Council-manager government
The
council-manager government is one of two main variations of
representative municipal government in the
United States. This system of government is used in the majority of
American cities with populations over 12,000. (for contrast, see
Mayor-Council government).
In the council-manager form of government, an elected city council (typically between 5 and 11 people) is responsible for making policy, passing ordinances, voting appropriations, and having overall supervisory authority in the city government. In such a government, the
mayor (or equivalent
executive) will perform strictly ceremonial duties or will act as a member and presiding officer of the council.
The council will hire a
city manager or administrator who will be responsible for supervising government operations and implementing the policies adopted by the council. The manager serves the council, usually with a contract that specifies duties and responsibilities. Ideally, the manager is apolitical, but this is often difficult.
Municipal governments are usually administratively divided into several departments, depending on the size of the city. Though cities differ in the division of responsibility, the typical arrangement is to have the following departments handle the following roles:#
Urban planning and
zoning: #
Public Works: construction and maintenance of all city-owned or operated assets, including the water supply system,
sewer, streets, snow removal, street signs, vehicles, buildings, land, etc. #Parks and Recreation: (construction and maintenance of) city parks, common areas, parkways, publicly owned lands, etc. Also, operation of various recreation programs and facilities.#
Police#
Fire#
Emergency Medical Service#
Emergency Management#
Accounting /
Finance: collects taxes owed to the city.#
Human Resources: incorporates human resources department for city workers, #Legal -
Risk Management: handles all legal matters including writing municipal bonds, verifying the city is in compliance with state and federal mandates, responding to citizen lawsuits such as lawsuits allegedly stemming from city actions or inactions. Typical legal actions include someone who fell on city-owned sidewalks suing the city for
negligence, or a city
annexing land.#Transportation (varies widely): If the city has a municipal bus or light rail service, this function may be its own department or it may be folded into the another of the above departments.#
Information technology department: supports computer systems used by city employees. May be also responsible for a city website, phones and other systems.
The council-manager system can be seen to place all power into the hands of the
legislative branch. However, a city manager can be seen as a similar role to that of corporate CEO in providing professional management to an organization. Council-manager government is much like a publicly traded corporation. In a
corporation, the board of directors appoints a CEO, makes major decisions and wields representative power on behalf of shareholders. Likewise in council-manager government, the city council appoints a city manager, makes major decisions, and wields representative power on behalf of the citizens.
The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) (see http://icma.org ) is a professional organization for city managers.It was founded in 1914, and has more than 8000 members worldwide.
In
New England, where municipal government is often invested in an incorporated
town, the city manager may be called town manager, and the council can often be referred to its traditional name of
Board of Selectmen.
This form of government was first adopted by
Staunton, Virginia in
1908;
Dayton, Ohio became the first major city to use the system in
1913.
See also:
mayor-council government,
City Commission government,
political scienceManaging Urban America --
David R. Morgan &
Robert E. England (
1999)
*
CityMayors feature on US council managers
