Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has yet to hear from Vicksburg’s two aldermen about his proposed amendments to the city charter, but both indicate they still have reservations about the changes, including his plan to divide the appointment of city department heads between them and himself.

Flaggs sent copies of the proposed amendments of the 142-year-old charter to Aldermen Michael Mayfield and Willis Thompson May 21. The proposals change the wording of some charter provisions and eliminate several provisions that no longer apply, such as matters regarding horses in the city and a city harbor commission.

But it’s his plan to split department head appointments, which is the most controversial. Mayfield and Thompson have previously said they oppose the plan that gives Flaggs authority to appoint the city attorney, city clerk, finance and administration head, police chief and fire chief.

The North Ward alderman would be responsible for appointing the public works director and community development director, while the South Ward alderman would take the parks and recreation director, human resources director and information technology head.

While Mayfield said he has not fully read through Flaggs’ proposal, he agrees there are some provisions that are out of date and need to be removed.

But he added, “I’ve had a whole lot of calls from people wanting to know what we’re going to do about changing the charter. I think the people have gotten an opportunity to read the charter as a whole, and they are overwhelmingly uncomfortable with the (proposed) duties of the board as a whole.”

The biggest objection, he said, is dividing the appointments, or supervisory duties, among the board. “Our public works, parks and recreation, those things are public service and citywide,” he said. “They’re concerned somebody might get greedy and leave someone out.”

He added a warning.

“When you start looking at changing or removing things from the charter, you need to make sure all the “Is” are dotted and all the “Ts” are crossed, and people are kind of putting in their two cents worth now,” he said, “and the majority of the people I’ve talked to are willing to let the new board come in and do that.

“There is nothing stopping a new board from going in and changing the charter to suit what they feel works for them. That’s what everybody has to keep in mind.”

Thompson believes some of the things Flaggs proposes could be handled by better management, not by amending the charter.

“Some things, I think we’ve already tried it,” he said. “If you have good policy in place, I’m all for it. I don’t think you have to change the charter to manage employees. That’s part of why we’re there, and we agreed to do some of the things we’re doing.”

He said he plans to respond to the mayor’s proposals in writing.

Flaggs believes the residents and the aldermen misunderstand his appointment proposal.

“The appointment process works just like the president appoints the cabinet and just like the governor appoints agency heads,” he said. “The way it should work is the mayor makes the appointment that he’s given the authority to appoint, and if in fact the mayor can’t get his second vote, then the person in that position stays there until the mayor gets the second vote. It still allows for due process.”

The purpose of dividing the appointments, Flaggs said, is to “give a day-to-day oversight and responsibility that would be unique and distinctive to each alderman and the mayor, and leave somebody in charge.”

“This would give one alderman oversight (over a department) as it relates to day-to-day operations,” he said. “This will better serve the public, because you will know who is responsible for what. This eliminates duplication.

“What I’m trying to do is put a functional organization structure going forward. It’s a progressive way of providing oversight, accountability and efficiency for the city.”

Besides the amendment involving appointments, other proposed changes to the charter include:

• The provision outlining how many times a month the board meets was changed to the current four meetings a month.

Under the present charter provision, the board meets twice a month on the first and third Monday of the month. According to the City Clerk’s Office, board began meeting four times a month on the first and third Monday and the 10th and 25th of the month in 1988 because the claims dockets, which show the city’s bills, come out on the 10th and 25th of each month.

The change was never written into the charter.

• The municipal court clerk will be appointed by the mayor and approved by the board. Flaggs said the mayor should make the appointment because it is tied to the municipal judge, which the mayor would also appoint.

“The clerk is the one liable (for fine collections and accounting) not the finance and accounting person,” he said.

• The provision for a city jail is deleted. Vicksburg does not have a city jail. Prisoners are taken to the Issaquena County Correctional Facility or the Warren County Jail.

• The provision for a city hospital is eliminated. The city has not owned or operated a hospital since 1956, when it transferred ownership of Kuhn Memorial Hospital to the State of Mississippi.

• All provisions for the Vicksburg Harbor and Port Commission and dock and wharf fees are eliminated because the city is affiliated with the Warren County Port Commission.

• The provision regulating the speed of horses through town has been rewritten to “the speed of vehicles.”