Peachtree City staffers are proposing a few changes relating to the appointment of volunteers to its various commissions and authorities.

Among the changes is when an alternate should serve to fill a vacancy. Currently alternates, who are selected by the City Council at the same time as regular members, are not allowed to assume a vacant seat that has more than 12 months left on its term. Alternates can only fill seats with an unexpired term of less than 12 months.

That would change under the new proposal so an alternate would be appointed to fill the vacant seat no matter the length of the term. That alternate would serve until the next “regular” interview process for that board, commission or authority occurs. Alternates would also be required to attend all mandatory training and attend 60 percent of the body’s meetings as opposed to the current requirement of 50 percent.

Another proposed change is to the meeting attendance requirement which if violated could lead to the member’s dismissal by the mayor.

Currently each member of a board, commission or authority is required to attend at least 80 percent of the body’s meetings for the previous 12 months. Also the chairman of the board, commission or authority is allowed to excuse an absence for medical reasons.

Under the new rules the absence criteria is the same except the cap lowers to 70 percent for the previous 12 months if the additional absences were for documented medical reasons.

The current procedure of removing any member who fails to meet those percentages, or who misses any three regularly scheduled meetings in one year, remains the same. Under the current ordinance and the new proposal, the offending member “shall be immediately dismissed from the commission or authority by the mayor,” according to the new proposal.

The new proposal gives some wiggle room as the mayor can take a pass on such action if he receives “satisfactory justification of the absences” from the chairman of the board, authority or commission.

In the case of the authorities which were created by separate legislation, the attendance requirement is basically the only avenue in which the city can remove a member, Tyler said. In those cases members can’t be removed for any cause other than the attendance issue, even if the city is dissatisfied with an appointee’s performance, Tyler noted.

The suggested changes have been forwarded to the various boards, commissions and authorities for review. These volunteer entities include the Development Authority of Peachtree City, the Peachtree City Tourism Association, the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority, the recreation commission, the library commission and the planning commission.

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