By Angela Reinhardt
Transitioning from a sole commissioner to a multi-person commission is ultimately a decision that belongs to the voters of Pickens County, and citizen input will be an important part of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee’s (CAC) lengthy process of drafting a tailor-fitted form of government that may or may not be voted into law.
The CAC was created in response to the non-binding referendum passed by voters last July, which asked if moving from a sole to a multi-person commission was desirable.
“We have really been given a carte blanche,” CAC member Larry Butler said during the diversity sub-committee’s meeting last Thursday, highlighting the scope of options Pickens has for future leadership designs.
Six public meetings will be held later in the year in which the 40 volunteer CAC members will gather information from the Pickens community regarding desires and suggestions for a new form of government (or, perhaps, the desire to remain under the sole-commission format).
The information gathered at the public meetings will then be used by the CAC to develop a binding referendum that will (after state approval) appear on the November 2010 ballot.
Tentatively, three public meetings will be held in July, and three will be held in October with specific dates to be announced when plans are finalized.
The success of these meetings, however, hinges on education of the public beforehand concerning the various options available for commission structures.
In other words, the public’s understanding of some basic models of county government organization will facilitate productive discussions that give an accurate read of citizens’ desires. Without that up-front knowledge, public meetings could end up as time-consuming tutorials by CAC members.
Currently there are five commission structures used in the state of Georgia, according to a survey conducted by The University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government in 2006.
Outlines of these forms of government were handed to committee members to be used as a starting point for discussions. But CAC’s research sub-committee is also looking at alternative commission structures used outside the state.
Here is a summary of each of the five styles of commission formats used in Georgia, as taken from the Carl Vinson Institute’s Handbook for Georgia County Commissioners:
Sole Commissioner: - Only nine counties in the nation, including Pickens, use this form. The sole commissioner acts as a full commission board and has full policy-making (legislative) and executive (administrative) responsibilities.
The sole commissioner supervises all county departments.
Traditional Commission: - Just over 25 percent of Georgia counties use this format. In a traditional commission an elected board of commissioners (which generally has anywhere from three to 11 members with five being most common) shares the primary policy-making and executive responsibilities.
Policy-making is handled by the board of commissioners as a unified governing body, but executive responsibilities are usually handled in one of the following ways:
1. Individual commissioners are designated as the administrative head of a particular department or function,
2. Committees made up of board members are formed and each committee supervises various functions or departments,
3. The commission members supervise all executive responsibilities as a whole governing body, or
4. Executive responsibility is handled by the chairperson of the board of commissioners.
The commission chairperson is sometimes selected by voters in the general election, but the commission can also choose its own chairperson.
Elected Executive: - Only one county in Georgia, DeKalb, utilizes the elected-executive form in which policy-making and executive duties are completely separated. The board of commissioners is elected to perform all legislative functions, and an elected executive heads the executive branch (which includes all county departments and offices). Elected executives can be granted either limited or extensive powers.
Commission-Administrator: - In Georgia, 38.4-percent of counties use this form. Under the commission-administrator structure, the elected board of commissioners is ultimately responsible for all policy-making and executive functions. However, an appointed county administrator advises policy-making and offers administrative assistance.
The county administrator typically has limited authority over department heads and budget preparation and is similar to a Chief Operating Officer.
The board of commissioners often has the power to appoint or remove the county administrator.
Commission-Manager: - Just over 30-percent of Georgia counties utilize the commission-manager form. Under this structure the elected board of commissioners is responsible for prime policy-making roles and acts as overseer of executive functions. However, a board-appointed county manager (similar to a CEO) handles the “day-to-day” functions of the executive role including appointment of county department heads and budget preparation.
The manager is hired for his or her expertise and experience in administrative/executive duties, and, while the manager is held accountable for the executive functions, he or she reports to the board.
The board of commissioners maintains its ultimate control over executive functions through its ability to remove the county manager at any time.
A county manager typically has much more executive power than a county administrator.
Again, these are brief summaries of each structure, and there are several possible variations including number of board commissioners/districts, roles and appointment of chair and vice-chair, terms (staggered or concurrent), commission-meeting schedule, boundaries of commission districts, etcetera.
Continue to check both the print edition and online edition of the Progress for important updates and informative websites, resources and links regarding the CAC’s progress and Pickens County’s possible transition from a sole-commission to a multi-person commission government.
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