Mayor seeks order in Marietta Council

— Some recent Marietta City Council meetings have been less than orderly.

In January, Councilman Andy Morris and Grif Chalfant shouted “S*** you!” to each other, before Morris stormed out of the room following a dispute over the scheduling of a committee meeting date.

In June, Councilman Reggie Copeland called the police on Morris after a meeting, claiming Morris got in his face and yelled at him in a threatening manner. Morris denied the charges, and a Cobb Superior Court Judge dismissed the case.

Last month’s meeting descended into accusations of racism and the airing of private grudges over a proposed change to the city’s ethics code that could expose Copeland to a public reprimand over his alleged behavior at a city event.

At Monday night’s agenda work session, the council discussed ways to stave off chaos in the council chamber.

One is the appointment of Councilwoman Cheryl Richardson as parliamentarian for council and committee meetings. In that role, she would be responsible for maintaining parliamentary procedure, reminding her colleagues who has the floor and whether an item can be discussed.

That measure was proposed by Mayor Steve Tumlin, and Richardson is expected to be officially approved at Wednesday’s meeting of the full council.

At Monday’s work session, Richardson brought her copy of Robert’s Rules of Order, the most popular book of parliamentary procedure in the country, used by groups ranging from local governments to churches, businesses and nonprofits.