It appears City Attorney Joan Harris has taken an about-face concerning adopting a new city charter for Gray, which could result in the trashing of a year’s work by the Charter Development Committee appointed by the council.

At Monday’s council meeting, Harris, who has an office and resides in Macon, told council members that it is her opinion that this may not be a good time to adopt a charter that includes the hiring of a city manager. She said it would take six months to have the charter ready and could cost $10,000 for assistance from the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute.

She also speculated that a qualified manager would cost the city $60,000 plus benefits annually.

“This may not be the right time to do it because money is tight, and I don’t think council is prepared to raise taxes to pay for this,” Harris stated.

If council members follow Harris’ advice as they have on other matters – such as rejecting a proposal to obtain the authority to create a tax allocation district and not to create a downtown development authority for the city – the new charter and the volunteer hours put in by the charter committee members are in jeopardy.

The city’s current charter was adopted in 1911.

It was Harris who has lobbied for a new charter almost since she became city attorney in 1998, and the council actually voted to adopt a new charter at its April 3, 2006, meeting following the firing of the police chief and city clerk.

Mayor Jason Briley brought the issue to council members again Nov. 6, 2006, and the members unanimously adopted a resolution prepared by Harris to develop the new charter, which would have to go before the General Assembly to take affect.

Bill Boyd, Lee Arthur James, Jerrold Pitts, Gus Wilson, and Lehman Wood were appointed to the Charter Development Committee, and the following month Rooster Cogburn was added to the committee at the council’s next meeting.

Briley wanted to fast-track the process and have legislation to the General Assembly for its 2007 session, but Harris insisted the process should take a year. Briley asked for a facilitator from the Carl Vinson Institute, but Mayor Pro Tem Loretta Lipsey said Harris could handle the legal work. Council members agreed.

The committee has met diligently beginning in February of 2007. Boyd came before the council at their April 21 committee meeting stating that the committee had done all it could and asked the panel members to take the next step.

Following Harris’ remarks, Councilman Terrell Fulford said he was not prepared to vote on the issue and asked that the committee’s report be made available to council members before a decision is made.

Fulford suggested the new charter be discussed at the next committee meeting, and council members agreed by consensus.