Legislators approve new WR charter

The Georgia General Assembly’s 2020 session ended Friday, but before the close of the session, both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the new city charter for Warner Robins.

Representatives Heath Clark (R-147), Shaw Blackmon (R-146), Robert Dickey (R-140), Danny Mathis (R-144) and Noel Williams Jr. (R-148) sponsored the new charter, House Bill 1247. It was first presented to the House of Representatives on June 22 and was later adopted on June 24. The Senate held a first reading on June 25, and adopted by substitute on the same day. The House then agreed to the Senate’s substitute.

At the June 3 Warner Robins City Council meeting, members and Mayor Randy Toms approved the new charter in a 5-2 vote. Last year, the Houston County Legislative Delegation asked the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government to review the city of Warner Robins’ Charter. The institute did so, and released the review in October of 2019 deeming it a “unique problem.”

Representative Clark, chairman of the Houston County Legislative Delegation, stated in a press release last year, that for years, they have received correspondences from constituents in Warner Robins asking the delegation to do something to remedy what has been referenced as “confusion and inefficiencies” among city officials and within city operations of Warner Robins.

Clark sent out an email on behalf of the Houston County Delegation on March 12, 2020, to Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms and members of the Warner Robins City Council. Attached was a draft of a charter modernization for the city of Warner Robins. In the draft that was emailed to Warner Robins Mayor and Council on March 12, 2020, it does not specifically state whether the city will be ran as a strong mayor form of government or by council-manager.

The proposed charter provides for the creation of a city administrator position, amends the powers of the office of the mayor and of the city council, and makes additional changes from the current charter. Toms and council members Daron Lee, Charlie Bibb, Keith Lauritsen and Kevin Lashley voted in favor for the new charter, while Clifford Holmes and Larry Curtis voted in opposition.

Holmes said he did not feel comfortable with the new charter, as there was no documentation provided to council of exactly what the changes were, and he did not have time to compare to the current charter. Holmes did acknowledge that he knew of the city administrator’s position, but nothing else. Curtis voted against it because he said he felt like it wasn’t the right time to move forward on the charter.

“With everything that’s going on, and the people not being able to voice their opinions, it’s not fair,” Curtis said.

All members of the Houston County Legislative Delegation voted in favor of the new charter; members include Clark (chairman), Blackmon, Dickey, Mathis, Williams, Senator Larry Walker III (R-20), Senator John Kennedy (R-18), and Senator David Lucas (D-26).

Highlights of the new charter include: on lines 11-12 of the new draft: “; to prohibit city council interference with administration.”

Section 2.18 of the new draft, regarding the mayor, states the mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the city with some changes of duties to include “keep the city council fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of said city.” It also states the mayor shall approve or veto the ordinance or resolution within eight calendar days after adoption or approval, and no ordinance or resolution shall become effective without the mayor’s approval except as provided in this subsection. If the mayor vetoes an ordinance or resolution, the mayor shall, within two business days of such veto, return it to the city council accompanied by a written statement of the reasons for that veto. If the city council shall pass the ordinance or resolution by a vote of two-thirds of its members at the meeting next held after the ordinance or resolution has been returned with the mayor’s veto, it shall become law without the mayor’s approval. In the event the mayor does not approve or veto the ordinance or resolution within the time required, it shall become law without the mayor’s approval.”

In subsection C, regarding the mayor in the new draft, it states, “In no event shall the mayor be authorized to spend in excess of $10,000 for the purchase of any item for use by the city without the prior consent of a majority of the duly qualified members of council.” In subsection D, “Except for purposes of inquiry, members of the city council other than the mayor shall deal with the city’s employees solely through the mayor shall not give orders or directives to any such employees, either publicly or privately, except in emergency situations or in the absence of the mayor or the mayor pro tem acting on behalf of the mayor as provided in this charter.”

A new section that was created for a city administrator has 10 subsections with several line items of different duties; however, the city administrator will have similar duties of the mayor such as suspending or removing any employee and preparing the budget annually for submission by the mayor to the city council. It does not state whether the administrator will be full-time or part-time, and what the salary will be. Warner Robins Mayor and Council created the position and adopted the ordinance in 2017, but also did not set whether the administrator will be full-time or part-time, or the salary.

Also another new section created in the draft was section 2.28 – council interference with administration. The section states, “Except for the purpose of inquiries and investigations under section 2.17, the city council or its members shall deal with city officers and employees who are subject to the direction and supervision of the city administrator solely through the mayor, and neither the city council nor its members shall give orders to any such officer or employee, either publicly or privately.”

The new city charter is now set to go to Governor Brian Kemp for him to sign into law. There is no time frame of when Governor Kemp will sign the new charter, but has 30 days to do so from the date of approval from both the House of Representatives and Senate. If Governor Kemp does not sign the charter within the 30 days, it automatically is put into law.

The charter can be found online at http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/194848.pdf.

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