1 - Ivan Allen, Jr. Digital Collection - Georgia Institute of Technology

powersRestoredTo Fowler'1 ........ I.,~ c.."",.srBy JIM MERRINERA lOng, difficult fight over who will ronthe Atlanta City Council enderl Monday whenthe council narrowly 'IDled to restore t,oCouncil President wyche Fowler most of hispoYI'ers over conunittecs.The council's action abolished what,.,as, in effect, a racial quota system f~rcommittee appointments. though no councilmanwoold caU it that in public.By a 10-8 vote, Fowler retains t~ rigfltto name committee members and chaU'tIlen.His committee aPPOintments of ,Jan. 8-named without regard to the tentative quotasystem-stand unchallenged.Some black councilmen led by Q. V.Williamllon had charged that the Jan. a appolntmentsreflected radal dlscrimiaation.Besides upholding the clty charter'sconferral of vast powers on the eoWlCiIpresldent. Monday's ,-ole also slgnUied that ,tbe council is ready to receive Mayor MaynardJackSOn's plans to reorganize city gO\"e.mmcnt. Those plans have been held backuntil the quota fight was settled. .Apparently the key swing vote on theissue belonged to black Councilms:l CarlWare, named by Fov,ler 10 chair the power-.fui Public Safety Committee that overseesthe pollee and fire dcpartments,Ware voted v.;th nine othcr councilmenJan, 7 to adopt pnx;ooural rules that wo~lddeprive Fowler of his po ....-ers over corrurut·tees, but he "oted for the "Fowler rules"Mmday,Ware said after ..... ards he is not happy",;th the present committee set·ups, but bevoted for the ru!es so the council could endits internal struggles and proceed with business.Black Councilman Ira Jackson, namedto head the Transporlatioo Committee, alsofavored the "Fowler rules" Monday. Jack·son abstained on the issue at a committeemeeting nnlrsda}', and also did not commithimself at the Jan, 1 meeting.Besides Ware and JackSQfl, \'OUng to restoreFowler's powers were CouncilmcnCharles Helms, N i c k Lambros, GeorgeCotankis, Ric h a r d GUthman. GregoryGriggs, Panlie Bradley, Buddy Fowlkes andJack Summers.Opposed were Jolll calhoun, JamesHoward, James Bond, Morris Finley, ArthurLangford, Marvin Arrington. Hugh PierceSee COUNCIL, Page t(.A"'rom Pel·"and Williamson. Pierce Is the only whitecoonci1man among the opponenl3.Oty Hall rumors had maintained thatthe council would assent to restoring Fowl·er's powers in exchange for some reshufflesof committee assignments. However, thecompromise involved a smaller issue, thenamir€ of vice cbairmoo..Before voting on the rules package, thecouncil appro\'ed on a 12-& vote an amendmentby Helms to allow each committee toelect a vice chainnan. Fowler had claimedthe power to appoint them, and do so Jan. 8,But Fowler said later he had proposedthe idea of committee election of "ice chair·men fout years ago-when aU conunittee a~pointments were made by the mayor underthe old chart.er....and still favors it.Fowler made no "victory speech," butdid say he was -'extremely pleased" at thecouncil's action. The fonnally adopted rulesrepresent "a lot of .... -ork by everyone," hesaid.The compromise was evidently settledbeforehand, for the council floor saw no debateor defense of the quota system, alAthough Williamson did rise numerous timesto dispute parliamentary matters.Council----!As is his custom-with the exception ofthe public charges of racism against Fowleralter the Jan. 8 meeting-Williamson avoid·ed the press when the meeting broke up,One question still in limbo is whetherFowler has the power to fire a committeemember or chainnan. The present rules providefor unbroken one-year terms.However, the city attorney ruled earlierthis month that the power to dismiss Isinherent in the power to appoint, and Fowlercould probably fire someone if he insisted onit.Black Councilman Marvin Arri~was unanimously elected president pro temporeof the council-a