ICMA provided technical assistance to the city of Skopje, capital of the Republic of Macedonia, on the reorganization of its city administration. The objective of the assistance, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was to develop a recommended reorganization plan for the mayor and city council that would clarify the administration's existing roles and responsibilities, consistent with the new Law on Local Self-Government. In addition, city officials agreed on principles that would promote more efficient and effective service delivery to Skopje's citizens.
ICMA's major task under this project was to perform an administrative audit of the city's executive and service delivery functions, in light of the current legislative environment; recommend organizational and procedural changes to streamline future bottlenecks in decision making and service delivery; and eventually open up governance to public participation.
ICMA also undertook the following:
- Development of several reorganizational alternatives in concert with the city's Transitional Management Team
- Development of a strategic plan for implementation of the preferred reorganization plan
- Design and delivery of stakeholder seminars to present findings and recommendations.
As a result of this project, ICMA and Skopje officials concluded that compliance with the new local government legislation was not an impediment for the city. In fact, the administration had already taken steps to comply with the oversight provisions of the laws. However, if any substantive change were to occur in the delivery of public services, any proposed reorganization of the city government structure would need to address other overarching management considerations.
The Transitional Management Team and ICMA developed and revised several reorganization strategies over the course of the assignment. At the conclusion of the project, in 1998, the mayor indicated his intent to recommend the better of the two options to the city council for adoption, with council action to implement the proposed reorganization expected to occur after that.