1 In the early 1900s, corruption was rampant in local governments that were run by city councils. Elections of council members were rigged. Council members gave special treatment to individuals when hiring city employees or awarding contracts. Because of mismanagement of tax revenues, services to the cities' citizens were in jeopardy. To end this corruption and make the local governments more efficient, some smaller cities began hiring city managers. In 1913, Dayton, Ohio became the first large city to hire a city manager. Today, about one-third of America's cities use city managers.
2 Can you imagine the excitement of managing the day-to-day operations of a large city? Today, city managers run the most efficient cities in the United States. City managers work for cities that have a council-manager form of government. In a city with this form of government, the power to make decisions for the members of the community lies with a city council. This elected board is the legislative branch of city government. The city council hires the city manager to handle the daily operations of the city. Most of these cities also have a mayor who is usually the leader of the city council and handles ceremonial duties.
3 City managers are very busy. They are responsible for supervising and hiring the staff needed to run a large city. They develop the city budget to present to the city's council. They implement the policies and programs approved by the council. They work on developing plans for the city. In addition, they prepare reports on the status of programs, policies, and the budget to present to the city council. A city manager is trained to handle many important administrative duties. Most of the time, a city manager is not heavily influenced by political motivations.
