Saluda has a city manager for the first time in its history.

The Saluda Board of Commissioners met Monday, Nov. 9 and approved by a 3-2 vote to change its form of government to a manager form and hired former city administrator Jonathan Cannon as its manager.

Cannon was sworn into his new position on Tuesday afternoon, when the board recessed its meeting from Monday night.

The vote was a tie with mayor Fred Baisden breaking the tie in favor of changing the form of government and hiring Cannon as manager. Commissioners Lynn Cass and Carolyn Ashburn voted in favor of the change to a manager form and commissioners Leon Morgan and Mark Oxtoby voted against the change.

Baisden said in introducing the agenda item that he’d spent some time talking to the city attorney and finance officer regarding the difference between an administrator and a manager and the basic difference is a manager has the ability to hire and fire employees.

The manager is responsible for meeting the budget, Baisden said, and cannot do anything outside the guidelines of the budget without approval of the board.

“You’re giving that person the responsibility of running your business,” Baisden said. “He still reports to the board and the board still has the responsibility because you hire and fire the manager.”

City attorney Bailey Nager said the number one difference between an administrator and a manager truly is he hires and fires. Nager said if he’s a smart manger, he’s going to be in touch with board members about who he hires and fires. Nager said the board can decide how active they want to be in city business. Currently, each Saluda commissioner oversees every department, including police and fire, city buildings, water and sewer and streets, parks and the cemetery.

Saluda can still hold those responsibilities if they so choose and can give Cannon a discretionary amount of funding that he is allowed to spend outside of the budget without approval from the board.

Cass said the board has many times sat through meetings trying to hire a maintenance worker and commissioners really don’t need to do that.

“I think we have lots of trust in Jon to do those things,” said Cass. “Jon has certainly shown professionalism beyond what we’ve experienced before and I think he can handle being the manager.”

Ashburn said during the public hearing regarding changing Saluda’s form of government, employees said they would prefer having one boss rather than four or five and she certainly agrees it would be less confusing.

Baisden read the statutes and said they basically say a city manager takes the politics out of doing things.

“He doesn’t have to get permission from the board to do things as long as they are in the budget,” Baisden said.

Oxtoby said he doesn’t understand the push to change.

Morgan said he thinks the way Saluda is working now is working well and he doesn’t see the need to change and it’s nothing against Cannon.

“I’m not opposed to it,” Oxtoby said, “I just think Jon needs more time.”

Cass said she thinks the change is going to put Saluda at a more professional level and as Baisden said, “it takes the politics out of it. And the employees want it.”

Polk’s other municipalities of Columbus and Tryon both have manager forms of government. The Town of Columbus formerly had an administrator but around 2005 switched to a manager form during the employment of then administrator and manager Glenn Rhodes.

The City of Landrum is the only area local government that has a city administrator instead of a manager.

Cannon has been working with Saluda since April 2014 when he began part-time as the city’s zoning administrator. After the resignation of city administrator Erny Williams, who had been the administrator for 12 years, Saluda hired Cannon as its full-time city administrator and zoning administrator in July. He began full-time employment in August.