step that some observ·ers took to be another part of the compromisein the rules battle.In oCher action Monday, the councilgave first reading to the tmtative $80.9 mil·lion 1974 general operating budget.1be budget is .scheduled for a publichearing by the Finance Committee Jan. 30and fmal adoptioo. by the full council Feb,19.Mayor Jackson's nomination of Jute M.Sugarman as city chief administrative offi·cer was unanimously confirmed.The council also unanimously affirmedtheir support of the Equal Rights Amend·ment for WQmen's rights to the U.S. Consti·tution.16--A C~t ,Sltlolnta JOUfOolt Wednesday, Jan. 23, 1974ere's Organization of New C'By lIASK EZEUAtlanta's City Council Is ready to go to work as thecity. policy·rraking body.lfte-r ~ks m haggling, the council has laid dolAn its-ttee strUCture and haS approved the proceduralrulel for its operauoo.is the first bnmeh of go\·ert\fll5lt to get ItseU 0rganized~ the new city chart.eT.One of ItS rlnt major duties, In fact, wiU probably be~ review of Mayor Maynard Jackson's plan for reorgan­WDI the much larg« executh'e branCb.Whet that vreigtlty task Is done, the new gov~twfJl 'have made a polltical reaJity of the bare-boneS ouUineol vemmeot embodied in the new city charter,The new charter is a fingerling when C()lIlpared withits predeoeIssoI', wnkh was nearly 100 years old andst cbed to more than 600 pages..;Despite its mini·length, the new charter pock! somebig changes for Atlanta govemmrnent, the major one 00being the separatiOO of executive and legislativepoW'eriIn the charter It is a Simple statement. In practice,the separation is going to be a mas;ive operation, andr- a ticklish one.In the old government, which was generallycharacterized as a .... eak·mayor s)'stem. the Board ofAldermen exercised a ",ide range of control in v.--bat arey coosidered executive functiOnS.People who wanted to corTe('l an outlandishly highter bill. for instance, ended up going to the Aldmn8IllCIt:r Commitlee rather than to an executive.Kot surprisingly, thi.n&S got bogged do ..... n on the legis­" tive end.The Boan1 01 Aldermen almo!t ne\'8' met for Jessfour hourS, and many of its committees took just asto get ready for the lull board meetings.Mocb of that time was spent on the routine matters.,and broad policy questions tended to get lost in the gulf ofddalls.There were claims that citizens, too, w-ere gct.ll.ng lostthe shuffle.When things went sour, the t8'1dency was for eaehpolitician, or bunch of them, to blame all the res\. It wasconfusing, at bEst.The new charter, hopefully, will cure those ills.In errect, the new charter divides up all the civicduties into pelicy·making and po\lcy~xecuLing functions.The eouncil makes policy and tl'e mayor executespolicy, the new charter says.The eouncil, for instance. COUld decide tllat the citywants to install 100 traffic ~ a )~ for the nert fiveyears.It \\"Otid be the mayor's duty to see that the city got agood price on trafftc ligtlts and to see that they get installedin the right places.The ticklish art \\'Ould be borderline ea5e~, therecould be a hassle, lor instance, over ..... hether the locationCity UtilitiesCHAIRMAN: Q. V. Williamson,president of a large realestate company.MEr-omERSHIP: John Cal·houn. Morris Finley, CharlesHelms, James Howard, HughPierce, Jack Summers.RESPONSIBILITIES:Water, sanilation and gar·"'"Sewage and Vo'aste disposalStretlSPublic worksBridgesWater pollution controlCHAIRMAN: BuddyFowlkes, Georgia Tech track.coach.ME~mERSHIP: JamesBond, John Calhoun, MornsFinley, Richard Guthman,Nick Lambros, Hugh Pierce.RESPONSIBILITIES:"Legislative oversight" orthe executive branchPersonnel and Civil servicePurchasingContracts by the executivebranchIntergovernmental relationsOperations of the mayor'soffice,.TransportationCIIAIRMAN .Jra Jacksonpropnetor' of enlerpr~which Include real estoole .• •