Wednesday, January 24, 2001
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Wednesday, January 24, 2001 |
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Compromise reached in PTC clerk debate By JOHN
MUNFORD
The Peachtree City Council will likely retain its power to appoint a city clerk, who would report to the city manager under an agreement reached by council at its regular meeting last week. The compromise came forth during discussion on possible changes to the city's charter, which partially lists some of the clerk's duties. Under the proposal, council would retain the power to hire and fire the clerk. Mayor Bob Lenox, however, had wanted City Manager Jim Basinger to be named clerk and have the city employ a certified city clerk. It makes little sense, he argued, for Basinger to have an employee he can't discipline or fire. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin said that, under the compromise, Basinger could approach council if he felt the clerk needed to be dismissed. Council took no immediate vote on the matter and Basinger remains the acting clerk for now. At the first meeting in January, he was appointed as clerk for three months while council considered how the clerk's role might be changed in the charter. During Thursday's meeting, Councilwoman Carol Fritz argued that the clerk should be appointed by council to retain a "check and balances" system. "The clerk insures the legislative process, policies and procedures are followed along with ethics," Fritz said. "... The clerk can be rendered ineffective if the clerk is hired and fired by the city manager." The city clerk should serve as a link between the separate legislative and administrative components of government, Fritz said. But if the clerk is controlled by administration, it damages the integrity of the city government, she added. Lenox said he wanted to keep the clerk's job from becoming politicized. He said other cities appoint their chief executives as clerks but also employ certified city clerks, which he saw as an ideal solution. Brooks said a policy could be written to specifically outline the clerk's responsibilities. That could include a provision that the city manager conducts the clerk's job evaluation, he said. "That way, the city manager isn't undermined," Brooks said, addressing one of Lenox's specific concerns. City Attorney Rick Lindsey said he would take council's ideas about the charter changes and put them on paper. He said he would do so as quickly as possible so the charter stands a chance of being approved by the General Assembly this session. In bringing up the topic, Councilwoman Annie McMenamin said council should have appointed Nancy Faulkner, the previous clerk, as acting clerk at its last meeting. She said Lindsey, who wasn't present at the meeting, would have approved that because Faulkner agreed not to hold council liable if it eventually decided not to hire her after having the discussions on the charter. "We have always accepted the word of a developer or attorney of consent in development in a public meeting we've taken that on their word," McMenamin said. "I think to do otherwise for a city employee would be contradictory to the way we have held public meetings." McMenamin also said the appointment could have been postponed until the next meeting, according to Lindsey. She originally asked council to reconsider its action and give the title back to Faulkner with her role being supervised directly by Basinger. Giving Basinger the title held by Faulkner gave the appearance of gender bias, she said. Lenox said he didn't think council needed to reconsider the action and his motion to table the matter until the city charter discussion was approved 3-2, with councilmen Robert Brooks and Dan Tennant in favor. The compromise was reached later in the meeting during the discussion of changes to the city charter.
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