Former PTC mayors' input sought on charter changes

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Before the Peachtree City charter is changed in any way, councilwoman Annie McMenamin wants to solicit input from several very important people.

McMenamin has asked that the city approach its former mayors for comment about the proposed charter changes. She said they would be able to explain why portions of the charter were addressed in a certain way.

Although the charter review process began as a project that needed to be completed quickly, it slowed down several weeks ago once City Attorney Rick Lindsey discovered most, if not all, of the changes council wanted could be done without approval from the Georgia General Assembly.

After Lindsey made council aware of that, the decision was made to slow down the process and get more input from the public on the suggested revisions. It is believed that the charter has not changed significantly since it was first enacted over 40 years ago.

Back then, Peachtree City was a rural hamlet and not the large city boasting a population around 40,000 that it is today. Many of the changes Lindsey has suggested revolved around making the government structure more suited to a larger city instead of a small town.

One of the changes would officially put more power in the hands of the city manager in terms of the day-to-day operations of the city. Currently, the charter gives much of that power to the mayor and Mayor Bob Lenox has delegated most of that authority to current City Manager Jim Basinger.

The charter shows its age, however, partially since it doesn't specifically address the role of the city manager. That's one part that will likely be updated in the changes council will likely vote on in the near future.

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