Marietta City Council Organizational Meeting (Jan 5, 2026)
Marietta City Council Organizational Meeting - January 5, 2026
The Marietta City Council convened for its 2026 organizational meeting to appoint key city officials, including the Mayor Pro Tem, City Manager, City Clerk, City Attorney, Judicial personnel, and legal staff. The meeting featured extensive discussion regarding the staffing of the Municipal Court, specifically the role of the Prosecuting Attorney and Assistant Prosecutors, addressing concerns about case backlogs, judicial policies, and the need for timely appointments to ensure court operations continue after current contracts expire. The Council also reviewed and adjusted travel expense policies for council members and voted to enter an executive session regarding pending arbitration and annexation disputes.
Consent Calendar
- Committee Appointments: The Council approved the Mayor's appointments for Mayor Pro Tem, Presiding Officer, and BLW Council Representative.
- City Manager: Unanimously appointed William F. Bruton Jr. to serve as City Manager at the pleasure of the Council.
- City Clerk: Unanimously appointed Stephanie Guy to serve as City Clerk.
- City Attorney: Unanimously appointed Douglas R. Haney to serve as City Attorney at the pleasure of the Council.
- Chief Judge: Unanimously appointed Lawrence E. Burke to serve as Chief Judge of the Municipal Court.
- Associate Judges: Unanimously appointed the current associate judges (specifically Judge Bloom and Judge Taylor were noted as current members, with Donna Merrill proposed for reappointment).
- Municipal Court Clerk: Unanimously appointed Kimberly Odom as the Clerk of the Municipal Court (Court Administrator).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Council Member Comments on Prosecution: A Council member expressed strong concerns that the current prosecuting attorney (Benjamin Smith) was "too lenient," citing specific incidents involving dog bites and code enforcement cases being dragged out via continuances, resulting in insufficient results for code enforcement.
- Council Member Support for Candidates: A Council member stated they have spoken with Courtney Brewbaker and confirmed she "does want to serve" and has been "perfectly fine" in previous hearings.
- Council Member on Judicial Policy: A Council member noted that Judge Burke's policy of granting only one free continuance per side for code enforcement cases has helped efficiency and reduced cases being continued a dozen or more times.
- Council Member on Travel: A Council member highlighted that travel expenses for national conferences (GMA, MIAG, NLC) have significantly increased, noting they personally spend over $10,000 annually and have to use personal funds when caps are reached.
Discussion Items
- Prosecuting Attorney Appointment Dispute: Discussion arose regarding why Courtney Brewbaker was originally listed for the Prosecutor role but not on the initial roster, and why she was currently absent from the reappointment list provided by HR. Council members debated whether to appoint Brewbaker immediately or wait for a comparative interview with other candidates (Ronald Hood and Benjamin Smith). One member expressed support for a more compliance-focused prosecutor, suggesting a potential environmental court or specialized prosecutor, while another expressed dissatisfaction with the current prosecutor's leniency.
- Assistant Prosecuting Attorney List: The council deliberated on the list of assistant prosecutors, initially including Tom Campbell. A member expressed hesitation to vote on Campbell as they had "no idea who he is" and wanted to vet him separately. The final list was amended to exclude Campbell initially to avoid voting on him without prior discussion, focusing on Latonia Hines, Robert Donoven, Robert Schottenheimer, Ronald Hood, and Benjamin Smith.
- Court Schedule and Case Loads: The City Clerk detailed that the court is handling 100-120 cases per plea and arraignment session (vs. a max of 85) and 20-25 cases on non-jury trial calendars. An uptick in school bus violations and moving violations was noted, while code enforcement numbers remained flat. The Clerk clarified that continuances are often requested because parties are unprepared, not due to judge/policeman workload.
- Executive Session for Prosecutor: A motion was made to table the immediate appointment of the Prosecuting Attorney to allow for an executive session to interview three candidates (Smith, Brewbaker, and Hood) for due diligence. The Council agreed to this approach to avoid making a hasty decision without knowing the capabilities of all potential candidates.
- Travel Expense Policy: The Council discussed updating the 2021 travel policy, noting that hotel and mileage costs have risen significantly (mileage increased to 70 cents). A proposal to raise the per-person cap from $7,000 to $10,000 was debated, with concerns raised about the $56,000 total budget increase and funding sources in a zero-balanced budget environment.
