Newly elected city officials will take their seats in January, but for some, the new year will mean the end of the road.
John Matta is retiring from local politics after 15 years of service overall. Matta was elected to the city commission twice, serving from 2011 to 2015 and again in 2021 and 2023. His current term expires in January. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Riley County Commission in 2020.
During a recent appearance on News Radio KMAN’s Within Reason with Mike Matson, Matta reflected on his approach to governance through responsible growth, limited regulation and keeping taxes in check.
“In 2011 that was the big issue was taxes, the debt that the city had,” he said. “The city was doing really well up to then, really the last decade, we’ve kind of stagnated. We said, yeah we want the growth, but the growth can’t just mean higher taxes and higher costs for everybody.”
Matta said his experience in business greatly influenced how he approached city issues.
“What made me successful in business was really making operations efficient, and that’s what I ran on in the election, although I knew that in this job, you wouldn’t be the executive, you would be setting policy decisions, and the city manager was the executive, and it was going to be difficult,” he said. “I always tell that to candidates, you need three votes to do anything on that commission.”
Matta argued that local leaders can and should look harder for savings before turning to taxpayers, noting that too often, the message from government is that higher taxes are inevitable.
“There is a choice,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you don’t get some people running for the state legislature on some sort of property tax cap, like a 5% cap, or you have a cap, and if you want to go over it, you’re going to have to go to the electorate.”
During his time in local politics, Matta was heavily involved with the local political action committee “Our Manhattan.”
The group operates primarily through online engagement, especially via Facebook, and sometimes runs community forums and media campaigns.
Instead of a dues-paying membership, it has a core group of around 15 online contributors. Matta is its chairman and public face. The conservative-leaning group is known for its advocacy on local political issues.
It’s unclear if someone will succeed Matta as chair once he leaves Manhattan or if he will continue with the organization in a different capacity. Matta and his wife Karen intend to move to Arizona in 2026 to enjoy retirement.
Matta and his family moved to Manhattan from California in 1998. He is the advancement director for Manhattan Catholic Schools and retired from Foot Locker as VP of Logistics in 2019.