Graham announces his resignation from city commission

Family comes before politics, and Commissioner Nick Graham realized he didn't have enough time for both.

Graham announced on Tuesday his resignation from the Fort Scott City Commission. His last commission meeting will be April 3.

After his newborn baby recently arrived, Graham began searching for permanent employment rather than staying in a temporary position with Great West Insurance. The commissioner said he recently accepted a position at a manufacturing company in Pittsburg where he's handling network and personal computer operations. The job forces him to travel to Tulsa, Okla. He declined to disclose the name of the business.

"I'm sure folks will be disappointed, but I think they understand this wasn't a decision made in haste," Graham said in an e-mail. "The job of commissioner requires time if you really want to do it justice, and I don't think I can perform to the best of my abilities with so many major new priorities in my life.

"My new job requires me to be out of town for the majority of my time, and for the few remaining hours I have, I need to be at home, helping Karen with our newborn daughter.

"I really wish I didn't need to step down in the middle of my term. I was kind of hoping to become Fort Scott's youngest mayor at some point in the future, but family comes before politics."

Graham had already made history by becoming the youngest commissioner in Fort Scott history when he was elected at age 25.

He said the recent turmoil within the city about the grand jury findings "definitely was a factor" in his decision but not the main reason.

"It's hard to make a dissenting vote on a major issue, even if you are doing it the right way, and not still fear you will be painted with the same brush as the folks who a lot of people think have gone about things the wrong way. 

"I think Fort Scott will see some real growth and expansion over the next few years and truly break out of its shell, but that is going to happen by respected new faces heeding the call to leadership, getting into office, and making changes the right way."

During Graham's brief run as commissioner, he cast dissenting votes in several instances.

He voted against stabilizing the Miller and Nelson Block Buildings in April 2005, saying at the time Fort Scott needed to start creating its own history. He voted against approval of the annual evaluation and performance review of City Manager Richard Nienstedt in November. He was the sole dissenting vote on each issue.  

In addition to his job as commissioner, Graham recently resigned from two Fort Scott Community Visioning committees, the Aquatic Center Committee and the Inside-Out Economic Development committee. He served as co-organizer for the two boards.

Graham said he's not ruling out a return to public office, once things are "more settled at home and work."

"It really depends on the political climate, and on who has stood up to the plate and is on the Commission at the time," he said.