Beckley officials pursuing change in government prior to 2024 election

Jul. 14—An ordinance that will change the way the city of Beckley is governed is in the works and could be before the Beckley Common Council in a few months.

Beckley City Attorney Bill File told The Register-Herald Friday that he is drafting an ordinance for council to change Beckley from a strong mayor form of government to a city manager government.

"We should have the draft completed and ready to be presented to council by the end of summer or very early fall," File said.

File said council should decide on the change in governance before the filing period begins for the 2024 election, which takes place in January.

"It should be adopted certainly prior to the end of 2023. That way the candidates who were going to sign up to run for either the mayor's position or for city council will know what the responsibilities and salaries will be," he said. "It's only fair to them that they know that in advance of the sign-up period."

File said a public hearing on the proposed ordinance would also take place before any vote, as is required for all ordinances voted on by council.

The topic of changing Beckley's form of governance has been brought up several times throughout the years but has never gained this much traction.

This time around, it's Beckley's mayor, Rob Rappold, who is leading the charge.

During a council workshop in May, Rappold said he has brought up the topic individually with council members for the past year and a half.

The Beckley Common Council has also held at least three public workshop meetings to discuss the potential shift in governing, which would require approval from council to enact.

While Beckley has operated under a strong mayor form of government since its inception more than 100 years ago, Rappold said he believes Beckley should change to a city manager form of government.

"We are surrounded by cities — Bluefield, Princeton, Oak Hill, Fayetteville — all of whom have a city manager form of government," said Rappold in a Beckley Common Council workshop meeting in May.

"From my mind, it just, it ensures continuity. We have good things going on in Beckley. Frankly, if we have bonds in place for specific programs, I think it gives the bond writers comfort if they know that there will not be any significant break in the management of the city. And in my mind, a city manager can ensure that."

With a city manager form of government, Rappold said the role of Beckley mayor would be dramatically reduced in the city and would be more of a ceremonial and part-time position.

He added that the mayor's salary would also likely be reduced. The last reported salary for Beckley mayor was $70,000, according to an article in The Register-Herald in 2016.

Rappold said he would equate the role of a city manager to a chief executive officer and a chief operating officer.

The salary for a city manager would likely be as high, if not higher, than what Beckley's current mayor makes.

This year, the city of Clarksburg, which has a smaller population than the city of Beckley, offered its city manager a two-year contract with an annual salary of $140,000, according to media reports.

Rappold added that the city manager would assume the majority of the responsibilities currently being held by city recorder Billie Trump.

Rappold said he has also sought advice from West Virginia Municipal League Executive Director Travis Blosser, who has previously served as a city manager in West Virginia.

West Virginia Municipal League is a statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan association of cities, towns and villages established in 1968 to assist local governments and advance the interests of the citizens who reside within.

In an interview with The Register-Herald on Friday, Blosser said the city of Beckley is in an unusual position because Beckley's charter already lays out a clear path for how the city would go about making the shift to a city manager form of government.

"The elected folks that were around that time in the community that put their charter in place I think identified that this was something that maybe eventually Beckley got into a position that this would be necessary and be worthwhile and that it should be an option that the community should be able to move forward with," he said.

"And so they had it written within their charter, which is somewhat unique in West Virginia, to have the ability to make that change by a vote of the city council," Blosser said.

"Most cities in West Virginia, if they're going to do it, it would be a completely — they'd amend their charter and go through all of that process. And this is kind of already written in there to make that change."

The process for how Beckley would transition from its current form of government to a city manager form is outlined in Beckley's charter, which is available online at library.municode.com/wv.

According to the charter, to appoint a city manager, council is required to adopt an ordinance that dictates the powers and duties of the city manager.

Once such an ordinance is adopted, the council would then need to vote to operate under a city manager form of government.

If after switching to a city manager government, the council decided to change to another form of government, it would require a change in the city's charter.

Blosser said one of the advantages of a city manager government is that the city manager can make decisions that are not based on politics.

"The strong components of a city manager are removing politics out of the administrative authority of the city and focusing squarely on the operations and that person not having to be thinking about running for election or organizing support," Blosser said.

Blosser said a city manager would still need the support of the community and council, as council would have the authority to remove a city manager, but it would remove some of the political pressures and allow for continuity.

He added that some may see this aspect of the job as a negative.

"I think city managers can potentially be viewed that when they make a decision that sometimes politics isn't taken into account and that can potentially rub people the wrong way if it's a decision that may not be popular," Blosser said.

"But politicians have to make those decisions, too, and I think kind of are faced with the same consequences if a politician doesn't get reelected, they don't, and city managers can be removed from their positions. They're an appointed role."

In the past decade, there have been two well-documented instances of Beckley pursuing a change in governance

In late 2015, at the direction of former Beckley Mayor Bill O'Brien, an 18-member task force was assembled to improve Beckley's growth and stability. The task force identified five initiatives the city should explore, including, on a unanimous vote, the change from a strong mayor form of government to a city manager form.

The recommendation, which was not well received by city officials at the time, was not pursued.

Then in 2018, a group of citizens started an online petition calling for Beckley Common Council to hire a city manager.

The petition, which garnered more than 700 signatures, read, "We, concerned voters of Beckley, petition the Beckley Common Council to appoint a non-partisan, apolitical city manager as the operating head of the city. We maintain a growing dissatisfaction with the existing mayoral-council system of city governance."

The petition continues, "We need a trained professional to manage city departments to their true potential."

The petition was again met with some resistance from city officials and was again not pursued.

In West Virginia, municipalities are allowed to operate under five types of governments as outlined in state code 8-3-2.

* Mayor-Council Plan­: Both the mayor and the council are elected by the people and they both share the responsibility as the governing body and administrative authority of the city.

* Strong-Mayor Plan: Both the mayor and the council are elected by the people, but the council is the governing body, and the mayor has the administrative authority. This is Beckley's current form of government.

* Commission Government: Five commissioners are elected by the people. These commissioners, who will also be the governing body and administrative authority, then elect one of themselves to serve as the mayor.

* Manager Plan: Council members are elected by the people. The council then selects one of its members to serve as the mayor and presiding officer of council. Council will also appoint a city manager who will hold the administrative authority while the council serves as the governing body.

* Manager-Mayor Plan: The council and the mayor are elected by the people. The mayor serves as a member and presiding officer of council. Council would serve as the governing body and would appoint a city manager to be the administrative authority. This is the form of government that Rappold is recommending.

Under the manager-mayor plan, state code says that the city manager "shall manage the affairs of the city under the supervision of the council and he shall be responsible to such council. (The city manager) shall appoint or employ, in accordance with this chapter, all subordinates and employees for whose duties or work (he or she) is responsible to the council."

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com