By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— At the past two City Council meetings, Pelham city officials have discussed the option of adding a city manager to run the day-to-day operations while working to improve services and efficiency within the city.

Many other cities within the state, such as Alabaster, Mountain Brook and Vestavia, currently have a city manager.

“I think the biggest thing for us right now is bringing in someone who has spent their life in city administration, and bringing that experience…from a leadership perspective,” City Council President Rick Hayes said in a Feb. 2 interview.

Hayes said having a professional city manager could be helpful when newly elected officials take office in Pelham. Having an educated and experienced manager to provide consistent leadership would be beneficial, according to Hayes.

Since the city manager would take over the day-to-day operations and management of the city, the mayor’s role would change somewhat. Hayes said certain responsibilities would transition to the city manager and the mayor would shift into more of a part-time role.

Hayes also added that the mayor would still be the primary representative of the city. At the City Council meetings, Mayor Gary Waters said he supports the form of government that is best for Pelham to keep the city moving forward.

“The elected officials should stand ready and be willing to fill the elected positions within the form of government and the salary approved by the electorate,” Waters said at the Feb. 1 meeting.

If the city chooses to move forward with hiring a city manager, Hayes said it would allow the city to evaluate the benefits of transitioning into a council-manager form of government, which would be the potential next step.

“If it appears that actually moving to a council-manager form of government, where the mayor serves as the chairman of the City Council, would be the best, then the proposed change would be put on a ballot so that our citizens can make this decision,” Hayes said in a Feb. 3 email.

Hayes said it would make sense to consider a mid-term vote on this in 2018 after public meetings to discuss all the related benefits and issues. This would allow the change to become effective in 2020, if approved.

He also added that city leaders might choose not to recommend a change in the form of government if the city functioned well as a council-mayor form of government with a city manager.

Pelham’s officials scheduled a Town Hall Meeting Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Pelham Civic Complex to discuss their thoughts related to bringing on a city manager, as well as the potential of transitioning into a council-manager form of government.

“This is simply bringing in a resource that can make us and help us be much more efficient and effective, and in doing so, it’s a step for us to evaluate what could be a change of government,” Hayes said.