Published April 17, 2008

AG opinion on mayor/city managers not seen
as having any effect in Jasper

An opinion issued by the state Attorney General that the mayor of Snellville should not be acting as the city manager there is not seen as having any immediate effect here.
In response to an inquiry, Attorney General Thubert Baker last week gave an opinion that a mayor should not be allowed to act as city manager.
"The mayor is not authorized to both act in his capacity as the elected executive leader of the city and also as the city manager, because such dual service is inherently incompatible and inappropriate," Baker wrote.
Mayors aren't supposed to give direction or orders to city employees publicly or privately. That's the job of the city manager, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story on the Snellville decision.
Although the attorney general had issued similar opinions previously, publicity of the case in Snellville created interest in Pickens, where Jasper Mayor John Weaver also serves as city manager.
Unlike the Snellville case, however, Weaver was appointed by the city council to fill the city manager position. In Snellville, the authority of the mayor to act in the second role isn’t as clear-cut.
Attorneys consulted by the Progress said, in general, an opinion by an attorney general should be viewed as the opinion of the top legal mind in the state, but it does not carry the force of law.
Jasper Mayor John Weaver said he does not believe this will become an issue here unless the city council chooses to make it one.
Weaver defended the mayor-as-city manager arrangement as a good form of government. Weaver said having your mayor working as the city manager creates efficiency and responsibility. Weaver said he cannot envision how a mayor who does not work on a daily basis at city hall could be adequately versed in city operations and personnel to run knowledgeable meetings.
“You need to be there to make sure the personnel is doing their job,” he said. “An elected official needs to be on hand.”
Weaver said in the years his predecessor Lee Newton held the office, there was a move at one point to hire a separate city manager, but Mayor Newton was eventually given the manager’s responsibilities, and Jasper’s charter clearly allows this dual-role.
Weaver said, should someone press the issue, he would respond by arguing the establishment of “home rule” in Georgia, blocks the state from dictating to counties or cities.
“The council has the authority to run a city as they see fit,” Weaver said.
Weaver acknowledged that, for political reasons, someone might make an issue of the Snellville case.
“It would be someone playing politics,” he said. “They can’t beat me in an election, so they will try to put me out with lawsuits.”
Mayor Pro-Temp of the Jasper Council Hazel Mosley was not available for comment.
The next senior members of the council, Marcia Craft and Jim Looney, said they didn’t see any interest in taking up the issue at this point.
Craft said council members would view the attorney general’s opinion as that - an opinion. Looney and Craft both pointed out that Weaver was appointed as city manager every year in January and in the previous meeting they had set his pay status.
“The city council appointed him,” Craft said. “He did not just take it over.”
Craft said they had seen earlier rulings from the city attorney that it is legal for Weaver to hold both positions.
She said Weaver’s experience chief administrator for Jasper would make it hard for someone else to argue they are better qualified for that responsibility.
Looney said he could see this being an issue taken up when Jasper is larger but at this time having a single mayor/city manger “makes sense.”
Amy Henderson with the Georgia Municipal Association said they don’t have a count of the number of Georgia cities that have a mayor who also serves as city manager. She said aside from Jasper and Ellijay, she didn’t know of any, but pointed out there are 535 recognized cities in Georgia.
She said a similar style of government, where the mayor acts as the city manager without the second title, is common, especially among smaller cities. Talking Rock is among those cities where the mayor does this kind of day-to-day work.
Another style that is somewhat similar: having a mayor technically in charge of day-to-day operations with a city clerk working the daily job. This style is seen in Nelson.