Marietta council approves city manager, clerk, city attorney and judges; court administrator confirmed

The Marietta City Council on Wednesday approved a slate of municipal appointments that included a new city manager, city clerk, city attorney and the court leadership that will serve through the coming term.

A motion to appoint William F. Bruton Jr. as city manager passed by voice vote after a second, and the council likewise reappointed Stephanie Guy as city clerk and named Douglas R. Haney city attorney “at the pleasure of council.” Lawrence E. Burke was appointed chief judge of the municipal court, and Joanne Bloom, Linda Taylor and Donna Merrill were confirmed as associate judges. The motions for these appointments were made, seconded and carried in successive votes.

Councilors also approved naming Kimberly Odom to the municipal court clerk/court administrator role. Odom, who addressed the council during the meeting, outlined the court’s caseload and staffing needs and described the court-administration duties that accompany the dual title.

“We are supposed to max out at 85 cases per session, but we actually are scheduling between a 100 and a 120 per session,” Odom told the council, describing plea and arraignment session volumes and monthly calendars for photo-enforced and code-enforcement matters.

The approvals came as part of the council’s routine organizational business and a separate vote to adopt committee assignments listed on the agenda (items 20,260,037 through 20,260,046).

What happens next: These appointments take effect subject to the charter and the council’s rules; the council indicated some personnel appointments may be revisited at the regular January meeting if needed.