P.A. Water Issue

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

@12NewsNow: Port Arthur mayor & council address city's water crisis for the first time:

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Lmao!  Ok. 

[tvc184]

Another KBMT hit job. 

"Doomsday scenario".

[tvc184]

I am not sure if people and the media know or do not care that the mayor and council members have no authority over anything in the city in the day to day operations. The city council appoints/hires four people. They hire the city judge, city secretary, city attorney and city manager. The city manager is the overall head of the operations of the city. The city council votes on funding and therefore tax rates and where money is to be spent but they cannot interfere with the day to day operations of the city. They can run investigations and they can fire a city manager if they think he isn't performing to their expectations.

The city charter (basically a constitution for the city) lays out the powers of the mayor and council. Any charter change has to be voted on by the citizens in an election. The mayor in PA is one of 9 votes on the council. The job of mayor is to be the chairman of the council meetings and if they need an official representative of the city (such as an award, testifying in front of another government committee, etc.) and act as a liaison from the council to the city manager. The only real authority of a mayor is in a declared emergency like a hurricane. In that case the mayor becomes almost a dictator and has the right to act on behalf of the council and issue declarations. That lasts only until the specified time as the declared emergency exists. I think during Hurricane Rita it was 10 or 14 days. 

This is some of the city charter of PA.

Section 6. - Mayor Duties.

The Mayor shall have the following duties:

(a).

The Mayor shall preside at meetings of the Council and shall vote on all matters coming before the Council, but shall have no veto power.

(b).

The Mayor shall be recognized as the official head of the City and shall perform the following functions:

(1).

Represent the City at all ceremonial functions.

(2).

Accept service of civil process in judicial actions.

(3).

Serve as liaison between the Council and the City Government acting always through the City Manager.

(4).

See that the City Manager enforces the laws of the State of Texas and the ordinances of the City of Port Arthur.

(5).

Perform such other duties consistent with his office and this Charter, as may be imposed by the Council.

 

Section 8. - Interference in Personnel Matters.

Neither the Council nor any of its members shall instruct or request the City Manager or any of his subordinates to appoint or to remove from office or employment of any person except with respect to those offices which are to be filled by appointment by the Council under the provisions of this Charter. Except for the purpose of inquiry and investigation the Council, either individually or collectively, shall deal with the administrative service of the City solely through the City Manager and shall not give orders to any of the Manager's subordinates either publicly or privately. The intent of this provision is to allow the City Manager to express his own independent judgment in the selection of the personnel of his administration and to administer the affairs of the City free from interference of the Council.

 

You can see that the mayor is largely a figurehead (and that is not only in PA) so when a lawsuit is served, the mayor is likely the one to get it in hand as the city "representative". I like the interference part of the charter where it says they can ask for an investigation (like almost any governing body) but cannot directly interfere. I have seen on more than one occasion where this section was brought up to a city council member who tried to interfere in a police matter while it was ongoing. They can feel free to contact the city manager who they hire and have him contact the chief of police (who the city manager hires) and go through the chain of command but they cannot directly interfere, as it should be.

The point is that the mayor nor any other city council member has anything directly to do with this situation. Of course they have to fund the repairs and appropriated that work to install the current system to begin with. They day to day operations of that equipment and the employees that oversee it is in the hands of the city manager. 

All cities do not function that way and some have a mayor strong instead of a city manager strong form of government. I think in Jefferson County all of the five cities operate like PA in that the mayor does not hire and fired the police and fire chiefs and other department heads. That is in the hands of the city manager that they hired to manage the city. In some cities the mayor has that authority and I think Jasper may be one for a small city and Houston for a large city.