Full house hears city leaders address changes

The Washington City Council retreat was standing room only Friday morning. A standing-room-only crowd filled a meeting room at The Pope Center for last Friday’s Washington City Council retreat, and city leaders tried to clear the air about the future of a proposed city-backed hotel project, and of proposed changes to the city’s form of government.

The meeting began with Mayor Willie Burns reading a statement that the format of the retreat was for discussion among council members and other city officials, so there would not be any comments accepted from visitors.

Main Street Director David Jenkins rose to give city leaders an update on the newest proposal concerning a possible hotel to be built adjoining the Pope Center. He gave a brief history of the feasibility study and proposals to date, the structure of the proposed revenue bond issue with a two-year cushion to allow for losses in the start-up years.

He introduced developer Don French of the Somata Group. “We’re really excited about the possibility of building a hotel here, and we want to be a part of Washington,” French said. “You’re right on the cusp of something great.”

French described the extensive list of retail and hospitality projects his group had developed, and said that he would come back February 8 to give a full presentation showing his company’s proposed plan, which includes not only a hotel at The Pope Center but a second hotel on the bypass, and infill retail sites. “It’s an excellent opportunity for growth in a controlled manner consistent with the character of the city,” French said.

French said that his proposal would also require a government guarantee. “Banks are dried up. There’s no money at all for commercial real estate without a guarantee.”

City Attorney Barry Fleming rose at the council’s request to address some of the legal issues concerning the city’s backing of a hotel project. “Many of you may be aware that with the economy in the shape it’s in, private financing is not readily available anymore.” One form of financing that is available to the City of Washington, Fleming said, is tax-exempt municipal bonds. “The Federal government allows cities and counties to build buildings that serve the public needs – city halls, fire stations, convention centers – with tax-free bonds. That allows investors to loan money for this project and they don’t have to pay any income tax on the profits they make on the repayment of the bonds.”

The practical difference, he said, was getting a much lower interest rate, as much as four percent. “That’s the difference between making a project feasible or not.”

The process that the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the council are considering to finance the hotel project is common. “This is done all over Georgia where communities issue municipal bonds, and a lot of your pension plans invest in these municipal bonds because they’re a safe investment,” Fleming said.

After further discussion, the council voted to refer the hotel back to the Urban Redevelopment Authority to work with Don French and to come back to the council with a recommendation. The vote was unanimous.

Council members discussed with City Administrator Mike Eskew the details on the actual availability of the city’s reserve funds, and who would be responsible if there were a shortfall in revenue.

After the hotel funding discussion, Mayor Burns asked to read a statement into the record. He read a letter from the state Board of Pardons and Parole stating that Marion Tutt Jr. was fully pardoned of his previous felony conviction. “Councilman Tutt was concerned about someone in the community worried that he was a convicted felon,” Burns said. “Well, he’s been pardoned, and it happened early in his life. The greatest commandment is love.”

Fleming rose again to address the second main concern that brought the crowds to The Pope Center. “Last council meeting the council voted to instruct me, the city attorney, to begin to research the possibility of some of the structures of the city of Washington,” he said. “And the vote was to move toward a stronger-mayor form of government.”

Fleming showed a presentation illustrating the complicated process required to change the charter to conform with state laws, and therein may lie some of the confusion over whether city leaders changed things in 2003. “The mayor has said that before he came we had a strong-mayor government with the mayor in charge of the employees,” Fleming said. “The city administrator said no, the city administrator always hired employees. Those things didn’t make sense, but after my research I found both are correct.”

Fleming explained that in the 1970s and 1980s, the council at the time voted to turn many responsibilities to the city administrator. Soon, the city charter and the city ordinances were in conflict. The city attorney needed to deconflict the two, and in 2003 the council made the charter and the ordinances consistent, and in 2004 the legislature approved it. At the time, Fleming said, Mayor Burns went along with the change.

Fleming then went on to give an extensive description of the laws controlling how cities can change their governmental structure. He compared the process by which city employees are hired now, and how they would be hired under the strong-mayor form.

The proposal would be a hybrid between a traditional “professional” form of city government and a strong-mayor form, he said. “For a city your size and as complicated as it is, it’s good to have a city administrator, but the package I’ve presented of making a stronger mayor is very common.”

Fleming showed a chart of things that a city could do under home rule and the things that would require legislative action. He recommended the city go the legislative route to make any changes to the powers of the council and mayor.

The proposed changes, Fleming said, could include changes by which the mayor would gain in four possible ways. He would get veto power, be able to nominate major officials, have appeal power over dismissals, and approval power over hiring. The attorney described all of the gains in detail, including which the council could override.

If they want to go ahead with the strong-mayor proposal, Fleming said, the council needs to instruct him that they approve of this proposal, and he would go about “the much bigger task of making sure the charter, the ordinances, and the personnel manual all reflect these changes properly. We would draft it, and then you would go about the process of enacting the changes.”

In the discussion that followed, Councilman Tutt took strong exception to The News-Reporter‘ s coverage of the city council meeting, saying it failed to mention his opposition to any overly strong leader. “I clearly stated, but the paper failed to put my quote in, that I do not want one man having all the power. I clearly said I hate dictatorships. I want the power to come through this council.”

After some two hours of discussion, the council also heard from David Jenkins on the Southwest Washington Redevelopment Plan and plans for an Enterprise Zone. The council delayed a response by Tourism Director Ashley Barnett for funding to help keep the Visitors’ Center open on The Square. The Service Delivery Strategy put the burden for funding on the county and the PDA’s special fund. Mayor Burns said that they would reconsider in May after they see the county’s proposed funding.