Decatur’s commission reappointed Patti Garrett as mayor Monday night, her second consecutive term. Also for the second straight year Fred Boykin was appointed mayor pro tem.
Decatur is the only Atlanta-area municipality that doesn’t popularly elect its mayor, instead appointing the position annually from among its five-person commission. There are only a handful of Georgia cities that do the same including Griffin, Rome, Toccoa and Dalton.
Decatur has appointed its mayor since going to the council-manager form of government in 1924.
In recent years that format has been challenged. In November 2015, John Ridley ran for the city’s at-large seat calling for a mayor with “appropriate executive authority” and a shifting away from a strong city manager. He subsequently lost to current commissioner Tony Powers 4,300 votes to 609.
For the last few years former Mayor Bill Floyd has advocated for an elected four-year mayor though he still favors the strong city manager structure.
Garrett was first elected to the commission 2009 and Boykin in 2001. Both are up for re-election in November.
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