Temple’s proposed new charter received the unanimous support of the City Council it needed Tuesday to be submitted to the Georgia General Assembly for passage.

With no discussion — only a simple call for a vote — the measure that had alluded the city’s elected officials in five previous years was approved. It will now be given to local legislators and turned into a bill before being voted on by the two houses of the General Assembly.

While traditionally local legislation is swiftly approved by both the House and Senate, the city’s proposed charter received passage by the House in 2005 but was stalled in the Senate by Sen. Bill Hamrick, R-Carrollton, due to imminent domain issues that were being debated at that time on the state level. Hamrick said at the time he didn’t want a charter to pass that may have had sections superseded by state law.

Subsequent attempts to submit a charter to legislators failed for four straight years after the proposal failed to reach the unanimous support required by the local legislative delegation before they will submit local legislation for consideration by the General Assembly. Former Councilman Larry Estvanko was the only dissenting vote each of those years.

“I’m so glad it finally passed,” said Councilman William Simmons, who is the only remaining councilman from the early debates of the charter six years ago. “The last election is the reason this passed because we had one person who always voted against it. I think this is the best thing, the fairest thing for the City of Temple.”

Councilwoman Terron Bivins, who defeated Estvanko in November, ironically made the motion to approve the proposed charter Tuesday.

“I think it’s good for the city,” Bivins said. “I think maybe it will put a little more trust back into the citizens that one person is not running the city. They elected us all and I think we should all have input. That’s what this charter does.”

The proposed charter would change the city’s government from one that gives the mayor the power to make most of the decisions that affect the day-to-day operations of the city to one that allows the council to vote on many of those issues. The charter would also allow for a city administrator to carry out the decisions of the mayor and council.

Though much of his power would be taken away, Mayor Rick Ford has always voiced staunch support for a new charter that would more evenly distribute oversight of the city’s affairs.

“We’ve worked hard and the council was unanimous in their support,” Ford said. “I’m assuming it will go through because all they have asked us to do is hold public hearings, which we have done every year, and asked us to be unanimous, which we have not been until this year. So I look for it to be passed and go through, and I think it’s good for the citizens of Temple.”

Councilman Jay Mann, who also took office in January, said he was also excited about the equal distribution of power the new charter would bring to the city’s government, especially taking away the mayor’s current ability to be the one solely in charge of hiring and firing personnel.

“At the end of the day we’ve got to establish some longevity with the core people who operate the city on a day-to-day basis and take personalities out of the mix so that we’re not turning people over every four years,” he said.