Philyaw to run for mayor in Hiram, city manager stepping down

[Al Lee Gator]

Hiram City Manager Robbie Rokovitz announced last week he will step down as city manager before the end of this month, while the city will add a special election to fill Council Post 3 being vacated by Teresa Philyaw, who has decided to run for mayor.

 

Philyaw's candidacy required her to resign her council seat. A special election for her Post 3 council seat is set for Nov. 3, and qualifying for the seat is scheduled for Sept. 14 to 16.

 

The Special Election will be held in conjunction with the November General Election for the purpose of filling the unexpired term of Philyaw, as required by Georgia election law and the city’s charter.

 

Ms. Philyaw will challenge incumbent Mayor Doris Devey in the November election after both qualified for the position last week.

 

Other candidates that qualified for the Hiram General Election include Incumbent Post 1 (At-large) Councilman Prather "Pep" Rollins who is challenged by Frank Moran and (Incumbent) Council Post 2 (At-large) Kathy Bookout will face qualifiers Terrance White, Jerry Duncan and Billy Grant.

 

Robbie Rokovitz was named and introduced as the council’s selection for city manager in August of 2012 and has served since then.

 

Prior to the selection of Rokovitz the council changed its charter to allow for the addition of a city manager and held several extra sessions as part of the process to select a candidate to take over the position permanently.

 

Rokovitz, whose last day is the 25th of this month, has opted for an offer for a job in the private sector, he commented last week, and added that while a interim manager will take over, his permanent replacement would probably not start until after the election or early next year.

 

But Rokovitz said the council-manager form of governing the city adopted in 2012 still needs work.

 

“I think that over the last 36 months I’ve been there, they’re still struggling with the understanding of what the council-manager form of government is...and the lack of understanding of a council-manager form of government is not advantageous for operations; they’ve got to get that understood or they’re going to have a hard time keeping a city manager -- and it’s in the best interest of that city to have a long-term city manager and not have a revolving door,” Rokovitz said.

 

Mayor Doris Devey said last week that the council would soon consider whether or not an interim manager is named from current staff. But that person would not be in the running among permanent candidates to replace Rokovitz, she said.