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Friday, May 2, 2008

City Manager or “Strong” Mayor?

Some people in Toledo, Ohio are re-visiting the size and composition of Toledo City Council – AGAIN!
Over the years, Toledoans have changed the number of members on city council and have also changed the manner in which those members have been elected. The numbers of persons on Toledo City Council have varied with the size of council being small, medium, or large. Toledo City Council members have been elected on an at-large basis, on a district basis, and by a combination thereof. Toledoans have also switched back and forth between weak and strong mayors, with mayors being selected by city council from amongst its members and by mayors being directly elected by the voters.
If it isn’t enough to again change the size of city council and the manner in which it is composed, some Toledoans are also clamoring for a switch in the form of municipal government – AGAIN!
Throughout the years, the City of Toledo has gone through several changes in its form of government. The city has gone from being headed by a strong mayor as the CEO to a “professional” city manager as the CEO and then returned to a strong mayor.
So, why are folks talking about returning once again to the city manager form of government? Perhaps there may be a clue in the previous Roland Hansen Commentary entitled Elect a Competent Mayor for Toledo, Ohio. Additionally, some of the people advocating a council-manager form of government assert that having a professional public manager serving as the CEO would eliminate the politics in city operations.
Okay, if I understand this correctly, some people believe that getting rid of the strong mayor form of government and replacing it with a council/manager form of government will result in de-politicizing municipal operations with a professional public manager as the city’s CEO that is more competent than a strong mayor. I find that perspective somewhat “odd” in several ways even though I have a Master of Public Administration with a specialization in general public management.
I have lived through several of the changes in the form of government of the City of Toledo and have experienced the actions and the effects of those different forms of government. Under the previous council-manager form of government, the mayor would appoint the city manager, however the appointment required the approval. Consequently, the mayor would make the appointment of an “acceptable” manager in such a manner as to obtain the required approval of a majority of council. That’s politics. Also, under the previous council-manager government, the mayor and/or council would fault the city manager when things were not to the liking of the citizens, and the city manager would fault the council and/or mayor. That’s politics. The city manager would appoint persons to management and non-management positions. It was not unusual for the city manager to take the thoughts of council members and of the mayor into consideration when making those appointments, some of which went to friends and/or relatives of the mayor or council members. That’s politics.
Age, citizenship, and residency are the only qualifications to be Mayor of the City of Toledo. Other than being a citizen of the United States and a resident of the City of Toledo who is of voting age, there are no other eligibility requirements to be Toledo Mayor. Many, if not all, of the people critical of the “strong” mayor form of municipal government think there should be more qualifications to be the city’s chief executive officer which is why they favor a city manager over a strong mayor.
Regardless, the fact remains that Toledo does have a strong mayor form of government at present. I understand why people want a competent person to be Mayor of Toledo. I understand why people desire a Mayor who is a good administrator, a good manager, a good CEO, etc., etc. I understand why people want the Mayor of the City of Toledo to have the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to be effective in the position. I understand why people may think the Mayor should have a certain level of education and experience.
What I do not understand is why those very same people are not actively calling for a change in the form or system of government we have at either the state or national level.
To be Governor of Ohio, one needs to be of age, be a citizen, and be a resident of the State of Ohio. That’s all; there are no other qualifications. I have not heard of any groundswell of support for a different form or system of state government in which the CEO of the State of Ohio would be an appointive professional public administrator.
To be President of the United States of America, a person must be at least 35 years of age, be a natural born citizen of the United States, and have been a resident for at least 14 years. That’s it, nothing more. Age, citizenship, and residency are the only qualifications to be President, the most responsible position in the world. There are no requirements in regards to education, experience, knowledge, skills, or abilities. Why are the proponents of a city manager form of municipal government not calling for a change in the Constitution of the United States of America that would require minimum qualifications of education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the chief executive of the United States of America?

9 comments:

Judy said...

I never thought about minimum qualifications for the positions you mentioned, interesting commentary!

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

Roland,

"Why are the proponents of a city manager form of municipal government not calling for a change in the Constitution of the United States of America that would require minimum qualifications of education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the chief executive of the United States of America?"

That sir, is a very interesting question ;-)

My quick 2 cents worth:

Expecting a political animal to also be competent and qualified for the office which they seek, to me, seems to be an uncommon set of qualifications in that they are, in many ways, contradictory.

