Austell's Mayor Qualifying Fee Highest in Cobb

During last week’s qualifying period, each of the six candidates running in the Austell November municipal election completed an application, filed a letter of intent and paid a qualifying fee: $360 for those seeking council member seats and $900 for anyone qualifying for the city mayor position.

This year, incumbent Mayor Joe Jerkins was the only one to qualify and pay the $900 fee, which is the highest of Cobb’s six cities, of which Austell is the smallest.

Cobb’s other city mayor qualifying fees range from $540 in Powder Springs and in Marietta to $684 in Smyrna. Fees for city council or aldermen seats were comparable to Austell’s $360 and ranged from $360 in Kennesaw and Powder Springs to $514 in Smyrna.

The qualifying fees for elected officials at set by the Georgia Election Code and are usually 3 percent of the official’s total gross salary, which means Austell has the highest salary in Cobb for its mayor at $30,000 a year.

Jerkins, who took office as city mayor in 1990, did not accept a salary during his first 14 years in office. He chose instead to give the funds set aside for his salary to city employees as bonuses during Christmas.

After paying expenses out of his pocket while serving as the city’s mayor for 14 years, Jerkins’ wife convinced him not to run again.

City council members, city employees and residents insisted Jerkins set a salary so that he could continue to serve in the same capacity without any financial hurdles. The city council approved the salary rate in 2003, Jerkins said.

Along with his mayoral duties, Jerkins also performs the tasks normally assigned to a city manager. Austell may have the highest salaried mayor in the county, but it also is the only city without a city manager.

“It’s a pretty serious job managing a city,” Jerkins said.

By not having a formal city manager position, Jerkins said the city annually saves approximately $200,000, which includes the salary and expenses of a city manager as well as the salary and expenses of an assistant to the city manager.

Jerkins said he does not feel the nearly $1,000 qualifying fee deters those seeking the mayoral seat. He pointed out that even when the qualifying fee was set much lower because Jerkins was not receiving a salary, only one individual ran against him.

Check back with South Cobb Patch regularly for continued coverage of the November municipal election and candidates.