By james art As the city of St. George continues to take shape, a charter has now been drafted that outlines the possible form of government for the new city.
The St. George City Self-Government Charter Commission has spent the past months weighing options for a system of governance through feedback from public meetings, information consultants and a review of practices elsewhere.
The result is a proposed hybrid city council/city manager form of government with an emphasis on separation of powers, the new city’s mayor said.
“We went into this with this idea that there had to be checks and balances,” St. George Mayor Dustin Yates said.
Under this system, a city manager — who could be an individual or organization — would be hired by the St. George City Council, approved by the mayor, and then act as the chief executive officer of the government’s day-to-day operations.
The difference between the East Baton Rouge city-parish system and the proposed St. George charter is that the mayor of St. George would chair the city council. Under the charter, the mayor would have the power to veto ordinances passed, but could be overridden by a two-thirds vote of council members. The mayor will also have the power to declare a state of emergency and will be the representative on all intergovernmental matters between St. George and other local, state and federal agencies.
The St. George City Council will vote on the proposed system of governance on Nov. 12. If approved, the charter will go to the city’s bond commission before being placed on the ballot for the March 29, 2025 election.
Yates said the city manager role is “essentially your chief administrator” and will be given several responsibilities.
“They handle the day-to-day functions of government, fulfill contracts, make sure contracts are processed properly, things like that,” he said. “They can hire and fire employees.”
While St. George will not have its own police force, it will have an elected police chief if voters approve the proposed charter.
Because of the many public safety organizations that operate in St. George, Yates said the police chief will act as a liaison between each of them, making sure the city’s public safety needs are met by the East Baton Parish Sheriff’s Office Rouge, St. George Fire Service and others.
The five-member city council that currently oversees government operations in St. George will expand to a seven-member body. Five council members will represent five geographic areas and two will be elected at large.
Included in the charter is a requirement for regular review of the document. The mayor said it was important to the community that the charter be flexible.
“We want this to be a flexible document that can change in the future because we know that no document is perfect,” Yates said. “As our city grows and changes, this document will need to grow and change with the needs of the city.”
Yates said the commission reviewed 40-50 charters from comparable municipalities across the country before coming up with its own. Although Yates himself was not a member of the group, he attended their meetings and said the 11-person committee entered the process with a “spirit of compromise” and was mindful of the wishes of the public.
Just as voters will have to approve the first version of the charter before it goes into effect, they will also have to approve any future changes, the mayor said.
“That’s the way it should be,” Yates said. “It’s one of the things we’ve been talking about since the very beginning of St George. We want an engaged public. We want people to feel that this is their government and that they have a say in it. And what better way than to put it before the voters for their vote?”