New Sherwood City Manager Jim Patterson shows off his golf cart.

KING CITY, Ore. – Electric golf carts are one King City couple's answer to the high price of gas.

"It's the only way to travel," said Barbara Wilson, who, along with her husband, uses the carts to run errands around town.

It's a golf cart convenience that new Sherwood City Manager Jim Patterson wants to bring to his town.

He wants to pass an ordinance allowing the carts on city streets as a gas-saving alternative to cars.

"I think we have a responsibility to talk about these things," Patterson said.

The League of Oregon Cities has had a number of city managers talking about it, he said, and a number of cities have adopted ordinances across the country.

Electric golf carts can cover about 40 miles between charges. Patterson said Sherwood might consider putting in a bank of outlets downtown so people can recharge their carts.

However, it remained unclear Sunday whether a city can legally allow its citizens to tool around town in the carts. A spokesman for the state DMV told The Oregonian newspaper that state law only allows for their use to and from a golf course under local ordinance.