Commissioners from Habersham and Madison counties spoke with the Citizens Advisory Committee on Commission Structure last week, increasing the CAC’s growing awareness that day-to-day county operations and legislative duties may need to be handled separately by future county leaders.
The CAC, a volunteer study group comprised of concerned residents in Pickens, is now evaluating three final formats for Pickens’ possible move to a multi-person commission. These three formats are the outcome of several months of research and discussion and took into consideration input gathered from residents of Pickens County through public hearings and letters.
The CAC recently invited commissioners from three Georgia counties that operate using these final formats (sometimes with minor variations) to speak about the pros and cons of each form of government and to offer suggestions of ways they might do things differently if they had the opportunity.
Mike Berg, Chairman of the Dawson County Board of Commissioners, spoke with the CAC earlier in the month. Coverage of his meeting can be found at www.pickensprogress.com/multimancommission.asp. Video of the meeting can be found at www.knowpickens.com.
Last Tuesday, Anthony Dove, Chairman of the Madison County Board of Commissioners, and Habersham County’s Vice-Chairman Charles Miller and County Manager Janeann Allison spoke with the CAC in back-to-back meetings.
Dove, who traveled to Pickens from Madison County for the discussion, is the full-time chairman on a commission board that includes five other commissioners. Madison County does not currently employ a county manager or administrator.
Several members of the CAC, including CAC Chair Phil Anderson, have expressed concern over a government format that operates with a full-time chair, the most similar of the three choices to that of a sole-commissioner.
The focus of Anderson’s concern is that a full-time county manager, responsible for both day-to-day administrative operations (including hire/fire capabilities for all department heads) in addition to legislative and goal-setting responsibilities, juggles a workload too large for one person to handle––especially in a growing community such as Pickens County.
Commissioner Dove said that while he feels having a full-time chair is valuable, because citizens have a “go-to guy,” his duties as full-time chair “make for a very long day, I can tell you that,” he said. “In a progressive community with a lot of growth, a county manager is best,” Dove said. He added that, in the future he feels his own county may need to hire a county manager.
While Dove only votes on legislation in the event a commissioner abstains or is absent, he still has legislative duties. “You can’t get away from setting policy,” he said.
Dove also pointed out that he lacks many of the “technical” skills needed to handle the day-to-day operations of a county and must hire professionals who possess those skills. That tacks on costs above and beyond the salaries and benefits of additional county commissioners, he said.
But, “A good county manager can come at a good premium,” Dove added.
The Madison commissioner also advised the CAC to clearly define powers of a full-time chair in the beginning, if they opt for a full-time commissioner, to avoid power struggles and confusion.
“It’s not about what I can and can’t do. I just want it clearly defined,” Dove said with some frustration about the clarity of his own county’s division of power.
In stark contrast, Habersham County’s Vice-Chairman Charles Miller and County Manager Jeanann Allison were overwhelmingly strong advocates of Habersham’s form of government.
The pair talked up their “strong manager form” so much that, following the discussion, a member of the CAC congratulated them for operating in a “political utopia.”
Habersham has five commissioners with one part-time chair that is elected by the board of commissioners. All commissioners are elected at-large.
“I just don’t see any negatives to the way it operates,” Miller said.
Miller, who has been in the banking industry for 40 years, said, “The strong manager form is the way to go.”
Allison, who was the county clerk for two-and-a-half years prior to her current position as county manager, said, speaking to the additional cost of a multi-person commission operating with a county manager (estimated by the CAC to be $72,000 to $84,5000) “the benefits outweigh the costs.”
Allison handles day-to-day operations, including hiring and firing of department heads, “which takes stress off [the commissioners],” who are part-time and who, for the most part, have other full-time responsibilities.
The identical form of government Habersham now uses is not one of the final three options being considered by the CAC, however. The most similar form being considered elects commissioners by-district, not county wide.
Vice-chair Miller said the election of commissioners countywide works well because he feels they operate with a “global” mindset, taking the entire county’s wellbeing into account when making decisions.
Video and audio footage of the Habersham and Madison county interviews can be found at www.knowpickens.com.
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