The council/manager form is the system of local government that combines the strong political leadership of elected officials in the form of a governing body, with strong managerial experience of an appointed local government manager. The council/manager form establishes a representative system where all power is concentrated in the elected council and where the council hires a professionally trained manager to oversee the delivery of public services.
In council/manager government, the mayor and council members are the leaders and policy makers elected to represent the community and to concentrate on policy issues that are responsive to to citizens' needs and wishes. The manager is appointed by the governing body to carry out policy and ensure that the entire community is being served. If the manager is not responsive to the governing body's wishes, the governing body has the authority to terminate the manager at any time. In that sense, a manager's responsiveness is tested daily.
The manager is hired to serve the council and the community and to bring to the local government the benefits of training and experience in administering local government projects and programs on behalf of the governing body. The manager prepares the budget for the council's consideration; recruits, hires and supervises staff; serves as the council's chief advisor; and carries out the council's policies. Council members and citizens count on the manager to provide complete and objective information, the pros and cons of alternatives, and long term consequences.
Local governments have found that overall costs actually have been reduced with competent management. Savings come in the form of reduced operating costs, increased efficiency, improved revenue collection or effective use of technology.
The above comments were taken from FAQ's about council/manager government and provided by the ICMA (International City/County Management Association). I encourage all my blog readers to visit their website http://www.icma.org/ for additional information on council/manager forms of government. I believe we can benefit by adopting this form of government and it will be a continuing topic among council members. Please let us know what you think.
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City managers in a town our size usually fail miserably. Simply because in small town politics, everyone agrees for a while, then egos kick in and things start to go awry.(CVB a case in point) After a brief period of time, the manager finds him or herself working for a myriad of people. All wanting something done, with 8 opinions on how to do it. Soon the manager can't make all folks happy and they soon rally together to go against him or her. The manager finds that they are being pushed and pulled by egos that won't let go. Remember, when something needs accomplished, and someone must give in, who amongst the folks will put their ego aside? City managers in small towns simply can't do their jobs for the fact that most council people and mayors won't let them. I know some small towns have them. Weston, Salem, both have them and look at the status of those small towns. Now where does this City manager's salary come from? You folks got elected on the premise of saving money, cutting cost etc. We have wasted enough funds with legal fees lately to pave half of the town. You folks ran for office to run this town. Just do it. Maybe instead of council folk getting paid, you could volunteer your services, then we could use that money to hire our manager. I think not.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head anonymous. Folks better wise up and listen carefully to what these newly elected folks are wanting to do to our little town. A city manager or "city administrator" ( which is nothing more than a slick way of getting around an election by the people for the change in government to a city manager form)is nothing more than control by a group of people who think they are the only ones who know what is good for Buckhannon. The citizens of Buckhannon had better get their eyes open before it is to late.
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