Agenda - Charter Commission - 08/15/2002 - Joint with CC

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION PAGE 5 The chief functions of .the council in a strong mayor-council plan are: to legislate and set policies; to pass budgets and bond issues; and to review mayoral and administrative actions. All c~f these features can vary under city charter provisions. Council-manager The council-manger form can be used by both statutory and home rule charte~ cities. In Minnesota 16 statutory cities operate under optional Plan B which is the council-manager form of government. Only statutory cities with a population greater than I000 may adopt plan B. Of the charter cities, 30 have adopted the council-manager form of government. The council-manager farm is_r~robablv.the ~fast~e.st gr,9.H~g_~9_rm of local_government in the United States. Mo_re m_an one-_ti:nra of cities wi~., ,, .p_opulat, un Over 500t} have The basic features of the council manager plan are as follows: the citizens elect a council; the council then selects a chief executive, known as the city manager. The manager is responsible to the council for all administrative duties, including hiring and fn'ing of employees, supervision of .all administrative departments, and the preparation and enforcement of the budget. The manager has indefinite tenure and is subject to removal by the council. Under the council-manager form, the council has policy making and legislative authority, but administration of the government is the city manager's responsibility. The manager is directly responsible to the council. A city manager has indefinite tenure and is subject to removal by the council. The manager appoints department heads, usually without council approval, although a charter may change this conventional format. Commission The commission form of organization is available only to home ~:ule charter cities but is no longer used by any city in Minnesota. The city of Hutckinson was the last city in Minnesota to have a commission form of government. Hutchinson abandoned that form in 1987. Under the commission form, each of the elected councilmembers is responsible for a particular administrative department so that, in addition to duties as a legislative official, the council member is also a department head. The mayor, with minor exceptions, has the same powers and duties as councilmembers. The council, as a whole, is responsible for administrative coordination and for the formation of legislative policy. -67-