MADISON, AL — Voters in the city of Madison will get to decide May 9 on losing a city council district to implement a council-manager form of government.

The city, which lies in both Madison and Limestone counties, currently operates on a council-mayor form of government with seven city council districts and a non-voting mayor acting as the head of day-to-day operations of the city.

Residents of the city of Madison will vote “yes” or “no” on the ballot question: “Shall the council-manager form of government as provided by the Council-Manager Act of 1982 be adopted for the City of Madison consisting of seven members as follows: One member shall be the mayor elected at large, who shall be a voting member of the Council, and six members shall be council members elected from single-member districts?”

“The redistricting would redistrict us into six districts with a voting mayor being that tiebreaker,” said Samantha Magnuson, communications specialist for Madison. “(Without removing a council district) that would be an even number, so then we would end up with ties.”

If the ballot results in a favorable approval, the city council would ultimately hire a city manager to oversee the city’s departments and operations. The city manager would be able to appoint and remove department heads and present a budget to the city council — all duties currently done by the mayor, who makes nearly $115,000 per year. The city manager’s salary would later be determined following approval.

After the 2020 census data was release showing an increase to the city of Madison’s population, a committee outside of city government was formed to research different governments, Magnuson said. The city’s population grew by an estimated 15,000 to approximately 58,000 in 10 years, prompting a redistricting plan that has been in the works since 2021. The committee solicited 10 percent of resident signatures as required by law to move forward with a vote for city-restructuring.

“We know that multiple cities in Alabama about our size utilize the council-manager form of government,” Magnuson. “So it started with a what is the best practice for Madison’s future and digging in and finding all pros cons and everything like that. So that committee did that research and presented to council.”

A few Alabama cities have a council-city manager including Anniston, Auburn, Dothan, Mountain Brook, Pelham, Pell City and Talladega. Auburn and Dothan have populations larger than Madison.

Magnuson said the city would hire an outside firm to study and assess the new districts to make them all equal and equitable, if the May 9 measure is approved. The public would be welcome to council meetings to discuss and view the firm’s public presentations, she added.

“All of this is ambiguous until after the election so we know what steps to take,” Magnuson said. “But the process would look like a contractor coming in having multiple public meetings and reports to council on what that looks like. We welcome transparency and including our community in that input.”

Bernard Simelton, president of the Alabama NAACP, held a press conference May 3 urging the city’s voters to vote down the proposal, citing the more limited representation the council-manager form of government would cause.

“The concern is that the representation of those people will not be the same because one person will represent more people, say 1,000 people. Now the council member would represent say 2,000 something like that. and so, we believe that the voices will not be heard,” Simelton said of the city which is 14 percent Black.

He referenced that Alabama was at risk of losing a congressional district following the 2020 census due to its slow population growth.

“Now contrast that to what was happening in Madison with the growth and they are wanting to reduce the number of city council seats. and it just doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Simelton and other opponents have expressed concern with hiring an unelected and likely publicly unaccessible city manager if the ballot is approved.

“There would be fewer representatives but we lose more than that,” Don’t Mess With Madison PAC stated on its website. “The new person executing the laws and managing the city departments will be the unelected city manager. This person is selected by the city council. The voters would have no vote on who executes the laws and runs the city departments.”

Added Simelton: “Some people are concerned that with the city manager, they won’t be able to talk to that person directly because he or she will work for the city council more or less and will not work for the people. … The NAACP agrees that the growth in the city be managed. But whether that’s worth taking a city council seat a way from the people, I cannot say that the managing of the growth is worth that because you have a mayor and he has his staff and the city council members who can manage the growth.”

If the ballot is approved by city voters Tuesday, May 9, the new form of government would go into effect in 2025.

City residents should go to their regular municipal election polling places on Election Day from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. to vote in the special election.