It was March 20, 2013, just after 7 p.m. I was sitting at my desk in city hall as director general of Westmount, Quebec, Canada. At this exact moment 100 years earlier, the city council had voted to hire Westmount’s first general manager.
Given that this was a momentous occasion, especially for all those people who have held the position in Canada ever since, I thought I would mark that anniversary by providing a brief background as to how all this came about. I would be remiss if I did not thank Sam Gaston, city manager of Mountain Brook, Alabama, who, as ICMA’s president in 2011, mentioned to me that Westmount was the first city in Canada to take on this new model of municipal governance, one year after Sumter, South Carolina, had done the same in 1912.
We are fortunate to have a significant collection of archival material in Westmount, and with the help of the Westmount Historical Association, I researched the history of this nomination.
A Business Orientation
What prompted elected officials back in 1912 to move the city in the direction of having a general manager? It appears that the council at the time was extremely business oriented. Its members were business leaders of both Westmount and Montreal. So it would seem normal to them that the affairs of the city would best be managed by a single person on behalf of the council and, by extension, its residents.
It is also not surprising that Westmount was the first Canadian community to do this. The city has had a long history of being first in a number of areas in Canada, including supplying electricity to its residents and building the first public library. Just this past year, Westmount built the first underground arena complex.
In late 1912, a council discussion took place on the idea. One member proposed that rather than appoint a general manager, the council should appoint a board of directors to run the affairs of the city. Yes, a board reporting to a board!
That idea did not fly, nor did the same councillor’s subsequent demand to have all the citizens vote on the prospective manager’s nomination. Thank goodness that, too, was voted down as you can imagine what a precedent it would have set. The resolution to appoint a general manager was adopted unanimously as the dissenting councillor was inexplicably absent on the night of the vote.
The Search Begins
To fill the position, the council decided to place an ad in newspapers, and not just in Montreal but across Canada. The search began with an ad that appeared in the Toronto Globe on February 21, 1913.
The council nominated one candidate and by unanimous vote, George Thompson, who was already working in Westmount for the city's light and power department, became the first general manager of Westmount. He was given a raise of $1,000, bringing his annual salary to the princely sum of $5,000 per year.
Thompson died in office in 1930 and was given a civic funeral. All stores and offices in the city were closed in his honor that day.
Since 1913, Westmount has been served by only 10 general managers. This position is now called director general in Quebec, but it is also called city manager or chief administrative officer in other jurisdictions.
For the record, to the left is the list of the general managers who have served Westmount, Quebec, Canada. Turnover has not been that high.
A Steady Course
One of the key benefits of having a low turnover in the manager position and in public service generally is to provide residents with a stable administration. This trend is not limited only to the municipal sector but throughout Canada’s three levels of government—municipal, provincial, and federal—where the public service ensures service delivery no matter what may be the politics of the day.
To this day, Westmount continues the practice of leaving the delivery of services to its residents in the hands of its administration. Elected officials set the policy and keep a vigilant eye on the city's matters, but they do not get involved in the day-to-day city business.
So the experiment of 1913 to appoint a general manager appears to have turned out well in Westmount and throughout Canada ever since. Like any relationship, it has had its share of ups and downs and occasional messy divorces, but the members of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators and all its provincial affiliates can trace their genesis back to that council meeting of March 20, 1913, when George Thompson was named the first general manager of the city of Westmount.
Revisiting CANADIAN History
Here are excerpts from a local publication and a Canadian newspaper in 1913 on the then-radical move to hire a general manager for Westmount. It is interesting to see similarities of the public’s perception then as compared to today. One can see that this experiment was generally well-received although still with some reservation.
The General Manager’s Duties
“The duties of the new general manager were embodied in a by-law put through at Monday night’s council meeting. From present indications the new official will not have any idle moments, but if matters work out as the prospects point at present, the work he will accomplish and the check he will have on all municipal affairs will amply repay the corporation.
“The new arrangement places Mr. Thompson in precisely the same position as the general manager of a financial concern or manufacturing company with the mayor and aldermen holding the positions of president and directors. It is the best tried and most practical form of government as has been proven in the handling of these large concerns, but as this is perhaps the first time such a plan has been adopted in the management of a Canadian city, Westmount’s experiment will be watched with no small amount of interest throughout Canada, and in fact throughout the whole continent.
“In Germany for a number of years the same system has been in vogue and is working with eminent satisfaction so that there is every reason to believe that Westmount’s experiment will be the forerunner of many similar applications of the scheme.”
— Hubert Groves, “The General Manager’s Duties Outlines,” The Westmount News, April 25, 1913, 200 Olivier Avenue, Westmount, Quebec.
The New Town Manager
“Town management has become a trade. It is fast becoming an applied science. The strides gained by industry and commerce have wholly changed methods of business. Contrasts between present systems of governing cities and towns and of managing private concerns have brought about a weakening of our faith in common councils. So commissions and boards of control have been set up for greater efficiency, but still many citizens are not satisfied with resting on these changes. Hence a new proposal that has a good idea at the root is meeting with growing favour. It is to run cities by a general manager.
“The advantage of placing one man in absolute control of departmental heads in a private business are undisputed. Why should it not work out equally well for a city corporation? The principle obtains everywhere. No army could hope to gain the victory if it went into the field under the independent and separate command of major-generals.
“It must have a commander-in-chief. No ship could hope to weather Cape Horn if it sailed under the command of half a dozen mates of equal power and no captain. It must have an absolute chief officer. But cities try to do many separate duties under the guidance of so many officers who are free of the control of a higher officer and often grate on one another.
“Miles of pavements are laid down, new streets are opened, sometimes where they are not needed, sometimes where they have too long been necessary, sewers have been put down, water services have been furnished to thousands, parks have been opened or closed, public money has been spent (wisely or unwisely), markets have been too lavishly or too stintingly opened, and run; and no mastermind has been in control to dovetall and proportion these activities.
“A single master in charge with good practical and theoretical knowledge of all these works would surely lay out the public money to greater advantage. He could smooth down rough and discordant elements and harmonize the conflicting views of subordinated chiefs of departments, he could study the broad outlines of general improvements, and leave to the under officials the working out of their details; he could lay down regular, definite, and artistic plans for the general growth of the city, he could avoid the up-springing of many undesirable and unwelcome features of the larger cities, as the upgrowth of slums; he could keep his finger on the throbbing pulse of affairs and be ready to prescribe for any ills that might threathen trouble. In short, he could run the town.”
— Mr. W. Stewart, The Westmount News, Friday, May 30, 1913, Westmount.
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