Senoia has decided to change its charter to reorganize the structure of the city government, from a "strong mayor" to a "council-manager" structure, which reduces the mayor's power while emphasizing the city manager in the primary executive role. City council also agreed to impose term limits, at three consecutive 4-year terms for councilmen and two consecutive terms for mayor.
The change in the charter is meant to reflect how the city is currently being run anyway under the leadership of Mayor Robert Belisle. While Senoia currently has a "strong mayor" system, in which Belisle is technically the chief executive with some considerable powers, the city government hasn't in fact operated this way. Belisle and council have collaborated in voting on various issues and have deferred largely to city administrator Richard Ferry as a decision maker.
Since the current administration is already operating in more of a "council-manager" format, the change to the charter won't likely lead to a noticeable difference in governing. The idea, though, is to prevent any problems that can occur and, according to Belisle and council members, have occurred in the past with the mayor as chief executive officer. With the "strong mayor" structure, the mayor runs day to day operations in the city offices and also prepares the budget, a role that most nearby municipalities delegate to city staff.
The changes to the charter can't go into effect immediately. There will be a public hearing as well as a resolution on the matter in November, then the proposal must go through the Georgia General Assembly. |
