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ELKINS -- Elkins City Council has been presented with a petition asking that any proposed changes to the city charter be put to a vote by city residents.
The Tuesday gathering at the Phil Gainer Community Center was designed to provide more input on possible changes to the city's charter, including possibly changing the city's style of government and adding a city manager position.
Council's charter-change attorney, Tim Stranko, made a presentation Tuesday and took questions from the crowd. The presentation focused on a charter draft that included some of the changes discussed by council. The draft has not been approved by council and was presented as a discussion starter.
Elkins resident Allen Huffman spoke during the meeting and presented council with a petition calling for any charter change to be put to a vote by city residents.
Huffman said he represented 23 people and that many could not attend the meeting, some due to work, while some are elderly and some were uncomfortable attending the public meeting due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the ideas council has been discussing is changing the city charter and altering the city's form of government.
Stranko said state law authorizes West Virginia cities to use one of five government structures, or plans. Under the current plan, council holds both governing and administrative authority and the mayor has almost no independent authority. Other available plans assign administrative authority to either a mayor (Strong Mayor Plan) or a city manager (the Manager or Mayor-Manager plans).
One resident asked what the cost of a city manger would be. Stranko said a gross estimate for a city manager including staff was $100,000 to $110,000.
Huffman listed several figures and said if you consider all the extras, like a vehicle and assistant, the cost would be more. He said by using figures for benefits, unemployment and other public sources, he calculated the cost to be approximately $160,000 a year.
Huffman said he did not like the city manager style of government because the manager would only answer to council and not the voters.
Councilman Charlie Friddle, Second Ward, said he supports the mayor-manager style of government. He said reducing council to five people and having the mayor chosen out of council would help with the costs. He said there is already an assistant in the mayor's office so there would not be a new assistant hired.
"I believe the cost will be less than the top number we are seeing," Friddle said. "What that does for us is that it gives us someone who has accountability for running the city. We have our administrative officers … we have five … and they are not accountable to anybody. By putting a city manager in place you have picked up some HR experience, you have picked up some governmental experience that none of us have. We are not knowledgeable about some of the things going on in government today."
Friddle said a city manager-style of government would "bring a tremendous benefit for the city down the road."
Councilman Carman Metheny, Third Ward, said he thinks the city's form of government should stay the same.
"I believe strong council-weak mayor is how the city should be ran," he said.
Elkins resident Phillips Coulson said any changes should be postponed until the public can participate in the process more.
"Hold off until COVID is in a better place so we can have more people participate," he said.
Huffman agreed and said communication is tough right now. He asked what a "qualified objection" would be to have a charter change go to the public to vote. Stranko said any objection is a qualified objection.
Stranko highlighted the process the city would have to undertake to change the charter during a previous council meeting. He said council would propose amendments by creating a proposed ordinance, and announce the amendments in a Class II legal advertisement.
Council would then conduct a public hearing, and if qualified objections remained 10 days after the public hearing, council could order the proposed amendments be put to the voters at the next regular municipal election or at a special election.
If no qualified objections are received or if the objection is resolved within 10 days of the hearing, council can then adopt the charter changes by ordinance.
Andrew Carol, Elkins resident, said he supports the mayor-manager plan. He said having someone qualified and expertise in government can make long-term decisions and the city would reap the benefits in the future.
All 10 members of council were present at the beginning of the meeting. Marilynn Counzo, Fourth Ward, and Karen Wilmoth, Fourth Ward, both left the meeting before its conclusion.