Macon-Bibb merger proposes smaller, redesigned local government

ATLANTA -- Bibb County and Macon would be merged into one government, overseen by a nine-member Macon-Bibb County Commission and a mayor, under a state House of Representatives proposal just published.

Under proposed House Bill 1171 sponsored by all six Bibb delegation House members, the charter calls for partisan elections for the nine commission members and the mayor. The mayor would be elected countywide, and the nine commissioners from single-member districts. The first commissioners and mayor would be elected in November 2013 for initial three-year terms. After that, terms would last four years. The mayor is limited to two terms, and commissioners to three. The salaries are set at $100,000 for the mayor and $15,000 for the commissioners. The mayor will be the commission’s presiding officer and would only vote to break a tie.

“Partisan (voting) was not my first choice,” said state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, pointing out that none of Georgia’s other major consolidated governments have partisan councils, “but it was a compromise worth making at this time to move the bill forward.”

Last year, during debate around a similar bill, Democrats especially pushed for partisan elections, on the grounds that partisanship is a convenient, clear signal to voters about a candidate’s political beliefs.

Based on the black voting-age population, the maps look likely to return five Democrats and at least two Republicans, with the other two seats competitive but leaning toward the GOP.

As the proportion of black voters rises, so do chances of a Democratic win. The federal Department of Justice uses that statistic in part to verify that districts do not dilute minority voting power.

Bibb County as a whole leans Democratic, though that lead is less than 20 percentage points, according to returns from the 2010 and 2008 elections.

Drawing the maps slowed down a proposal that Bibb’s legislators had aimed to file by mid-January.

“We wanted to make sure it matches the demography (and) voting history,” said state Sen. Miriam Paris, D-Macon.

State Rep. Nikki Randall, D-Macon, who is the local delegation’s chairwoman, was not available for comment Monday.

Bibb’s eight state legislators also see-sawed on what powers the mayor would have.

Their agreed-upon bill has the mayor and commission collaborate on key tasks. The mayor would have the power to nominate department heads, the county attorney, a finance officer, the fire chief and a professional county manager, all of whom must be approved by the commission. The mayor would, however, have the power to fire the appointees. The mayor also would draft an annual budget, subject to approval by the commission.

And only the county manager would manage county employees. The bill clearly states the mayor and commissioners are not to give any order or direction to employees “publicly or privately, directly or indirectly.”

There’s also a clause prohibiting conflicts of interest.

The commission would be able to conduct internal investigations if six commission members, or five members plus the mayor agree to it.

The mayor has the power needed to operate in an executive manner, Paris said, and yet the proposed setup won’t be adversarial either.

A proposal last year would have put the mayor solely in charge of key appointments and would have given that person a small discretionary budget besides.

Money and personnel matters

If, as planned, the merger takes effect in 2014, its budget would be the sum of Macon’s and Bibb’s separate would-be budgets. Then by 2019, it would have to be 20 percentage points cheaper or possibly face a lawsuit. Barring emergency, if it doesn’t shrink, said state Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, the commission “will be in violation of the law. Usually when you are in violation of the law, you go to court.” It would be similar to The Telegraph taking city government to court because of alleged violations of open meetings laws, Staton suggested.

As for debts, Macon’s bonded debts would be paid by a special tax assessment within the borders of today’s city. Bibb’s bonded debt would not be affected by the charter. The unified government would take on Macon and Bibb pension liabilities.

The proposal says its framers’ “intent” would be to retain all employees of both governments with at least the same salary and benefit level.

But it also would give the new government the power to reorganize, re-establish or kill departments. Ultimately, personnel decisions would lie with the new elected officials, though they have 18 months of breathing room before they must shrink their budget.

Boards and authorities would be made uniform under the bill. They would all have seven members, four appointed by the mayor, three by the commission and limited to two four-year terms. The bill does not speak specifically to the Macon Water Authority. A previous proposal would have the authority pay a franchise fee to the new government. Paris said it was left out so that the bill would not be politicized by relatively small details.

Legal issues

The sheriff, elected countywide, would oversee law enforcement. The competing option was to have an appointed chief of police on that job.

This is better, said state Rep. Robert Dickey, R-Musella, “because you have to have a sheriff anyway” under the state Constitution. County courts would continue to function as they do now. Macon’s Municipal Court would hear code and traffic violations countywide.

Proposing a unified city-county set of ordinances would be the main task of a 15-member consolidation task force created in the bill. The task force chairperson would be, as Bibb’s senior legislator, state Rep. Randall, with Staton as the vice chairman. Co-executive officers are set to be the Bibb County Commission chairman and the mayor of Macon. It would include the Macon police chief, the Bibb County sheriff, the Macon City Council president, the Bibb County Chamber of Commerce president, the Bibb County Commission Finance Committee chairman, and his counterpart from Macon City Council, plus five members of the community who would be chosen by Bibb’s legislators.

The bill creates an Office of Small Business Affairs under the Macon-Bibb County Economic Development Authority. The office would be charged with giving advice and technical support to small or minority-owned businesses. It would recommend to Macon-Bibb a policy for ensuring “fair participation” of such businesses in county procurement and would audit compliance with any such policy.

The 40-page bill is a bipartisan proposal that’s the result of years of negotiations and study among Bibb’s past and present state legislators.

Because House Bill 1171 is bipartisan, backed by all of Bibb’s state representatives and senators, it should easily pass the state Legislature by late March.

Then it’s time to convince even more people: Voters in both Bibb County and Macon must approve the proposal during the primary election this July.

The July date is meant to get the process moving as quickly as possible, both Bibb’s state senators said. If it’s going to happen, an approval in July would also give the transition team more time to work before the government would be formed in 2014.

State Rep. Bubber Epps, R-Dry Branch, said the delegation has seen polls that look favorable to passage.

“I’d be surprised if it doesn’t pass,” he said.

The merger would include Payne City. It would also de-annex the tiny part of Macon that is in Jones County.

The school board’s tax rate would be capped at 22 mills, though there would be a legal path to change that. It’s now not quite 18 mills. Schools are not otherwise affected.

To contact writer Maggie Lee, e-mail mlee@macon.com.

This story was originally published February 28, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Macon-Bibb merger proposes smaller, redesigned local government."