The Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously to make changes to the city’s 105-year-old charter Tuesday.

“That’s probably the most progressive policy change in the history of this city,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “It brought the charter into the 21st century.”

Flaggs started the discussion on the charter Tuesday by saying it was not a change in form of government by canceling its function or reducing any authority, but instead it was meant as a clarification of responsibilities to hold people accountable.

The changes were threefold for him. One, it did away with obsolete regulations like horse carriage speed and funding of a city hospital. Two, it allows the board to work on economic development through job creation. According to the charter, Flaggs said the board was not able to do that before.

“The charter was so outdated you couldn’t even work on jobs because you didn’t have the authority to do economic development. They had given their authority to the port commission and to others,” Flaggs said.

Three, it specifically lays out the duties of the mayor and aldermen, and it also makes the division heads accountable to an individual member of the board.

“It simply says that whoever comes in will have to come together within 30 days and adopt a resolution to say who is going to be over what department. It gives you some structure. Whoever (mayor or aldermen) is over the department, will have the authority to appoint the person over the department — the division head,” Flaggs said.

He also said all division heads appointed after July will have to live in Vicksburg or will be given 185 days to move to Vicksburg, while prior division heads will be grandfathered into the system and can maintain their residence outside of the city.

Flaggs said many people didn’t know the provisions being adjusted in the charter weren’t already in place.

“The strange thing is how many people who have served didn’t know there is no such thing as a police commission in the charter. There have been assumptions of a police commission. This clarifies that, and it doesn’t guarantee the mayor will be over the police department. If the north ward or south ward alderman want to be over the police department, they have to agree to a resolution,” Flaggs said.

South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson said when changes were first proposed to the charter in 2015, he didn’t agree with it because he didn’t think every alderman and every mayor should be over the same departments permanently.

Because this charter change lets the mayor and aldermen decide who is over what department, he feels it is better option.

“I thought that each administration should have the latitude to govern themselves and decide on its own the division it would govern,” Thompson said. “I don’t have a problem coming in and deciding. This won’t have a detrimental effect on any other administration. They can decided to operate the way its already been done.”

He said having structure is important so all three board members don’t step over one another. Thompson also wants to see the city grow through focusing on job creation.

“Really what’s being added is a process,” Thompson said. “I think it will benefit the city to have some positive structure.”

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said his main concern when discussing the change of the charter was that there would not be enough checks and balances in place.

After discussion and compromise, he said he approves of the revision in its current state.

“If we can vote on this in the manner that it is written in this resolution now, I have no problem with it because I think it would work better for all of us,” Mayfield said. “I thank you (Flaggs) for going back to the drawing board with us…I think it’s going to work.”

Flaggs said the charter will go to the governor and the attorney general to make sure it is legal before going to the secretary of state’s office and back to the city to be adopted. The changes are to go into effect after the election in July.