BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Starke commissioners are agreeing to permanently transfer certain duties from the city clerk to the city manager.
The vote was split three to two on first reading, with one commissioner wanting to fill the vacant office by election and another preferring to hold a referendum on the future of the position first.
Ballot language is being prepared that would let voters decide if the police chief should remain an elected official, and the city may do the same for the city clerk. If or when these votes will take place has not been decided.
The commission previously reduced the police chief to a ceremonial position with a $1 annual salary after shuttering the police department and the resignation of Chief Jeff Johnson.
City Manager Drew Mullins is acting as interim city clerk per the commission’s request following the resignation of Jimmy Crosby, who now works for Mullins as operations director.
The commission’s intention is not to eliminate the position of city clerk. The ordinance amending the clerk’s duties places finance fully in the hands of the city manager. The clerk would still act as the city’s treasurer and records keeper. All personnel matters, including the clerk’s office, would be in the manager’s hands, with supervision in finance provided by the finance director.
Later, if voters approve, the clerk would be a city employee, not an elected official.
Most commissioners believe this better reflects how other municipalities operate.
Commissioner Danny Nugent opposed the changes, saying the city manager’s duties should be kept separate from finance and that Mullins did not have a background in finance.
Commissioner Shannon Smith wanted the future of the city clerk as an elected official or an employee decided first.
The issue of which “side of city hall” should be responsible for finance is not new and has been debated more than once since the Starke established a city manager form of government. The manager was assigned the task of budget preparation, but deference was shown to the city clerk, who had always overseen finance. This led to clashes more than once.
If the ordinance is approved after the second reading, the manager and finance director would supervise the department, while the clerk would keep the books, recording all receipts and disbursements of funds.
Commissioner Andy Redding said the changes preserve “separation of powers” while making Starke more consistent with other cities around the state.
Mayor Scott Roberts said the city’s charter hasn’t been revisited, and there are many archaic things in it that need to be addressed with a formal charter review. The ordinance only concerns duties in finance, not charter amendments.
“We’re just making this like most other cities already operate,” Roberts said. “We will address the charter issues at another time, because they do need to be addressed.”
Nugent pressed the mayor on when the city will decide about the charter referendum for city clerk and police chief. Crosby said they had been working with the attorney on ballot language for the police chief position and could do the same for city clerk as well.
If the commission can pass the ordinances within the elections supervisor’s time frame, the questions could be on the ballot this year.
Nugent, however, called for a special election for city clerk to take place alongside the special election to replace Commissioner Smith, who is resigning in his run for county commission. There was no other support on the commission for that action.
Commissioner Janice Mortimer expressed her opinion that the charter votes on the police chief and city clerk positions should be voted on at different times, just so the public is free from confusion.
Crosby said the city also has the option of conducting a single-issue referendum by mail instead of placing it on the ballot. The commission could move forward with the police chief referendum this fall, placing it on the ballot. It could conduct the city clerk referendum by mail in the spring before qualifying takes place next June for the city’s 2025 election.
Nugent didn’t understand the “big holdup” on electing a new clerk when they were filling Smith’s seat in a few months. Mortimer explained they don’t have the authority to appoint an interim commissioner, but they can appoint an interim clerk. Nugent said the city manager is already overloaded and again said his background is not finance. Mortimer countered that staff in finance has a lot of things working better than they have before.
“Doesn’t matter who’s supervising them. The people that are doing the everyday work are the people that actually running the city and doing the job, and I think that our staff in finance now is doing a fantastic job,” she said.
In other business:
—the commission set budget workshops before its next three meetings, beginning at 4:30 p.m.
—the commission finalized land use changes downtown to make way for the CityWalk townhome development.
