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The Harlander · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 407

So where do we go from here?
We are about to hire a new City Manager. Hoop da la!! All of our problems solved. Not quite. Has the Council or Mayor been doing their homework? I think not. They are stuck in the old system. The Mayor runs the Administrative Departments as well as the Boards and Commissions. Not so with a Council Manager form of government. The Manager wants a workable relationship with the B&Cs but from what I heard from the candidates, those B&Cs are basically a political extension of Council. Except for appointments to the B&Cs, forget the Mayor. They belong to Council. Everyone of the City Manager candidates wanted a workable relationship with the B&Cs and that is a Charter Mandate found in 11.1 (2) of the City Charter which says:
The ordinance establishing any board or commission shall prescribe its powers and duties; shall specify the board or commission’s duty to report to the City Council or to the City Manager, as appropriate; and shall identify the department head who will act as the board or commission’s liaison pursuant to Section 9.2(12).
The City Manager candidates, each and everyone, expressed to me that they felt the B&Cs belonged under the purview of the City Council. A body politic if you will.
Has the Council put in place the foundation for a Council /Manager form of government? I don't believe theCouncil nor the Mayor fully understand the Transitional Provisions of the Charter. Old habits are hard to break. One of the weaknesses of the Charter Commission was in not wanting to make the hard decision and passing the responsibility of Government structure on to Council to decide by Ordinance. That placed a huge burden on Council and weakened the Charter. Does this mean we have a broken Charter before we have even begun? No, it only means that our elected official need to complete the job. It is a task that will probably fall upon the shoulders of those we elect next November and the quality of Manager this Council appoints. We do live in interesting times.

Guest · Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 11:23 am Post subject: Re: The End Game

let's do some homework · Guest

Guest · Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 10:34 am Post subject:

Well, then please help me find:

the resolution that was presented to the public that outlinesa plan for the transition of powers currently possessed by the Mayor and Council.

a timeline for the transition of powers from the Mayor and Council to the City Manager, including provisions for the transfer of the Council President’s powers to the Mayor

and provisions for phasing out and eventually abolishing the City’s Personnel Board as the City Manager takes over those personnel duties.