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Should Columbia Hear From Our Voters About Form of Government?
February 2, 2010
Should Columbia City Council allow our voters to weigh on their preference for our form of municipal governance? I think so and addressed this matter at recent City Council meeting.State law mandates that municipalities adopt one of three forms of governance and requires a referendum by voters in order to make any change. Pre-clearance from the United States Justice Department before the referendum is held also is required.
Let me be clear: I see merits in both our our current form of government, the Council-Manager form, which places executive and administrative power in the hands of an appointed city manager, and in the often mentioned Mayor-Council (Strong Mayor) for0m, which grants more responsibility in day- to- day governance to the elected mayor.
Potentially changing to the "Strong Mayor" form has been discussed for a number of years and addressing the best form of government for our city was the charge of a special task force on government re-structuring that I served on a while back. As we prepare for our first new Mayor in twenty years and attention is focused on the future of the city, I believe it is time to put this matter before our voters and resolve the question of a change in form of governance.
There are two ways that a referendum can take place: City Council can vote to schedule one or a petition certified by 15% of our registered voters makes a referendum mandatory. In either case, the referendum must be held no more than 90 days from the Council vote or petition certification, which ensures ample time for full discussion.
Here's a link to a very informative handbook on "Forms of Municipal Governance" published by the Municipal Association of South Carolina that outlines the powers and functions of the mayor, council, and city manager under each of the three forms.