FAIRHOPE — The Fairhope Governmental Structure Committee held its first meeting Monday evening to publically introduce its membership and outline the group’s organizational plans.

The six-member committee will spend the next two months researching the following areas with the goal of presenting a final report to the City Council in early October. The council chartered the effort by approving a chairman at its July 23 meeting,

Committee Chairman Chuck Zunk described the mayor’s position as the city’s “executive branch, responsible for the day-to-day operation.” The City Council, he said was the “fiduciary and legislative branch,” authorizing disbursement of funds and enacting governing laws for the municipality.

Zunk said the committee would not be deciding any “political” issues. “We will be looking at the (organizational) structure we have to see if it is a proper management form and what are possible alternatives.”

If any action is taken as a result of their work, it will be taken by the City Council. One issue that was brought up at the July council meeting was whether the mayoral and utilities superintendent functions should be separated.

The committee members said they will gather data from a variety of sources, including city ordinances, the Alabama Code, city leaders and departments, other municipalities and organizations around the state as well as Fairhope residents.

The topics the committee will research are:

•Structure between the city utility company and city government operations;

•Oversight of the city utility company;

•Job description, job-holder qualifications and pay range for head of the utility company;

•Part-time vs. full-time mayor job description and pay range for mayor;

•Management structure of city government operations;

•Lines of authority;

•Reporting and information flow between city government operations and City Council: and

•Strategic (long-term) planning process.

The committee members are:

•Chuck Zunk, chairman, a retired businessman, who served as the CEO of U.S. Playing Card Co., a business consultant and is now chairman of the Fairhope Airport Authority.

•Harvey Joanning is a retired Iowa State faculty member. He now serves on the board of Coast Smart and as president of Citizens for Responsible Government. Joanning said his background was in psychology and his focus would be on how information is passed between the various city government groups. He said he would also be preparing the narrative report for the committee.

•Ed Lawrence came to Fairhope from Chicago. He holds a masters degree in urban economics. He is secretary of the Citizens for Responsible Government.

•Rod Platt has lived on the Eastern Shore for 10 years. He is owner of Red Drum Marketing and Consulting. He serves on the Alabama Coastal Foundation. Platt said he would be looking at the city’s ability to market its revenue builders and how to increase customers.

•Dennis Frodsham is a real estate broker for Coldwell Banker Reehl. He served on the Fairhope Comprehensive Plan steering committee. Frodsham said he would be involved in long-term strategic planning and finding out what are the appropriate criteria from the citizens’ point of view. “What’s important to you?” he said.

•Ron Muschel is a retired financial executive, having worked for 25 years with St. Regis and Champion paper companies. Although he lives in Fairhope, he is chairman of the Mobile SCORE chapter and raises pine trees in Mobile County. Muschel said to assist in reporting and information flow, his interest was in incorporating key performance indicators to help analyze how the “company is working.” He named two such indicators as debt service ratio and liquidity ratio.

The schedule of planned meetings (all at the James P. Nix Center on Tuesdays at 7 p.m.) is as follows:

•Aug. 21 — This will be a listening session for the committee when they will receive input from the public on the issues. “We will listen to the public, only asking clarifying questions if needed,” Zunk said.

•Aug. 28 — The committee will review its progress on their assigned tasks and review the public input. Additional tasks may be assigned at that time.

•Sept. 18 — The committee will discuss with the public the key points of what they have discovered “and in general see how we are thinking at that point,” Zunk said. Attendees will be given an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the session about what the committee has presented that evening.

•Sept. 25 — The committee will establish the key points they plan to present to the City Council. They will report on their methodology and assign tasks to get the report written, at least the first draft.

•Oct. 2 — The committee will express their opinions on the final draft of their report and indicate whether or not they intend to support the report.

Residents interested in following the development of this project are encouraged to attend the meetings and to visit the city Web site for updates. Lawrence said they would also place materials as they were developed in the public library that residents could read, but not check out.

Anyone who would like to submit comments or suggestions in advance are asked to submit them in writing to: Chuck Zunk, 59 White Ave., Fairhope, AL 36532; or by e-mail at: Z4bicycle@aol.com.