LOCAL GOVERNMENT 101: Albany’s municipal government based on charter, codes

Editor’s note: Final installment of a three-part series.

ALBANY — Albany City Clerk Sonja Tolbert points to the “War and Peace”-like volume on her desk.

“That’s the nuts and bolts right there,” Tolbert says. “That’s our Bible.”

The manual that’s drawn Tolbert’s attention is the city of Albany’s relatively small, 48-page charter, which was approved by the Georgia State Legislature in 1838. Behind that unimposing document, though, are pages of codes that serve as the basis for the city’s government.

“My job is to help the Board of Commissioners follow that charter,” City Manager Sharon Subadan said. “Our rules and responsibilities are pretty well-defined in that document and in the codes that have been passed over the years. (The charter and codes) contain not just our guiding principles, but how our city is to be governed.”

That charter spells out the method through which Subadan was selected as city manager and what her duties are in that position. As a strong city manager-led government, Subadan’s responsibilities entail managing pretty much all of the day-to-day operations of the city. The city commission, made up of representatives elected from six single-member wards and headed by the at-large elected mayor, has oversight of the city manager position in that the board approves or rejects her recommendations.

But the city manager has the authority to hire, fire and oversee all but a few city employees.

Dougherty County officials, who represent residents outside the city limits, say municipalities like Albany have more governmental flexibility in that they are not completely bound by state mandates. But Albany’s city attorney says that is not exactly accurate.

“The state has the authority to preempt any local laws other than zoning,” Nathan Davis says. “If state law ‘moves into an area’ — such as the fireworks law that went into effect in July — municipalities must have a local ordinance that matches the state law.

“There has been in our community a call by some to create an ordinance that would impact the ultimate decision of whether that (Sabal Trail Transmission) pipeline is allowed to come through here. But any ordinance we pass would be preempted by state and federal law, so our ordinance would not hold up to a legal challenge.”

Legal rulings are the basis for city codes and ordinances, Davis said.

“Our charter, and, subsequently, our codes are the bedrock of our city government,” the attorney said. “Our interpretation of those documents are based on Georgia and/or federal court rulings.”

City leaders’ qualifications are spelled out in the city charter. Candidates must be at least 21 years of age and live in the ward they want to represent for at least three months prior to election. Candidates must have been a resident of the city for two years prior to qualifying and must remain a resident during their term, which is set by the charter at four years.

The mayor presides over commission meetings and has voting power but not outright veto power. The city’s chief executive may exercise a line-item veto of the city’s budget if he or she does so within 10 days of adoption of the budget, but the City Commission can override that veto with four votes.

The current city charter sets commissioners’ salaries at $15,000 annually and the mayor’s at $25,000. Commissioners are also entitled to use an additional $7,500 annual expense account, the mayor a $10,000 account. Unexcused absences from commission meetings result in a deduction of 2 percent of annual salary, and the charter says absence from five consecutive meetings — excused or unexcused — results in vacation of office.

Every two years, the City Commission must evaluate and elect/re-elect the city manager, city attorney, city clerk and assistant clerk.

As administrative head of the city government, the city manager must see that all laws and ordinances are enforced, appoint and employ all necessary employees, remove employees, supervise all government departments, attend all city meetings (with no vote), see that terms and conditions of the city’s Utility Board are kept, execute contracts on the city’s behalf, submit a yearly budget, fix all salaries of city employees and serve as a purchasing agent on items up to $40,000. Any amount more than that must get commission approval.

Among the positions overseen by the city manager are city attorney, finance director, chief of police, code director, fire department chief and chief Municipal Court judge.

City Clerk Sonja Tolbert, who has been in that position for 10 years and serves on the Georgia Municipal Association board and as president of the Georgia Municipal Clerks and Finance Officers Association, said citizens who have not taken the time to research local government are often intimidated by the process. But she added that residents would be well served to familiarize themselves with the rules on which local government is based.

“When people call and ask about things like the requirements for holding office, they’re often surprised to find out the answers,” Tolbert said. “There’s just not a great understanding of how local government operates. We get calls all the time — we got two today, one about parades in the city — and the caller immediately asks to speak to the mayor. That’s not unusual; people usually go to the top when they’re looking for answers.

“But there are layers of our government that, with a little better understanding of the way things work, our residents would know where to go to find the answers to their questions. They could start by getting involved with one of our many citizen boards. They might be surprised to find that, not only do they have a better understanding of how things work, they may become interested in running for elected office. It’s happened before.”