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Mr. Hartley stated that he feels council should set the policy and it is his <br />responsibility to take care of administrative matters. Many times, what is <br />policy and what is administrative is a gray area. It is the city <br />administrator's responsibility to help council work through policy decisions by <br />keeping information and relevant issues before council so they can see where <br />the policy needs are. <br /> <br />Councilmember Reimann requested Mr. Hartley to explain the difference between a <br />city manager and mayor/council forms of government. <br /> <br />Mr. Hartley stated that the two forms are different by definition but that <br />isn't always the case when you put real people into those positions. By <br />definition, with the city manager form the manager has a certain specified <br />spending authority that is usually greater than in the mayor/council form. The <br />city manager form has a manager with exclusive hiring and firing authority with <br />the exception of department heads. The manager can enter into certain limited <br />contracts on behalf of the city; in mayor/council form, the contract size the <br />city administrator can enter into is somewhat smaller. <br /> <br />Councilmember Reimann inquired if Mr. Hartley sees Ramsey as a strong council/ <br />weak city administrator or vice versa and asked for a description of Jackson's <br />form of government. <br /> <br />Mr. Hartley replied that Ramsey would be characterized as a very strong <br />council, to the point of a caretaker administrator. Jackson's form of <br />government was the same as Ramsey's but the role of administrator was probably <br />more active in areas of contract management and not much more active in the <br />area of personnel. Mr. Hartley stated that in Ramsey he understands that he <br />has disciplinary responsibilities and can effectively recommends dismissals and <br />hiring. <br /> <br />Councilmember Cox stated that he does believe that there have been times when <br />Mr. Hartley has not worked as closely with the Personnel Committee as he should <br />have. The Personnel Committee should be consulted prior to hiring anybody -- <br />even part-time personnel. The Personnel Committee should always be kept <br />current on personnel matters any disagreements should be brought before the <br />full council. Councilmember Cox stated that basically Mr. Hartley has been <br />working under weak mayoral direction and he recognizes and compliments the <br />improvements made in the areas of State agency relationships and streamlining <br />council meetings. Councilmember Cox stated that council has not seen Mr. <br />Hartley work through a budget period and it is difficult to make a full <br />evaluation under those conditions. <br /> <br />Councilmember Schlueter stated that to this point she feels Mr. Hartley is <br />doing the job she hired him to do noting that council has not seen him work <br />through a budget yet. Councilmember Schlueter stated that she feels there will <br />be even more growth in the next six months; that Mr. Hartley is not using <br />anyone elses influence to change direction and is still his own person. <br /> <br />Councilmember Sorteberg stated that he has received very favorable comments <br />from citizens regarding the situation at City offices. Councilmember Sorteberg <br />stated that he does not visit City Hall very often during business hours, but <br />he always finds everybody very busy the few times he has been there. <br /> July 22, 1986 <br /> <br />Page 2 of 3 <br /> <br /> <br />