Photo courtesy of City of Homewood
Homewood City Manager Vote
Homewood will hold a referendum on Sept. 24 for citizens to decide if they want to restructure the city government to feature a city manager-council format.
Jefferson County Probate Judge James Naftel certified on Monday the Homewood petition to set a referendum that, if approved by voters, would change the form of government in the city.
Subsequently, Mayor Patrick McClusky set Sept. 24 as the date that citizens will decide if Homewood will shift to a city manager-council form of government. Currently, the city has a part-time mayor and an 11-member city council, the largest city council in the state.
“It feels like we’ve gotten through the first stage but there’s still obviously a long way to go,” City Council President Alex Wyatt said. “I’m happy that we’ve gotten the petition certified and we get to bring this issue before the people and let them vote. But we need to see what the residents want, whether they want a new system or not. I’m excited that they’ll get that opportunity to vote on that and make the decision.”
Wyatt didn’t not recall how many of the 600 submitted signatures were certified. He thought the target number was around 540.
“Quite frankly, all I know at this point is Judge Naftel has certified it and said we have a sufficient number of signatures,” Wyatt said. “I don’t know how many couldn’t be certified but obviously enough were able to be certified.”
The upcoming Aug. 5 council committee meetings will be followed by a 6 p.m. special meeting of the council to deal with some of the logistics that are required in order for the referendum to be held.
“Every step’s important so it’s good to have one that’s completed,” the council president said of the petition certification. “Certainly, it’s still a long way to go. We’ve got to make sure everyone understands what they’re voting on.”
With all of the talk around town, Wyatt is hopeful there are few residents who don’t know what’s to be decided.
“I think that with everything that’s been done, I certainly hope everyone is aware what’s going on and understands the issue,” Wyatt said. “But that certainly doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop trying to educate the public. Not just on what is before them but also why it’s before them and why the issue is important.”