Fund Dollars at Work

A comprehensive summary of Fund activities in the recent past can be found in the annual reports at the bottom of this page; a catlog of this year's efforts is immediately below.

Supporters of the council-manager form of government in Bridgewater, Mass. made these shirts to help educate the community about the benefits of professional management.

Form of Government Campaigns Supported by the Fund IN FY2010

League City, Texas (pop. 71,222)

Successful Adoption in May 2010; $1,250 Fund contribution

Citizens voted on 23 charter amendments, including one that presented a change from mayor-council to council-manager. A League City council member, who supports council-manager government, contacted ICMA and requested funding. The initiative passed with 73 percent of the vote.

BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS (POP. 25,774)

Successful adoption in April 2010; $2,362 Fund contribution

Local citizens’ group contacted ICMA for information on council-manager form and funding after a charter-review commission recommended replacing their town meeting form of government with council-manager. The council-manager form was adopted with 55% of the vote.

EFFINGHAM, ILLINOIS (POP. 12,489)

Unsuccessful adoption in February 2010; $2,000 Fund contribution

The City of Effingham has operated under the commission form of government since 1915. Fifty-four percent of voters chose to maintain their current form instead of adopting council-manager government. In addition to the Fund contribution, Illinois Range Rider Dave Anderson assisted Citizens educate the public by participating in town hall informational.

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA (POP. 53,820)

Unsuccessful retention in November 2009; $11,000 Fund contribution (matched by FCCMA)

A commission reviewed Pensacola’s 78-year old charter and recommended changing the form of government from council-manager to mayor-council and providing the mayor with veto power over council decisions. Political strategist Beth Rawlins assisted the local citizens group advocating for professional management, but 55% of voters agreed with the commission’s original recommendation.

PUEBLO, COLORADO (POP. 104,951)

Successful retention in November 2009; $15,000 Fund contribution

Pueblo voters faced two ballot questions related to form-of-government: should the City abandon its council-manager structure and proceed with a mayor-council structure; and whether or not the mayor should be directly-elected. Both questions failed to pass by large margins – abandonment by more than a 2-1 margin and the directly-elected mayor question by more than 4-1.

SEATAC, WASHINGTON (POP. 25,840)

Successful retention in November 2009; $2,900 Fund contribution

By a margin of only nine votes, residents retained the council-manager form of government. Similar to Federal Way, SeaTac has experienced three attempts to change its form of government in the past with the most recent (before November) in 2001.

FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON (POP. 84,309)

Unsuccessful retention in November 2009; $5,000 Fund contribution

For the second time in nearly two years, citizens faced the question on whether or not Federal Way should replace the council-manager form of government. After a successful February 2008 retention, voters chose (51% to 41%) to move to mayor-council in November, even after the Federal Way governing body had voted to oppose the change.