background,’ so that was very encouraging to me.”

While Knox believes that saving the hospital is at the top of the priorities list for the city, he also identifies two other areas that need continued attention over several years: infrastructure (sewer and water) and dilapidated housing. “My theory is that if we do nothing, we will go nowhere, but if we have a plan we are going to go somewhere.” He hopes to keep the momentum going in some areas and spark new interest in others.

When asked to comment on Citizens United to Strengthen Our Hospital’s recent proposal for a half-cent sales tax, Knox said, “It would be a domino effect if we were to lose our hospital. Nobody likes taxes, but my position on that is that if you are going to get something for your tax money, then let’s go for it. It’s a half cent. It isn’t much. I think the answer is right in front of us – if we want to remain a viable community, we have to have a viable hospital.”

Knox hopes to somehow spark more public interest in issues facing the city. “I don’t think there has been enough public relations or interest from the citizens to come and sit in on a council meeting. I understand that. The experience of any city council I have worked with in my role as president is that you have tons of people who attend because they are mad about something, then they never come back. I would like to see citizens become more aware of what’s happening.”

Even though being selected to serve as mayor was unexpected to him, he plans to give the position his best effort. “My whole purpose of getting on the council was to be a contributor in figuring out what we can do to move forward. Mayor wasn’t on the top of my list. I don’t think the change is because people feel the leadership has been bad. It’s just that people sometimes crave something different. To me, Brian (Leonard) has done a very good job in his role a mayor.”

Knox plans to establish a monthly meeting, complete with coffee, where citizens could stop by and visit with him. “Anyone could drop in and they can cuss me out, or they can say we are doing a good job. Both sides are helpful. I’m really just kind of an open, community-minded person and would love to talk to as many people as I can.”