Before the

Peachtree City charter is changed in any way, councilwoman Annie McMenamin

wants to solicit input from several very important people.

McMenamin has

asked that the city approach its former mayors for comment about the proposed

charter changes. She said they would be able to explain why portions of

the charter were addressed in a certain way.

Although the

charter review process began as a project that needed to be completed

quickly, it slowed down several weeks ago once City Attorney Rick Lindsey

discovered most, if not all, of the changes council wanted could be done

without approval from the Georgia General Assembly.

After Lindsey

made council aware of that, the decision was made to slow down the process

and get more input from the public on the suggested revisions. It is believed

that the charter has not changed significantly since it was first enacted

over 40 years ago.

Back then,

Peachtree City was a rural hamlet and not the large city boasting a population

around 40,000 that it is today. Many of the changes Lindsey has suggested

revolved around making the government structure more suited to a larger

city instead of a small town.

One of the

changes would officially put more power in the hands of the city manager

in terms of the day-to-day operations of the city. Currently, the charter

gives much of that power to the mayor and Mayor Bob Lenox has delegated

most of that authority to current City Manager Jim Basinger.

The charter

shows its age, however, partially since it doesn't specifically address

the role of the city manager. That's one part that will likely be updated

in the changes council will likely vote on in the near future.