Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer announced Monday that he would temporarily run Snellville in the absence of a city manager.

The contract of Snellville's interim city manager, Jim Brooks, who was hired last year, expires Wednesday.

Oberholtzer made the announcement at a contentious City Council meeting Monday that he intended to wield his power as chief executive officer. Some members of the City Council took exception.

Oberholtzer said he had discussed the matter with City Attorney Mike Williams. Snellville's city code allows the mayor to exercise some power as chief executive officer without a vote of the council.

"I will take over as the chief executive officer until we have a full city manager," Oberholtzer said. "I am well-versed. We have great department heads. The city runs itself."

Mayor Pro Tem Warren Auld asked the mayor to consider hiring another interim city manager until a new city manager could be found.

"I do not believe there is an emergency," Auld said. "The mayor has the ability to appoint an interim city manager. He has refused to do it."

Oberholtzer is a managing engineer for O'Brien & Gere in Athens.

Oberholtzer's announcement was made on the same night City Council members Kelly Kautz and Robert Jenkins publicly accused the mayor of spending about $30,000 of public money to make a contribution to the Gwinnett Municipal Association that allegedly had not been authorized.

The allocation was paid for by a budget amendment that also included money to hire three new police officers. The amendment was passed unanimously, but not without criticism.

"Our charter calls for investigations into malfeasance of duties," Kautz said. "In light of what had been brought to our attention that needs to occur tonight."

Kautz had said that the council had discussed giving money to the GMA in a budget meeting last year, but decided against it.

"I hate to think about a man running the city that won't even follow the wishes of the council when it comes to spending money," Jenkins said.

Oberholtzer said $34,000 of public money was spent on dues to the GMA. The mayor said he thought the council knew about the allocation and that his opponents are turning the contribution into a political issue to cause trouble for him.

Oberholtzer said the money was spent back in October.

"It's a moot point, the money has been appropriated," Oberholtzer said. "It was set aside. If they just found out about it either they weren't doing their job or they were lying."