Tallassee Council

Cliff Williams / TPI

Talllassee councilmembers will continue to be elected by ward. The boundaries of the wards will be adjusted to accomodate for moving and growth.

The Tallassee City Council was reaching a deadline before the August municipal elections. One decision was facing them head on: Whether to continue to elect councilmembers by ward or to elect them at large.

At large would mean everyone in the city limits of Tallassee could vote on representation for each of the seven council seats. Staying with its ward system means the city will have to adjust the districts to make them more similar in population size based on the 2020 U.S. Census.

Ultimately the council decided to keep using the ward system, which means working with the Central Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission.

“CARPDC has already been working on maps to adjust the wards for population,” Tallassee Mayor Sarah Hill said. “Some of the councilmembers want to make minor changes to those before voting on them.”

The changes will bring a better balance in population of each ward allowing more equitable representation by councilmembers. Alabama law allows for the ward boundaries to be changed until May 26.

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The council also decided to keep the pay for the mayor and councilmembers the same. In 2012 the Tallassee City Council set the pay for councilmembers at $600 per month and $25,000 per year for mayor.

Hill said she felt pay for a utilities supervisor should go towards a full-time employee, who fully understands utilities.

“It has been used in the past to increase the mayor’s salary,” Hill said. 

Hill said CARPDC will make the minor adjustments to the ward maps before presenting them to the council for approval.

 

Cliff Williams is a staff writer for Tallapoosa Publishers, Inc. He may be reached via email at cliff.williams@alexcityoutlook.com.