The Gray City Council voted last Wednesday to send a revision in the city charter to the Georgia legislature for approval, but it wasn’t the new charter many have been advocating for more than four years.

That remains on indefinite hold.

Instead, a revised section 13 of the old charter, adopted more than 100 years ago, outlining the powers and duties of the mayor, was approved during a called meeting of the City Council and forwarded to the legislature, which must approve it for it to take effect.

The current charter says that the mayor, in addition to being the city’s chief executive officer and being charged with seeing that the laws, ordinances, rules and orders of the mayor and council are executed, has control of the police department, that he may appoint special police at his discretion and that he “may cause the arrest and detention of all riotous or disorderly persons or suspicious characters.”

But Police Chief Adam Lowe said in practice that provision has been outdated for years, with the City Council as a whole hiring the police chief and supervising the police department through him.

“The mayor hasn’t had power over the police department for many years,” Lowe said, “though of course I always listen to suggestions and work closely with the mayor.”

The question about the charter arose earlier this year after new Mayor Gus Wilson took office. Wilson and Lowe said a discussion about the mayor’s duties and powers came up several weeks ago.

Wilson has been very involved and hands-on in observing day-to-day operations of the various city departments since taking office in January. In making suggestions to improve efficiency to city employees, he apparently has ruffled some feathers, and it appears some council members feel he has overstepped his authority.

City Attorney Joan Harris, Mayor Pro-Tem Loretta Lipsey and Councilman Terrell Fulford, who is chairman of the police committee, met with Wilson a couple of weeks ago to discuss his role and duties.

Wilson said during the meeting the mayor’s role in regard to the police department came up, and Harris pointed out to him that, although the charter says the mayor has control of the police department, the council as a whole had that power.

As a result of that discussion, Harris was requested to draft a new section 13 spelling out the mayor’s duties.

The new section 13 says the mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the city, see that the laws and ordinances, rules and orders of the mayor and council are faithfully executed, be the head of the city for the service of process, and sign as a matter of course on behalf of the city all written and approved contracts, ordinances, and other instruments executed by the city which are required by law to be in writing.

It gives the mayor no direct control over the police department, or, for that matter, any other city departments.

Wilson and Lowe both insist there has been no problem between them and that they have a good working relationship.

Wilson said he is satisfied with the mayor’s position as now being practiced regarding the police department.

But Wilson, who has been an advocate for adopting a new city charter, said that section 13 was only one example of how outdated the current charter is.

He said it needed the update approved in the called meeting last Wednesday, but that what is really needed is a new charter. He said he hoped the discussion over the old charter and the mayor’s duties will spur a renewed interest in adopting a new charter.

But it appears that remains far from happening. Even after years of work drafting a new charter, the council has not approved it or even approved the form of government it advocates.

Working on suggestions from a committee of Gray residents formed more than four years ago, and with input from experts from the University of Georgia who were paid by the city, a draft charter was produced calling for a city manager/administrator to oversee day-to-day operations of the city. The mayor and city council would serve as policy makers and provide oversight.

But it appears that most of the council members no longer favor a city manager or administrator and want to retain more direct control of the city departments themselves with the weak mayor, strong council form of government now being employed in Gray.

When several of the committee members, who attended Wednesday’s called meeting, asked about the new charter, they were told it is on hold for now.

Fulford said the council members can’t decide how much power to give a city manager or even if they want to have one at all. He said another work session is needed for the council members to discuss how to proceed on the matter, but that no work session has been scheduled.

All the council would agree on at Wednesday’s meeting was to discuss a possible charter work session at their next meeting.

In other action at the called meeting, the council approved investing $164,349 from a maturing certificate of deposit in the water and sewer account in a new CD with State Bank and Trust Company, and $104,250 from a general fund CD into a new one, also at State Bank and Trust Company. It also approved securing a new city credit card with a $10,000 credit limit through BB&T.