Charter commission receives pointers from Rome, Floyd County

Published 7:26 am Thursday, September 15, 2011

The city of Rome and Floyd County aren’t one unified government, but they have merged many of their services over the years.

That method is called functional consolidation, and is the result of several failed attempts to completely combine the two general governments.

Rome City Manager John Bennett and Floyd County Manager Kevin Poe spoke Wednesday to the commission studying the possible merger of the Dalton and Whitfield County general governments. The men spoke and answered questions for about two hours.

“When you look to consolidate, you are looking for more efficiency and a higher level of service for everybody,” Bennett said.

Rome and Floyd County residents have voted down consolidation several times. The biggest obstacle? Citizens’ desires to keep the two school systems separate.

“As long as we have an independent school system, a lot of people think it is a waste of time,” Poe said of consolidation.

Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools are independent school systems. Local officials say if the city and county governments merge, the school systems will remain separate.

Bennett gave the commission members several suggestions as they continue their study. He recommended serving food at the meetings because it often draws members. There is a certain level of trust that must be achieved between the two sides so neither feels like they’re being cheated. Keep all meetings open to the public to maintain transparency (the merger commission meetings are open to the public). Also, putting thoughts and ideas into writing is important.

“The process is almost as important as the content,” Bennett said.

Both Bennett and Poe agreed the consolidation process isn’t easy. After all, there are only four consolidated governments in Georgia.

Commission members previously heard from officials from Athens-Clarke County, one of the state’s consolidated governments.

Frank Thomason, a member of the charter commission, said the information from Bennett and Poe was useful. The commission must make a recommendation whether to merge by April 2012.

“We continue to educate ourselves,” Thomason said.