Agenda Packets - 2000/05/22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council May 8, 1999 Regular Meeting Page 11 have been done simply as a matter of course, however with no direction, staff was limited in the amount of latitude they had to proceed. He reiterated this was a very good point. Council Member Marty explained that with a City Manager form of government, many of these decisions could have been made immediately, however, under the current form of government, the City Administrator is unable to directly address resident inquires or specific situations, which can result in delaying these matters for several weeks. Mayor Coughlin stated Council Member Stigney had requested a comparative summary of the two forms of government. He requested City Attorney Long provide an overview of the core differences between the City Manager and City Clerk Administrator forms of government. City Attorney Long stated the fundamental differences are presented in the role of the Council. He stated that currently, under the City Clerk Administrator form of government, the Council has a somewhat mixed set of roles. He explained that the Council is the legislative body for the City, which would also be the case under the City Manager form of government, however, because so many of the Council’s duties are administrative in nature, such as acting as the appointing authority, overseeing all contract decisions, etc., the Council takes more of an administrative role under this form of government. He indicated that in some sense, it could be argued that more administrative duties are being exercised by the Council than legislative duties, in terms of total time allocated to functions on the Council Agenda. City Attorney Long advised that the City Manager form of government would delegate to the City Manager more of the day-to-day management decisions, such as the hiring and firing, contract decisions up to a certain amount, enforcing the budget, and matters of this nature. He indicated allows the Council to take a more purely legislative, policy-making role. City Attorney Long stated in some of the smaller rural towns in greater Minnesota, where they have the Clerk Administrator form of government, the Council is almost always acting as one and the same, in terms of passing ordinances, and operating the city. He explained that they have seen the Suburban Plan B City Manager form of government unfold, and the two former City Managers seated in the audience could attest to the fact that cities operating under that form of government, such as Bloomington, Coon Rapids, and New Brighton, are very well managed. City Attorney Long stated what these cities are attempting to do is delegate a certain amount of managerial authority to an individual who is hired for the position, as in the case of a corporation which hires a Chief Executive Officer to run the day-to-day affairs, and the Board of Directors controls the overall budget setting, financing, and future goals. He explained that whether or not there are advantages to the City Manager form of government would depend upon the individual vantage point, however, the common argument is that there are advantages in that it allows for more efficiency, as well as a more professional management of day-to-day operations, and it frees the Council to perform their truly legislative duties, instead of becoming involved in the daily operations of the City as called for in the current Charter. Mayor Coughlin inquired if employment was typically considered “at will” or on a “just cause” basis in the City Manager form of government, mindful of all State regulations and requirements pertaining to employment.