- Bill Bunten
Bill Bunten (born 1930) is a
Kansas politician and the currentmayor ofTopeka, Kansas , having been elected to a four-year term in 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, he served in theKansas House of Representatives from 1962 to 1990 and in theKansas Senate from 2002 to 2004. He previously ran for mayor in 2001 and in a special election in 2003. Bunten is a Republican.Bunten was the first mayor to be elected in Topeka under the new council-manager government, which stripped most of the powers of the office of mayor. (Instead, the
city council and appointedcity manager holds most of the power.) As such, Bunten's role will be limited to leading city council meetings, promoting economic development, and being the "ceremonial head" of the city. He replaced former-mayorJames McClinton who did not seek a second term after the powers of the office were reduced.In 2005, after receiving a letter from a school child, Bunten was alerted to a local law which banned the throwing of
snowball s in the city. He has admitted to throwing snowballs himself (anassault charge) and is reported to be getting that portion of the law repealed.External links
* [http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:teypw5b8ajAJ:www.cjonline.com/stories/040605/loc_mayor.shtml+bill+bunten&hl=en&client=firefox-a The Capital-Journal article about the election, April 2004]
* [http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/12/31/national/a06123105_02.txt "Mayor looks to repeal law making snowball throwing a crime" by the Associated Press]
* [http://www.cjonline.com/stories/071806/loc_buntenpicket.shtml "Bunten seeks picket resolution" by Tim Hrenchir of The Capital-Journal, July 2006]
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