In a surprise move Thursday

night, the Peachtree City Council appointed City Manager Jim Basinger

as its city clerk for the first three months of this year.

The three-month term was used

because that's how long it could take for council to determine whether

it wants to seek changes to its city charter with one of those changes

possibly being the structure of the clerk's position.

The titles, duties and compensation

for Basinger and former City Clerk Nancy Faulkner will not change during

those three months, said city information specialist Betsy Tyler. The

only change is that instead of reporting to Paul Salvatore, the director

of financial services, Faulkner will be working more closely with Basinger,

Tyler said.

Originally, Faulkner reported

to the director of administrative services, Jane Miller. But that was

changed well over a year ago, Tyler said.

Mayor Bob Lenox said appointing

Basinger as clerk was necessary to improve management structure since

Faulkner was the only city employee who didn't report directly to the

city manager. Lenox proposed appointing Basinger as city clerk for the

entire year, but the councilman Robert Brooks proposed the three-month

term as a compromise.

"As construed under our

current charter, council is thus responsible for hiring, managing and

evaluating the city clerk, a task for which council is ill-equipped and

a relatively impossible situation for the holder of the clerk position

and the city manager," said Lenox.

The idea of not reappointing

Faulkner as clerk drew criticism from council members Carol Fritz and

Annie McMenamin. Council originally decided to table the item, but it

was brought up that the city charter requires council to appoint a clerk

at its first meeting in January.

Faulkner was at the center

of a controversy last year involving Councilman Dan Tennant, when she

was deposed in his divorce case. Lawyers tried unsuccessfully to get Faulkner

to accuse Tennant of sexual harassment. After an investigation, city officials

found no wrong doing by either Faulkner or Tennant.

Fritz, the sole council member

who voted against the three-month term for Basinger, said she thinks Lenox's

intent is to make Basinger the city clerk on a permanent basis.

"I don't see any advantage

to us not appointing her if we decide at some later date after we discuss

the charter that we want to restructure," Fritz said. "I don't

see what the issue is with doing it at that time. But until we know, I

don't see the point in taking one person out."

Lenox said that council only

appoints one person as a city employee and Basinger hires all other city

positions.

"I'm simply trying to

make this one the same as all the rest so there's a clear reporting channel

and a path of responsibility," Lenox said.

Councilman Dan Tennant said

the mayor was intending to wait until council gets the charter changed

to determine how it should effect how city government runs.

"Then it should stay as

it is until we get to that point," Fritz replied. "If we don't

know what we're going to do, what is the point of changing something now?"

Tennant said the idea was to

function better from a managerial standpoint.

Lenox said he didn't want the

city to be "locked in" for a year when the charter changes could

be approved in a couple of months.

McMenamin suggested that council

appoint Faulkner as acting city clerk, but no motion was made to that

effect. Faulkner told council she would serve in such an interim role

if deemed necessary.

Faulkner also noted that not

reappointing her would make it appear that council has problems with her

job performance.

She said she would not hold

the city responsible if council decides to revise the charter or its management

structure "after they have gone through the proper procedures."

City clerks help "protect

the integrity of city council," McMenamin said.

"I don't have fault with

Nancy working as city clerk," McMenamin said. "That's the bottom

line for me. To replace her right now clearly says to me that we are singling

her out as an individual as a city clerk for what reason? ... I just don't

feel justified doing that at this point."

The agenda for the meeting

indicated that Faulkner would be appointed city clerk since the matter

was scheduled to be taken up on council's consent agenda, which is usually

reserved for housekeeping-type matters. But Lenox had the matter taken

off the consent agenda for discussion.

Council plans to review its

city charter in the upcoming weeks. If any changes are sought, they must

be approved by the Georgia Legislature. After March, Brooks said, council

will know whether any potential changes to the charter are approved.

"I think it will clear

up a serious structural problem and give us the flexibility we need when

we enact the new charter changes to take whatever action is appropriate

without being locked in to where we are today," Lenox said before

recommending Basinger be appointed as clerk.

Lenox added that he felt Basinger

would resign as city clerk in two weeks when council meets again if deemed

necessary.