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How Grantville GA city government works, and how to speak at a council meeting

By The Grantville Ledger · Nov 4, 2026

Grantville is run by an elected mayor and City Council, with a professional city manager and staff handling day-to-day work. Here’s who does what, when they meet, and how you can be heard.

Who’s in charge

Mayor and City Council. The city’s website says Grantville is governed by a mayor and City Council “elected at large,” meaning every voter in the city votes for every seat. All members serve four-year terms. Together they are the governing body. They adopt ordinances (city laws) and resolutions, pass the budget and set the property tax rate.

The city lists the current members as Mayor Richard Proctor and council members Dee Latimore Berry, David Clark, Casey Evans and Joseph Breyne, who is mayor pro tem. Winners of the Nov. 3, 2026, election take office Jan. 1. See the unofficial election results.

Strong mayor, plus a city manager. The city’s website says Grantville “operates under a Strong Mayor form of Government,” combining an elected mayor and council with “a professional City Manager and Staff.” The city manager, currently Roberta (Robi) Higgins, is appointed by the mayor and council. According to the city, the manager oversees all departments and day-to-day operations, carries out council decisions, makes recommendations to council, prepares the annual budget and acts as purchasing agent.

Appointed boards. Volunteer boards advise council or make some decisions themselves. The city’s meetings calendar lists a Planning Commission, a Historic Preservation Commission, a Parks and Recreation board and a Culture and Events board. For example, the Planning Commission reviews zoning and special use requests and sends a recommendation to council, which makes the final decision. The shooting range request on council’s Nov. 16 agenda went through that process.

When and where council meets

Where: Council Chambers, Glanton Municipal Complex, 123 LaGrange Street, Grantville.
When: The city’s council page says regular meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 6:30 p.m. Work sessions, committee meetings and special called meetings are scheduled as needed, and notice is given at that time.
In practice: On the city’s 2026 meetings calendar, the second-Monday meeting is usually listed as a work session and the fourth-Monday meeting as the regular meeting. In October, for example, the work session was Oct. 12 and the regular meeting was Oct. 26. Major decisions, such as adopting the FY2027 budget, have been made at regular or special called meetings.
This month: a work session on Monday, Nov. 9, and a special called regular meeting and public hearing on Monday, Nov. 16, both at 6:30 p.m. The Nov. 16 meeting is on the third Monday instead of the fourth. The city’s calendar does not list a Nov. 23 meeting. See the Nov. 16 meeting brief and the Nov. 9 preview.

Meetings, agendas and minutes are posted on the city’s meetings page. Agendas often appear only a few days ahead, so check back. The Ledger’s civic calendar lists upcoming meetings, and you can subscribe to it or add single meetings to your own calendar.

How to speak at a meeting

Resident comments. Council’s regular meeting agendas include a time for comments. The Sept. 28, 2026, agenda, for example, listed “Resident Comments on Agenda Items” near the start of the meeting and a general “Resident Comments” period just before adjournment.

Getting on the agenda. Under the council’s meeting rules (Sec. 2-24 of the city code, as amended by Ordinance No. 2023-12), anyone who wants to address council outside the public comment section must ask the city to be placed on the agenda by noon on the Tuesday before a Monday meeting. Those speakers are scheduled before council takes up old or new business. The same rules say no one may enter into discussion with council, directly or through a council member, without the mayor’s permission.

Public hearings. Some items, such as zoning changes, special use permits and the budget, get a formal public hearing where anyone can comment on that item. The city posts a notice beforehand. For the Nov. 16 hearing, the notice says the application and the Planning Commission’s recommendation are on file for public review in the City Clerk’s office.

What we couldn’t confirm. The Ledger did not find posted rules on time limits for speakers, whether you need to sign in at the meeting, or how to submit written comments. Call the City Clerk at City Hall, 770-583-2289, before the meeting to ask about sign-up and time limits.

Tips

Find the agenda first on the city’s meetings page, and see whether your issue is already on it.
Keep it short and specific. Say your name, whether you live in Grantville, and what you’re asking council to do.
Contact your council members. Members’ city email addresses are listed on the City Council page.
Read the record. Minutes are posted on the meetings page after council approves them.

Disclosure: Evita A-Esteves, the owner and publisher of The Grantville Ledger, chairs the city's Historic Preservation Commission and was a candidate for City Council Post 1 in the Nov. 3, 2026, election.

Tags: Grantville GA City Council Explainer

Sources

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