Essay Assignment No. 2
GOVT 2306
Summer 2000
Milton J. Sweet
In my recommendation to the city fathers for the form of city government for “Miltowne” we will focus on the following options:
A. Mayor – Strong or weak?
B. City manager – yes or no?
C. Legislature – Council or commission?
D. Elections – At-large or single member districts?
Leadership in a city is essential. It is important for a local populous to have a figure they feel represents the city well. However, I recommend not placing too much power in the hands of one person. Our mayor should not be able to hire/fire city department heads. He should though have the power to veto the decisions of the legislative branch he feels necessary. His veto could be overridden by a 2/3-majority vote, of course. The mayor would be the presiding member of the legislative branch.
Politics or popularity should not influence the day to day business of the city. I recommend hiring a city manager. His job will include hiring and firing department heads subject to approval of the legislative branch. He will also derive our city budget and ensure adherence to that budget. Our city manager would make recommendations to the legislative branch for city policies and ordinances for approval. He would then implement those policies and ordinances. Selection and/or removal of the city manager would be by the legislative branch.
The legislative branch of Miltownes’ city government should be the city council. I’m afraid that if we chose a commission form of legislative branch too much infighting would occur between the department heads for effective government. In addition, since the legislative branch of our city government would hire/fire the city manager, it is best not to have the city manager participate in the hiring/firing of persons in the legislative branch. If we used a commission form of legislation, this conflict could conceivably occur. Each city council member will represent his or her own district.
Although our city is largely affluent, we must insure representation of all of our citizens in the city council. I therefore recommend single member districts for election of our city council. Considering the ethnic and economic composition of our city, we should strive to have seven districts drawn. Four single member districts would primarily represent our White citizens and one district each for our Asian, Black and Latino/other citizens. Each district shall have its boundaries drawn to best reflect the ethnic and economic make-up of that district. Even though “gerrymandering” of the districts boarders may not sit well with many of our more affluent citizens, I feel it is necessary to give our city council balance. Our mayor, since he represents the entire city, should be elected at-large.
In summary, I recommend a council-manager form of city government, with a weak mayor elected at large. The city council would be elected from single member districts. The city manager would be selected by the city council.