The new city clerk's office in Lithonia looks like the aftermath of a teenager's efforts at a term paper before computers.

Cardboard boxes stack to the ceiling. Files inside the boxes are disorganized. Books are splayed across a desk dotted with slips of paper.

Renee Hannans Henry/AJC (ENLARGE)

City Clerk Victoria Bateman goes through paperwork in a makeshift office inside Lithonia's police station. Offices in City Hall were moved because of mold concerns; the temporary office for the clerk does not have a computer.

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For a city roiled with conflict for a month, this is actually progress.

The small DeKalb County town is taking baby steps to get in some sort of order. The City Council could vote on two new policies toward that end at its meeting tonight.

And new City Clerk Victoria Bateman is going through a paper receipt book to check on business licenses paid for as far back as October — but never issued.

"Right now it's disheartening because I can't put things in order, but I will," Bateman said from her makeshift office in the police station.

Conflict and confusion have ruled since April 7, when Mayor Joyce McKibben fired the police chief, only to have the council reinstate him hours later. Some of McKibben's supporters locked themselves inside City Hall, in turn prompting the council to change the locks and lock out the mayor. City Hall was closed until last week, when offices were moved from the City Hall Annex to the police station because of mold concerns.

McKibben has asked a Superior Court judge to rule on what powers are granted her under the city charter. In the meantime, she and the council say they're willing to tackle the city's problems.

There are a lot to tackle, starting with financial disorder going back at least to 2004.

An internal audit found the city had no internal controls on purchasing and no policies on how to handle its budget. The state Department of Audits and Accounts' nonprofit and local government audits division served official warning on the city in January, saying it had failed to produce required financial audits from 2004 through 2006.

Councilwoman Doreen Carter, who heads the board's finance committee, dreams of working on economic development for the desolate downtown. But before anything else, she said, the city must get its financial house in order.

"My goal is to position ourselves to grow," Carter said. "Instead of focusing on who can hire or fire, why not focus on getting us into [state] compliance?"

The council could vote tonight on two of Carter's recommendations, setting rules for city bank deposits and fuel purchases for city-owned vehicles. Both require new tracking of money spent and deposited, as a way to help with financial review.

Carter would like to get the council to adopt a citywide financial policy covering everything from mandating how the mayor can prepare the city budget to adopting auditing standards to setting up paperwork for purchases. But there are signs that the document could lead to another showdown.

"It seems to me that overall it gives more authority to the mayor than the charter allows," Councilwoman Linda Pruett said during a workshop session.

Meanwhile, Bateman keeps trying to get organized, sorting through city documents and looking to set up systems on a city computer.

It can't come too soon for Ethel Wilburn, who went to City Hall to try to check on the business license for her day care, ABC Learning Center.

She paid the $207.50 fee in February and keeps the receipt tucked in the frame of her old license, to show clients who ask.

Her new license, along with at least 40 others, has been held up.

"We were trying to do what's right," Wilburn said. "It would be nice to have it done."