Key Outcomes
- Committee Appointments Approved: The Mayor's appointments for Mayor Pro Tem, Presiding Officer, and BLW Representative were approved by unanimous vote.
- City Management Appointed: William F. Bruton Jr. (City Manager), Stephanie Guy (City Clerk), Douglas R. Haney (City Attorney), and Lawrence E. Burke (Chief Judge) were officially appointed.
- Prosecuting Attorney Tabled: The appointment of the Prosecuting Attorney was tabled pending an executive session to interview Benjamin Smith, Courtney Brewbaker, and Ronald Hood. The Council directed staff to schedule this discussion for the upcoming agenda work session.
- Assistant Prosecutors Approved: The Council approved the appointment of six Assistant Prosecutors: Latonia Hines, Robert Donovan, Robert Schottenheimer, Ronald Hood, Courtney Brewbaker, and Benjamin Smith. (Note: Tom Campbell was excluded from the final voting list during the substitute motion process). Tom Campbell is expected to be added later upon his retirement from Cobb County.
- Rules and Procedures Tabled: The adoption of the 2026 Rules and Procedures was tabled for initial discussion by the Judicial and Legislative (JL) Committee.
- Travel Policy Updated: The Council voted 5-2 to increase the travel expense cap for council members and the mayor to $10,000 per member (increasing the total budget allocation from $56,000 to approximately $66,000).
- Executive Session: The Council voted unanimously to enter executive session to discuss potential or pending litigation regarding two annexation issues.
- Committee Assignments: Council members discussed and accepted their roles on committees (Finance, Personnel, etc.) and the automatic appointment to the Pension Board if they serve as committee chairs or vice-chairs.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome the new duly appointed and sworn in group that looked forward for us seven a good four years together. Which is divine of the citizens ever that would benefit them. So the first order the have a force. Or our governance setting up our committees, the mayor of pro team, the presiding officer, and BLW Council representative. The city clerk. Most two are they're normal staff type positions, but they're pulled out and made they're basically under contract right now. But each term of council has more form. So it's kind of we're basically reinforcing that in that particular case. And then the city attorney is purely at the will of council. And so it comes up this year, and then it doesn't even have a term. It's just as at the will of council. And then appointment of the chief judge, an associate judge. The main difference is that the judge is a judge, except the chief judges treat as if a full-time job. The department of associate judges there ad hoc by when they work. And the same thing for prosecuting attorney and the associate prosecuting attorneys. There's no provision in our code to present any nominations before you other than report. The council. So we we wanna this part and just see how well we can work together to come up with a appointments. Who came up with this separate list? The ones where it says uh the current assistant prosecuting attorney. No, those are the current, there's a separate list in here that are recommendations for counsel approval, and it moves Donna Merrill from being a prosecutor to the president. Yeah, let me ask Kim O'Me to come down and she can speak to that. Good morning. Good morning. I received a request from city clerk and HR director to send the current list, which is the the people who were active in 2025. And I made a note to them that there were going to be changes. I know there are going to be changes, but I don't have the current, you know, the new list yet. So as soon as I got the new list, I sent it under second cover, separate cover, and Donna Merrill is the new list. Those are the people who we were able to make contact with, and or they requested to be reappointed. Okay, so we've not heard from Lance McCoy, or do we know that Lance McClay is not interested? Lance McCoy is the judge in Emerson. Okay and their dates conflict with our dates, so he wouldn't be able to sit. Okay. And then on the prosecutor list. Um there's a new one, and then there is also Courtney Brewbaker is not on this list. We did not receive a response from Miss Brewbaker, so we did not assume that she wanted to serve as an assistant. And Tom Campbell is set to retire from Cobb County, I think in May. And he would like to be appointed as an assistant so that when he retires from Cobb County, he can start helping us down here. Okay. And it is my understanding he won't be able to help us until he actually retires, though. Okay. And Rachel Plevick? She is currently employed with Cobb County, and their district attorney will not allow them to work in both jurisdictions at one time. Okay. So she's not able to serve with us. Okay. And Tom Campbell. Who is this? He is currently an attorney in Cobb County as a process.
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