The Real Story Staff Report
Tuesday night’s meeting of the Columbus City Council was uncharacteristically quiet, until the second-to-last item in the agenda.
After the usual fairly routine and banal procedural activities, decisions regarding overgrown lots, and a presentation in recognition of a former long-time city employee, a mild controversy erupted.
In a discussion regarding the hiring of a consultant to look at redistricting in the wards, Councilman Charlie Box suggested that the Council members or their representatives should have an opportunity to weigh in on the evaluation of the wards, stating “This is the most important decision that we will make.”
After further back-and-forth on this issue, a motion was made, indicating that the Council members or their representatives would have an opportunity to speak with the consultant on the matter of redistricting. This motion passed, by a 4-2 vote.
Something that went, seemingly, unnoticed during a discussion and subsequent vote on the matter of a residency requirement for board appointees, was the thorny issue of how this might impact the Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau (CCVB) board. The residency issue came up during the discussion about a couple of candidates for an expiring term on the City Planning Commission. The two candidates were Wythe Rhett, a local real estate executive and Philip Long, the current seat holder. The suggestion was made that all members of the Planning Commission should reside within the city limits, in light of the fact that their decisions impact city residents. It was also pointed out that, of the two candidates, only Mr. Rhett actually lives within the city limits. After further conversation, a motion was made that all board appointees, with the exception of appointees to the Columbus Municipal School District (CMSD) Board, must reside within the city limits. (The CMSD board was exempted from this requirement, because their members are required to reside within the school district.) The residency motion passed, unanimously.
What never came up was the question of how this would affect the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors’ appointees to the CCVB board. The conversation, as well as the subsequent motion, was vague on whether this applies to ALL CCVB board appointments, or just those made by the City. The potential response from the Board of Supervisors would be both predictable and understandable. It is likely that the Supervisors would view this as an unwelcome (and possibly illegal) intrusion into their purview.
We’ll have to wait to see how this plays out.
February 22, 2012 at 3:34 pm
The complete story should not only show the comment Councilman Box made about the importance of the decision being made it was actually Councilman Mickens that brought up the need for council members to have representatives work with the consultants.
Other things the council members lost in the history of staffing boards has had to look outside of the city to find qualified professional people to staff some of the boards. This includes the City Engineer which they are not calling an ex-officio member of the Planning Board.
February 22, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Berry, We need you to run this next time. I have heard a lot of people say you would be a good one.
February 24, 2012 at 8:44 am
well Berry – how about it. I think you would do great. You have more knowledge of the city working (or lack of it) than anyone I know. You got my vote.