As for locally though, I think that breaking the cycle of predominantly one party rule would go a very long way towards making things better in Toledo; probably more so than changing the form of government.

City Manager vs. Strong Mayor?

Based on my observations, we haven't had any good recent examples of decent strong mayors to judge fairly.

I do remember some of the City managers; although I don't remember most of their names.

Most, as I recall, were fairly free of political leanings and were, for the most part apolitical, thoughtful and level headed, unlike the politicians they worked with.

Beware the current Charter Review Committee; they are rife with political partisanship which means that somebody is wrangling for even more political leverage. . .

Unknown said...

The ironic factor in the two men we have had as strong mayors is they are also the ones who wrote the change to switch to the strong mayor form of government.

It can work, however, part of our problem is who we have selected. Under the City Manager form of government a less capable City Manager is much more easily fired than is currently possible under the strong Mayor form of government. Then add to the current city council some of which seem to believe the strong mayor form of government has reduced their power. It hasn't...they just seem to be afraid to use it.

Timothy W Higgins said...

Roland,

What I find even more amusing and disconcerting is that the practices of evil corporations could be considered as an improvement in government. I am shocked and dismayed that the compassionate people of Toledo might consider some Citizen Kane-like character to lead the city.

I am likewise concerned using that using the concept of a CEO for Toledo might lead to future budgets problems, as we all know that CEO's always receive exhorbitant compensation packages.

Roland Hansen said...

Some people have suggested eliminating municipal and other local levels of government and replacing them with regional operational and administrative offices of state government. Effectively, under such a proposal, all local ordinances, etc. would cease to exist and there would only be state-wide laws, etc.

Timothy W Higgins said...

I would be all for reducing the amount or the number of levels of government, one of the areas of life where less is truly more. The implication here however, is that people at a state level are smarter or more able to govern than those at the local level.

Really?

Can you say Marc Dann and smoking bans?

Roland Hansen said...

Tim:
Marc Dann? Smoking bans?
Can you say cigar?
Oh, by the way, how far is Clinton, Ohio from Toledo?

Hooda Thunkit:
Maybe the Chair of the Coomission may throw his hat into the fray. Isn't the Chair still John Irish?

Lisa Renee:
There are way too many egos involved in Toledo politics. So many elected officials seem to say one thing and practice another. They say they represent the people and listen to the people. However, when push comes to shove, the people are left behind while all the egos come forth with their own agendas and political posturing.

As an aside:
Why do all of us citizens expect anything more of our elected officials than we expect of ourselves? Should we elect persons who are not representative of the general public?
What is the real role of government?
A strong mayor needs to be responsive and accountable to the people who vote in order to be elected and to remain in office. Look what happened to Jack Ford. To whom is a city manager really responsible?

jerrid said...

OK I live in Conneaut Ohio and we go by the Council Manager form of GOV. The ppl vote in the council and the council votes in the Manager. To be council manager the person has to have at least 4 year degree in BS and have at least 5 exp. We have been going by the Council Manager form of Gov senc 1992. The ppl we get with the EDU Come in Stell take froud then they leave town. One guy we had the state of Ohio told us to get rid of him. I dont like the idea that the council has power over that city manager you have to many ppl on the council trying to play boss. And PPl on the Council cant be part of any Party, our gov city state and FED- was set up to be ran of more then one party thars the time for a DEM, REP or IND. The PPL just need to choic. All I'm trying to say I think the city I live in was ran better by a Mayor.

jerrid said...

OK sorry I have to add a little more. If you like to go to a council meeting that looks like a war sone came to a conneaut city Council meeting we have had some bad fights ans I'm lalking blood spilling. One guy on the council had the nerv to yell at the voters telling us that he dosnt give a shit what the voters think. Then you have voters yelling back. The City has been devited for a # of years. We have ppl on the Council that bands MTV out of the city yes that wright MTV band LOL only Conneaut. The younger GEN thats 50 and under who have been trying to save the city from state take over. If you like to see a city that rebuiling it's self and doing it some how go to Erie PA. The Mayor thay had a few years ago allmost ran the city in the ground the state Of PA allmost took over. And would like to add most bigger city's or ran by a WEAK MAYOR not a strong Mayor Having a weak mayor gives the council a little more power.