College Park amends charter purchasing language, council adopts $25,000 procurement threshold after resident criticism

College Park, Ga. — The College Park City Council on April 20 adopted a charter amendment removing a fixed $10,000 contracting and purchasing threshold from City Charter Section 4‑7I and later approved an updated purchasing manual that sets a $25,000 threshold for competitive bids and other procurement controls.

At a public hearing on the charter change, residents raised concerns that removing a hard dollar threshold could reduce transparency. Tom Coleman warned that concentrating greater financial authority in the city manager would weaken citizen oversight: “Our form of government has you, the council, responsible for the stewardship of our money...this ordinance…puts too much power in one person who is not directly responsible to the citizens,” he said.

Resident Elizabeth Lester supplied specific examples she said illustrate how the current $10,000 threshold can be used to route significant spending through multiple small invoices. Lester told the council that RSW Services, owned by Sabrina Williams, had received more than $750,000 over two years via sub‑$10,000 invoices and that a photographer providing services to a councilmember had been paid more than $20,000 through numerous small invoices. She urged the council to require an open checkbook or an audit before loosening charter safeguards.

Council response and action: Councilmembers said they were sensitive to transparency concerns but also to administrative flexibility. After public comment, the council approved the charter amendment (second reading) unanimously. In the immediate follow‑up discussion on the purchasing manual, Councilmember Atkins moved — and the council amended the motion on the floor — to adopt procurement thresholds aligned with state guidance. The council set competitive bidding and related thresholds at $25,000 and approved the purchasing policy changes unanimously.

What changed: The charter amendment removes a hard dollar limit from the charter text and allows the Mayor and Council to set purchasing thresholds by ordinance or in the purchasing policies. Council concurrently instructed Finance/Purchasing to publish updated guidance reflecting the $25,000 threshold and to provide implementation help to staff.

Resident demands for oversight: Several commenters urged proactive transparency measures rather than loosening protections. Elizabeth Lester recommended an open‑checkbook platform, an audit of recent transactions below $10,000, and stricter disclosure to avoid potential conflicts of interest; she argued that increasing thresholds without additional oversight would degrade public visibility into city spending.

Next steps: Finance and Purchasing staff will update the purchasing manual and publish guidance by May 1. The City Clerk and City Attorney will proceed with publishing the charter amendment adoption notice as required by state law and will codify the ordinance.