No Judge Question on Roswell Ballot

There will be no language on the Roswell municipal ballot in November pertaining to how the city judge position might be filled. 

City Judge Maurice Hilliard resigned on Aug. 5 after nearly 30 years on the bench.

The Roswell City Council held a 50-minute special meeting Wednesday to consider putting a non-binding question on the ballot. 

But council member Betty Price, who made several motions to add the issue to the Nov. 5 ballot, could not get a second from her colleagues.

The council finally voted 3-1, with Price opposing, not to move forward with the measure.

The three votes to delay were from council members Laura Diamond, Becky Wynn and Kent Ingleheart. Council member Rich Dippolito did not vote since he was serving as mayor pro tem. 

Mayor Jere Wood and council member Jerry Orlans were not present at Wednesday's meeting, which was called after the ballot question discussion was tabled during Monday's regular council meeting.

The Fulton County deadline for getting a question on the Nov. 5 ballot is Sept. 3. The Roswell election is for mayor and three council positions, with qualifying ending Friday afternoon. 

On Wednesday, city attorney David Davidson recommended against such action because of state law that prohibits placing non-binding issues on an official ballot.

Davidson said the chance of a lawsuit was unlikely but still possible, which prompted Price to ask: 

"Can you imagine a situation where somebody would sue the city for asking its citizens their opinion?"

"There's lots of things the city gets sued for that I can't imagine," Davidson said as some laughter broke out. 

Dippolito, who during the Wednesday meeting took his regular seat while Price served as mayor pro tem, said he also had legal concerns about a non-binding question.

He also said he was "uncomfortable going to the voters and asking them a question of this magnitude but not having their vote actually count."

If there's going to be question posed to the voters, "it needs to be something that we take seriously."

Roswell is the only city in Georgia that holds elections for city judge, and the lack of a ballot question in November doesn't preclude the council from taking separate action on filling the position.

The council is scheduled to take up the matter at its Sept. 23 meeting, where it could call for a special election to determine Hilliard's successor or even consider making the city judge an appointed position. 

Oct. 4 is the deadline for calling a special election that would be held in March or May of 2014. 

Julie Brechbill, Roswell's community relations manager, said cases heard in city court will be handled by several interim judges appointed by the council.