EDITORIAL: On this matter, leave the charter alone

Oh, boy, here we go again. Some members of the Macon-Bibb County Commission want to muzzle in on executive powers by becoming the jury in disputes between department heads and the mayor. They say it's to protect the employees. Well, lets see how that's worked out in the past. Under the old Macon city rules, City Council did have the power to approve or disapprove the dismissal of department heads. In each case, it was problematic. It was problematic for Mayor Robert Reichert when he tried to get rid of Public Works Director Richard Powell for incompetence. It was problematic for former Mayor C. Jack Ellis when he fired Police Chief John Vasquez. Instead of a hearing, council decided on an $85,000 settlement.

The commission cannot change on its own the charter of the county. The commission can ask the legislative delegation to change the charter once the gavel is struck in January 2016, but state lawmakers have been reluctant to fiddle with the law they crafted. They designed a strong-mayor/CEO type of government, and while the mayor would still have the choice to fire the county manager at will without commission interference, county employees need to know where the buck stops — and it does not need to stop at any of the nine commission members' mailboxes.

Employees who feel they have been unfairly dismissed still have a right to seek redress through the court system — a system that isn't influenced by friendships or family connections but performance.

Everyone wants government to be more efficient, and one of the ways that can happen, is to have clear lines of accountability. It works both ways. If a department isn't working as expected, commissioners know exactly who is responsible. No need for commissioners to blur those lines of accountability.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 7:33 PM with the headline "EDITORIAL: On this matter, leave the charter alone ."