Keith Strigaro
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05/17/2013
Business owners pay close attention to how well a community and its local government are managed. Taxes, fees, and bond ratings are just some of the leading indicators business owners look at when determining how well a community is managed, and deciding whether to open a new business or expand their current facilities in a particular city. Some of the reasons professionally-managed communities are very attractive to business owners include: Consistency Businesses want consistency more than anything. Businesses choose communities that have stable leadership, established decision-making processes, and long-range planning. Elected officials come and go, serving only...
Keith Strigaro
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04/25/2013
Acting like the chief executive officer of a large company, professional city, county, and town managers oversee local government operations so public services are there when we need them. Professional local government managers: Manage public funds, ensuring that programs and projects are cost effective and efficient; balance budgets; and secure the financial health of our communities. Coordinate and evaluate delivery of public services and plan for future needs. Supervise and invest in city staff and department heads; setting standards of excellence; accountability, and ethical behavior. Managers are vital leaders within local government and they are the...
Orathai Kokpol
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04/24/2013
On April 22, Annah and I officially got into the Town Hall of Basalt, where we will spend the two weeks learning. We had a meeting with Susan Philp, the Director of Planning Department. Town of Basalt has a long history and has grown from a railway station town. Old style buildings are located in downtown. I also learned that this town was evolved from a statutory form to a home rule municipality. Residents of Basalt votes for their form of government which is the Mayor/Council and town manager form. Thailand is different. Local government are under the national local...
Keith Strigaro
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03/28/2013
Professional local government managers are vital partners for elected officials, such as mayors and city council members. Managers oversee the day-to-day operations of the local government, procure products and services, supervise department heads, and develop the budget. This allows mayors and council members to focus on what they were elected to do—set policy and craft a vision for the community. Managers then translate that policy and those campaign promises into real results. Appointed by the governing body, managers are nonpartisan and apolitical public servants who bring experience, sound financial stewardship, and proven management practices to every decision made within...
Gabriel Brehm
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03/14/2013
The Council-Manager Form of Government was first adopted in 1908 in Staunton, Virginia. Since then, the form has spread to over 3,500 cities and over 800 counties. What makes the form so powerful is the focus it puts on a central figure responsible for administrating the city but without political pressures. Managers are able to focus on the profession for years and become experts at keeping communities functioning. Managers are able to create problem-solving environments which emphasize teamwork and reduce conflict. Managers make tomorrow happen . Studies of Council-Manager cities have shown a variety of...
Catherine Smith
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02/28/2013
Welcome to the first posting of the Life, Well Run blog! There’s a perfect storm brewing for professional local government management. Today, few people recognize the critical role local government managers play in shaping a community. Perhaps, because managers are so good at what they do and shun the spotlight, some elected officials may not fully appreciate their value, and many in the public are unaware the job even exists. These factors, combined with changing demographics— the baby boomer managers who were inspired to public service by President John F. Kennedy have begun to retire—present...
Gabriel Brehm
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10/15/2012
Welcome back from the conference, attendees! In your absence we have some great new things on the Knowledge Network! A few blogs have been updated. The Center for Management Strategies wants to thank you for attending our conference. Governmental Affairs and Public Policy's blog has some parting information for you, a nd we have some closing remarks on the 2012 Conference Blog . The ICMA Center for Center for Sustainable Communities is back to business as usual, and they have some great information on using youth as...
Rick Aronhalt
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10/04/2012
Need help with a complex personality on your city council? Want to learn how to build strong working relationships so that you can be as effective as possible? Join ICMA’s Kevin Duggan and Mike Conduff on November 15 at 1 pm ET in a web conference to give you helpful hints and best practices for building trust and creating a mutually supportive working relationship with your city council or governing board. You will learn: - Top 10 suggestions for building relationships with your council/governing board - How to navigate changes in council - Tips for addressing most common council-manager issues
Peter Dunn
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04/23/2012
In case you missed it, here’s a quick look at some of the highlights from the Knowledge Network last week. There are plenty of great questions that are still looking for answers, so jump right in if you have any insight to share! New Questions Should a city annex property with failing infrastructure ? Is it time to get rid of the manual punch clock ? How should a recent MPA grad get started in the public sector ? Is there federal money available for counties generating wind...
Alexandra Iannolo
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07/18/2011
Since it was first created a century ago, the council-manager form of government has become the most popular structure of local government in the United States. While many new municipalities have been incorporated with managers from their beginnings, many cities and counties across the country have made a deliberate change from strong-mayor to council-manager. Appointing a non-partisan professional manager with the authority to carry out the policies set by the elected body has advantages for many communities, and several have recently made the switch. Individual states determine the specific allowances for municipal forms of government and the process for changing...
Kevin Carter
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03/21/2011
Final Findings Looking at the socioeconomic data in the my blog post, one can find a correlation between the following characteristics and council-manager governments: smaller percentage of black persons fewer ethnically owned minority firms higher median household income and household value lower poverty rate greater number of foreign born residents larger percentage of Hispanic/Latino persons faster rate of population growth larger the young population in a city. However, these findings are based on median averages and are not necessarily statistically significant....
Kevin Carter
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03/07/2011
Question of Research The primary question I hope to answer is: What socioeconomic characteristics increase the likelihood that council-manager form of government governs a city? Essentially, do the stereotypes and generalizations that I examined earlier regarding council-manager form of government hold true today? Using the 100 largest cities by population in the United States as my data set, I identify differences between those cities with council-manager forms of government and those cities with mayor-council. Of the 100 cities in my data set, 48 use the council-manager form of government, 49...
Kevin Carter
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03/02/2011
Overview of Theory In this section, I outline the prevailing theories and generalizations regarding which and how different city characteristics influence the adoption of council-manager form of government. These stereotypes of council-manager form of government (e.g. the claim that council-manager form of government is best suited for small-mid sized cities) may have been more applicable in the early years of the reform movement but are still found in today’s literature. Each of the generalizations is essentially a testable hypothesis, of which, unfortunately, few tests exist. Race: It is impossible to examine...
Kevin Carter
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02/07/2011
Previous Academic Work There is an abundance of scholarly work on the topic of professional management in cities. The majority of literature available on the council-manager form of government examines either its rise as a product of the reform movement in the United States or its advantages versus disadvantages as contrasted with the mayor-council form of government. The two areas of focus are linked by the fact that reformers of the late 19th and early 20th century promoted the creation of a city manager as a tool to improve the service of local...
Kevin Carter
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01/31/2011
This blog post is part one in a five part series. Each post is an abridged section taken from Kevin Carter’s practicum paper for Georgetown University entitled “Beyond Stereotypes: Socioeconomic Characteristics of Modern Council-Manager Cities.” The purpose of this blog is to encourage study into “the profession’s” past and start a dialog between theory and practice – academics and managers.
The original paper (and by extension, this blog) examines the prevailing stereotypes surrounding the council-manager form of government, provides a literature review on the political development of those stereotypes, and then tests socioeconomic differences between the two forms of government through regression analysis.
Sources can be found in the original document.
Abigail Lundy
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10/16/2010
NCMA President Phil Green and ICMA Executive Director Bob O'Neill At this afternoon’s State Officers’ Roundtable, Phil Green, President of the Nebraska City/County Management Association , presented ICMA Executive Director Bob O’Neill with a $5,000 gift in support of the Life, Well Run Value of the Profession Campaign . This generous gift will help bring to life this national campaign to explain the role and value of professional local government management. This latest gift from NCMA is the 24th from a state, assistant, or affiliate association and further demonstrates the...