‘A unique situation.’ Why newly-appointed Columbus councilor wasn’t appointed as expected
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The swearing-in ceremony for the newest member of the Columbus Council was delayed because of a conflict between two elements of city law.
In a 6-3 vote May 28, the council appointed retired Columbus police officer Byron Hickey to succeed the late Jerry “Pops” Barnes as the District 1 representative and fill the remaining two years of the four-year term. Barnes, who died April 14 at age 80 from an undisclosed illness, was the District 1 representative on the 10-member council for 17 years.
The council is the governing body of the Columbus Consolidated Government. The city consolidated with Muscogee County in January 1971 after the charter was ratified in November 1970. So the city council has a dual function as the county commission — and councilors must be sworn in by the probate court judge for the city part of their role and by the superior court judge for the county part of their role.
Monday morning, Hickey was sworn in by Columbus Probate Court Judge Marc D’Antonio because D’Antonio couldn’t attend Tuesday night’s meeting. But after that ceremony, an email the same day Hickey received from CCG human resources director Reather Hollowell informed him that his city pension would be suspended while he served on the council because the city’s pension ordinance considers councilors as full-time employees, despite the charter treating councilors as part-time employees.
That’s why, although Hickey’s swearing-in was on the agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting, Mayor Skip Henderson announced the ceremony would be delayed. But nobody involved would explain why then.
Hickey told the Ledger-Enquirer on Friday that he doesn’t know why this conflict arose this late in the process.
“I was just told this was a unique situation,” he said. “… I just feel it’s unfair to retired people who put in, in my case, over 30 years of service to the city, to be penalized and punished for being in public office on the council.”
The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach Hollowell or city attorney Clifton Fay for comment before publication, but two councilors said a solution is in the works.
The city attorney is drafting a revised pension ordinance to present to the pension board. The revision would reclassify councilors as part-time. That would make their participation in the pension plan optional, just like the option to participate in the city’s health insurance plan, so city retirees could serve on the council while still drawing from their pensions.
“We’re waiting on the mayor to set up the meeting and work with the city attorney to draft everything,” Councilor Toyia Tucker of District 4 told the L-E on Thursday. “… We want to come up with the language to do this right for any future person running for the city council.”
The city would have had another person with the same conflict if Tucker lost her re-election bid last month. Her opponent was Tyrone Tucker, a retired Columbus police officer.
Jim Wetherington was a retired Columbus police chief when he served as the city’s mayor from 2007-11. His pension was frozen during that time, Hickey said, but the mayor’s position is full-time. Mayor Henderson’s salary as of October 2023 was $82,910. Councilors receive a part-time salary of approximately $22,000.
“We’re going to get this worked out,” Councilor Charmaine Crabb of District 5, who nominated Hickey, told the L-E on Thursday. “Byron will be a great asset on the council.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 10:27 AM.
