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By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Staff Writer

 CALERA – The Calera City Council passed a resolution to make the mayor a non-voting member of the council at a recent city council meeting on Monday, Aug. 19. The change will take effect after the 2025 elections.

According to Calera City Attorney Grace Graham, when cities reach 12,000 inhabitants, the city has the option to either keep the mayor as a voting member or switch to the mayor as a non-voting member.

In the 2020 decennial federal census, the city of Calera clocked in at 16,494 inhabitants. After the census results were finalized, the option existed for the city to move forward with a new form of government following the next round of elections which will occur in 2025.

By passing the resolution on Monday night with a 5-1 vote, the Calera City Council affirmed their position in favor of changing the form of government with the mayor as a nonvoting member.

“This resolution is basically just saying that we are going to allow the changes that come by operation of law to occur,” Grace Graham said. “Now, that maintains a mayor-council form of government. You will have a presiding officer on the council, but the mayor remains the executive person in your government. He continues to supervise the executive part of the staff.”

A presiding officer, such as a city council president, will take on the role that Mayor Jon Graham currently holds when it comes to city council proceedings. The presiding officer will set the agenda, run council meeting and ask for votes. The presiding officer will be appointed by the other council members after the 2025 election.

This government structure with a presiding officer and a non-voting mayor in an executive role is one possibility for governmental structure. One other option would be a council-manager form of government.

“In the (council-manager) form of government, the mayor would be a ceremonial head,” Grace Graham said. “He or she would still preside over the council and run the meetings, but in terms of the executive role, the manager would be the executive that would then report to the council.”

The Calera City Council still has the option to pursue this form of government in the future, but the change would require approval from the citizens of Calera.

Moving to a council-manager form of government requires the vote of the people. It would require a petition with a certain number of signatures from Calera residents that voted in the last election.

Although the city of Calera did not elect to pursue this form of government at this time, the city could still hire a city manager to help with daily governmental operations with the mayor still serving in an executive role.

 

At the same council meeting, the Calera City Council also approved:

-The adoption of new police policies

-The surplus of items from the police department

-Resolution No. 2024-40 2025 Transportation Plan