Legislators bow out of mayor-commission firing feud

ATLANTA -- Macon-Bibb County's lawmakers in Atlanta have decided to bypass a fight over the mayor's authority to fire high-ranking employees.

Right now, Macon-Bibb's mayor has sole power to fire department heads, as well as people such as the clerk of the commission, county attorney and Municipal Court judge.

But a majority of Macon-Bibb's county commissioners think they should be able to hear appeals from any top employees that the mayor fires. They voted last year to ask Macon-Bibb's lawmakers in Atlanta to grant them that power by changing the county's charter.

This week, though, the lawmakers decided to leave the charter alone.

"We feel comfortable the charter is expressive of the will of Macon-Bibb voters" who approved it in 2012, said state Rep. Bubber Epps, R-Dry Branch, the chair of the delegation of eight Macon-Bibb lawmakers.

A change to the charter would need the approval of five Macon-Bibb lawmakers for easiest passage through the full Legislature. But Epps said that at a meeting Monday, he and three others voted against the proposal. Four opponents is enough to block the idea.

Epps said he has not heard from any resident requesting the change.

State Rep. James Beverly, D-Macon, wanted to go along with the commission's idea, however.

"I think the whole commission should be involved in the decision for what's best for the community," he said. "We should heed their voices to the extent we can."

When the Macon-Bibb County Commission voted in December to ask lawmakers for the change, Mayor Robert Reichert vetoed their move. Commissioners responded in January with a 7-2 vote to override that veto and send their request to Atlanta.

At the time, the commissioners who voted in favor said they wanted to set up a balance to the mayor's authority.

Reichert and his allies said top employees need to be held directly accountable to the administration.

Epps said he will send a formal record of the delegation's vote back to Macon-Bibb in the coming days.

But commissioners may seek another way to change the rules, now that lawmakers have rejected them.

Macon-Bibb County Attorney Judd Drake has researched the matter of charter changing and has reported to the commission that they could try changing the rules on their own. But if that happens, he also said he thought a court may need to get involved in the "esoteric" issue.

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

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Legislators bow out of mayor-commission firing feud ."