New Info on the Change of Government

I have been thinking a lot about the ‘cancelled changing the form of government’ and feel the decision was not for the mayor alone to decide. I also feel this should have been by council vote. Also, I believe the mayor handing it over to the citizens to petition was not an ideal resolution either.  I am not sure if any of the council members were aware of the decision and saw it on Facebook just like I did. I campaigned for Mayor Talbert when I was campaigning. I brought up the change of government as well as the moratorium because I believed it was the right thing to do. I also feel the voters expressed their agreement by voting her in as Mayor. It recently occurred to me the budget did not have ANY money allocated to the change of government. The change of government was not mentioned at any time during the budget meeting. Like me, the newly elected members were over-whelmed with trying to figure everything out and did not realize the omission. (There isn't a council school available and the outgoing council members did not attempt to transition information to the newly elected.) 

A citizen reached out and provided me with some information the citizen gathered from a mayor and city administrator in a city that did a change of government. (I am not revealing the name of the city or persons because I feel it is not relative.) Just know, both the mayor and city administrator provided the information from their perspective.  I do respect their opinion and found it informative.

Here are questions the citizen provided and the answers given by the mayor.

1)  What were the reasons for changing the FOG?

Varied reasons, however it was done without the mayor’s (at the time) support, he was the only “no” vote to put it on the ballot. Without getting into too much old detail, there were some actions he took that prompted City Council to put the referendum on their agenda to vote on. Voters then approved it 75% to 25% that year.

2)  What are the benefits to the city and residents for making this change?

“Strong Mayor” is the most popular form of government in South Carolina. However, the vast majority of the 271 cities are also under 1,000 in population. In those smaller communities it makes sense to allow the Mayor to function as the “CEO” as the city does not have the ability to hire professional staff many times. For (removed city name) (and I can only speak for removed city name), given our growing staff, including a full-time City Administrator, it made sense to have only one person serving in that top administrative role. Additionally, it allowed all of Council to participate in decisions instead of the Mayor being able to, for instance, unilaterally hire/fire. 

Note that this is our perspective. Other cities may have different experiences.

3) Does it cost a lot to make this change?

Not to my knowledge. It did cost money in terms of staff / legal work to make the necessary changes to laws, but overall there was no real cost that I am aware of. Council pay was not adjusted, the Mayor was not already provided with large expensive items (e.g. a vehicle) that now had to be dispensed with, or given to all members. 

4) Did you have to re-do or change the city ordinances and was this costly to the city?

Yes, we re-wrote our relevant laws. We did not see a major change in costs to my knowledge (again, before my time). However - our city attorney was not paid hourly and I suspect had that been the case, we may have paid more.

The following is the response from the city administrator:

Mayor (removed name) did an excellent job responding from an elected official perspective.  I want to respond from a City Administrator/Manager perspective. 

Having worked in all three forms of municipal government in South Carolina, I've come to appreciate the pros and cons of all three FOGS. While I am a staunch supporter of the Council-Manager FOG, each community is unique and must find the best fit for them. Of the 25 largest municipalities in South Carolina, only Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek, North Augusta, and Easley utilize the Mayor-Council FOG. 

The biggest issue with the Mayor-Council (Strong Mayor) FOG is that a city administrator is still necessary for a community the size of Easley. The Strong Mayor FOG is the most practical in tiny communities because their budgets are small, they offer fewer services, and their community issues are typically less complex.

With the right mayor and administrator, the Mayor-Council FOG can be an effective form of government, even in larger communities. My best example is Goose Creek, where they have an excellent mayor (strong mayor FOG) and a top-notch city administrator. However, what happens when Mayor (removed name)is no longer the Mayor or (removed name) is no longer the Administrator? I think a community thrives when the structure in place can outlast the personalities in those roles. In Goose Creek and North Augusta, their city administrators have authority via ordinance in line with a city manager or a city administrator in a Council FOG.

For Easley, the Strong Mayor FOG worked well with Mayor Bagwell and top-notch Administrators in place, such as Fox Simons  (currently the City Manager of Myrtle Beach), followed by Stephen Steese (currently the City Manager of Bluffton). Until Easley changes the FOG to either Council-Manager or Council form of government, Easley may have a difficult time attracting the best and brightest municipal executives. I'm not implying any negativity toward Mayors Womack or Talbert, but highly qualified municipal executives understand how quickly a Mayoral change can change the relationship dynamic from harmonious to contentious. 

As far as the monetary cost to change FOGs, I am speculating Mayor Talbert is referring to the expenses relating to the citywide referendum election. In (removed year), (removed city name) included the FOG referendum question on the November ballot, so there were no additional election expenses. I don't know the ins and outs of Easley's election process or what involvement Pickens County has in it. I have no doubt that a special election in which the only item on the ballot is the FOG referendum would have an associated cost.