Agenda - Charter Commission - 04/21/2005

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Power to receive the annual budget prepared by the manager and to present that budget, with comments and suggestions, 'to the council for their consideration. Power to make an annual report to the council and the citizens on the state of the community. Power to initiate the hiring and/or involuntary termination of the person serving as manager. The manager remains the chief executive officer with clear authority to: Hire and terminate all senior officers and staff. Purchase all goods, supplies, equipment and services required by the government. Prepare an annual budget and financial plan for consideration by the council. Administer and enforce all contracts involving the local government. Enforce all laws adopted by the cotmcil. Communities With a delegation of authority to an appointed manager and a strongly empowered mayor might be seen as working under a mayor-council-manager form. Under this scenario, the elected leadership comes "fi.om the people" via tl~e election process. The citizens oversee the operations of the government tbxough an open and transparent system that guarantees that it will continue to be "by the people." Day-to-day management of the government is directed by an experienced professional manager who is selected by the elected officials and who facilitates the government by operating "for the people" who live in the community and who will live there in the future. Here are the values these managers add to the system of governance for the communities they serve: Establishment of policy and service delivery strategies on a basis of need rather than of demand. An emphasis on the long-term interests of the community as a whole. Promotion of equity and fairness. Rec%mzition of the interconnection among policies. Advancement of broad and inclusive citizens' participation. For nearly 90 years, the council-manager form has successfully adapted to American community needs. Cities and counties are not static and the changes taldng place in them involve the core of our values. Professional managers and the council-manager form, however, continue to evolve so that today, as in the early 20th century, this system offers government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In short, council-manager government is a system of reform that will continue to serve communities well in the 21st century. i .H, vpertexts in American Studies. "Democracy in America: Ale,ds de Tocqueville;" Web site tbund at http:// www.:croads, virginia.edu Reprinted fi'om the August 2000 edition of PM Magazine. -48-