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Roswell council approves ordinance giving city administrator broader operational authority, codifying C‑suite roles
Summary
Roswell Mayor and City Council unanimously adopted amendments to Chapter 2 of the city code that modernize personnel language, authorize new executive titles and clarify the city administrator’s authority over departmental organization while preserving council oversight for policy and key hiring decisions.
Roswell Mayor Curt Wilson and the City Council on Tuesday, May 27, adopted an ordinance amending Chapter 2 of the city code to modernize personnel rules, create and codify C‑suite positions and clarify who may create, combine or dissolve departments.
The change, approved 6‑0 on its second reading, updates several sections including Article 2.2 (Personnel), Article 2.3 (City Administrator) and Article 2.4 (Committees and Departments). Senior Vice President Joe Panino, who presented the amendment to council, said the goal is to “modernize the language, reduce redundancies, empower staff” while retaining elected officials’ oversight of policy and key hires.
The ordinance explicitly adds chief administrative officer as a title for the city administrator and codifies chief legal officer, chief financial officer and chief operating officer roles. It also authorizes the city administrator to appoint the new C‑suite positions and to “create, consolidate, combine, or dissolve city departments,” subject to the mayor and council’s oversight on policy matters and certain personnel actions, Panino said.
During public comment, resident Courtney Rozier asked how the public would be informed about future substantive structural changes to the city organization chart if those powers are delegated to staff. Rozier said she wanted clarity “how the public or mayor and council would be informed of substantive changes” to the organization chart.
Mayor Curt Wilson responded that the change is intended to allow operational decisions to be handled by professional staff and that “representative government means that elected officials are the representatives of the people.” He said substantive matters that require formal adjudication will continue to be publicly considered and that organizational charts and related information will be posted and available to the public.
Council discussion emphasized balancing responsiveness and transparency. Council member David Johnson and others said the revision aligns the city’s structure to current practice and avoids repeatedly amending ordinance language for routine administrative reorganizations.
A technical amendment added language specifying that the police chief and fire chief “shall be appointed by the city administrator, subject to the approval of mayor and council” and that either position may be removed by the city administrator or by mayor and council “in accordance with applicable laws and procedures.” The ordinance also added a provision (2.3.0.5) defining the process for naming an acting city administrator during temporary absences; the mayor may appoint an acting city administrator if the city administrator cannot designate one, and the council may revoke such a designation and appoint an alternative by resolution.
The council voted to approve the ordinance with the amendments. The ordinance will replace the existing text of the referenced chapters and is intended to align Roswell’s governance language with current operations and with practices in neighboring municipalities.
The city indicated an updated organizational chart and related materials will be posted on the city website so residents can view current department structures and leadership.
