State Representative Heath Clark (R-Warner Robins), chair of the Houston County Legislative Delegation, along with the members of the Houston County Legislative Delegation, issued the following statement regarding the recent City of Warner Robins Charter 2019 Review performed by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government:

“For years, we, as members of the General Assembly, have received correspondence from constituents here in Warner Robins asking us to do something to remedy what has been referenced as ‘confusion and inefficiencies’ among city officials and within city operations.

“As the chairman of the Houston County Legislative Delegation and as someone who represents the City on the state level, we are required by Georgia law and the constitution to usher in any changes to the city’s charter.  For some who may not know, a charter is basically the guardrails for how cities govern themselves, much like our state and US constitution does for Georgia and our country.

“Therefore, after much due diligence and discussion, and at no cost to the city or the taxpayers, we asked the experts at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia to examine the Warner Robins city charter and provide analysis.

“The analysis, just made available in recent days, clearly highlights a unique problem with our charter. In simple terms, city officers can be hired and fired by the mayor, the chief executive officer of the city. It also provides similar privileges to the city council. We can only imagine the extreme pressure this puts on our city’s employees to please members of council and the mayor, knowing that either could impact their livelihood.

“In short, the ambiguity in our city’s charter has part and parcel opened our city up to disorder and confusion regarding lines of authority. When no one knows who is in charge, everyone is and no one is, all at the same time.

“Therefore, we stand at the ready to do our part in a transparent and inclusive way, as the citizens and their duly elected officials require, to address the problem and provide the necessary guardrails to establish a stable city government that transcends politics and puts us on a path towards future success and prosperity.

“We look forward to further input and recommendations from the mayor, council and other stakeholders in order to implement needed changes during the upcoming legislative session.

“Please feel free to contact myself or other members of our local delegation with any questions. And, we will do our best to make ourselves available for any meetings to discuss this issue.”