Reichert says he will veto proposal to limit his firing powers

Macon Mayor Robert Reichert said Tuesday he plans to veto a resolution that would give the County Commission the ability to overturn the mayor's firing of department heads.

Reichert said he will veto the resolution that asks state legislators to change the local government's charter, which would allow commissioners to block department head firings.

The mayor announced his intention to use his veto power when one of the resolution's sponsors, Commissioner Elaine Lucas, mentioned the possibility after Tuesday's 7-2 vote in favor of the proposal.

The current charter allows the mayor to fire certain employees at will. If state legislators approve a charter change, department heads, as well as jobs such as the clerk of the commission, county attorney and municipal county judge, would be able to appeal their firings.

Reichert has said the charter was written specifically to have a strong mayoral form of government.

"I think the system we have is working well to date and without cause or justification to change it, I hope we don't change it," Reichert said prior to Tuesday's vote.

The approved resolution says the commission could request the mayor to provide a reason for a termination, as well as allow the commission to vote on upholding or reversing the firing.

The resolution allows those department heads some recourse if fired by a mayor, Lucas said.

"I think it's a disservice to people who take on a lot of supervisory requirements and responsibility to not have a certain amount of protection," she said.

Voting against the resolution were Commissioners Mallory Jones and Gary Bechtel.

"My concern, in a way, is that it's really a disservice to the department heads," Jones said. "Instead of having one or two bosses like the county manager and the mayor, these people will potentially have 10 bosses."

CENTER REPAIRS APPROVED

A contract for about $1 million in repairs to the Frank Johnson Community Center was approved in a 9-0 vote Tuesday.

The agreement with Cook General Contracting would pay the construction company $939,000. That money would come from the special purpose local option sales tax fund. Macon-Bibb has about $20 million of SPLOST money set aside for various recreation projects in the county.

FIRE STATION LAND DEAL MOVES FORWARD

Macon-Bibb approved Tuesday a proposal to buy land for a long-awaited east Bibb fire station.

The county is spending $45,000 to purchase property at 3947 Jeffersonville Road, where the station is expected to be built. The location is about a quarter-mile from a Donnan Road site that was deemed unsuitable after tests revealed the soil was not stable enough to support a station and its equipment.

The station would be in Lucas' district. She thanked those involved with getting the deal completed.

"Every year there is a number of houses that burn to the ground because there is not a fire station close enough to get there in time," she said. "This is welcomed by the folks in east Bibb."

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Reichert says he will veto proposal to limit his firing powers ."