Friday, March 23, 2001
Friday, March 23, 2001 |
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Former mayors weigh in about charter change By JOHN
MUNFORD
When the Peachtree City Council sought mayoral opinions on what should be changed in the city's charter, it got plenty of help. Former mayors Fred Brown, Chip Conner, Herb Frady, Howard Morgan and Ralph Jones all gave their input on the charter to City Attorney Rick Lindsey. Morgan was the only one who indicated he would likely leave the charter alone except for the housekeeping items. Frady, who's now on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, said he opposed changing the relationship between council and the mayor unless they were intended to reflect the true operations of the city. Brown had several extensive comments, including a suggestion to better define the role of council members, since the mayor's duties are so clearly spelled out. Brown also suggested that the city manager's role is better addressed in the ordinances instead of the charter, and that the clerk should be written out of the charter also. Councilman Dan Tennant said his "gut feeling" was to leave the city clerk references in the charter. Frady suggested that the council be allowed to give instructions publicly, but not privately. A new section proposed for the charter would prevent council members from issuing orders to employees entirely, instead having council members deal with the city manager only. That language was supposed to prevent council members from interfering with the day-to-day operations of the city. Lindsey said he would study the matter further. Annie McMenamin, who had originally suggested that the former mayors' input be sought, said she appreciated the time they spent on the matter. Lindsey said he would work more on the draft but the time is coming to start scheduling public hearings on the proposed changes. One of Lindsey's goals is to make the ordinance more readable and understandable, he said.
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