CORDELE — Members of the Centerville City Council, as well as the city’s mayor and department heads, are spending two days at Lake Blackshear to discuss ways to continue moving the city forward.
City Administrator Patrick Eidson said the purpose of the event is to bring city leaders together — away from the daily business in City Hall — to discuss how they should work together for the city’s sake.
During the two days of the retreat, which ends this afternoon, officials will hear what should be expected out of the working relationship between all the parts, from the mayor down to the city staff.
Walter McBride, of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, is serving as a facilitator for the two-day event.
In his opening presentation, McBride said officials would eventually rank issues they were facing as a city.
The group spent most of Thursday’s session discussing expectations the mayor and council have of one another, as well as the expectations elected officials have of the city’s staff.
Among the issues were communication — where everyone is informed of critical issues involving the city — as well as respecting differences of opinion and following the chain of command when appropriate.
Councilman Edward Tucker emphasized that the mayor and council need to continue with the line that when a decision is made, even if it’s not unanimous, that it becomes the decision of the council.
“Once that decision’s made to go forward, it’s ‘all aboard,’ ” Tucker said.
Mayor John Harley agreed.
“If we do have something we conflict on, we’re going to conflict on it among ourselves,” he said.
It’s the second retreat for the city in as many years, but the first for Harley, who was elected in November.
To contact writer Marlon A. Walker, call 256-9685.
E-Mail
Print
Reprint|license
