Annapolis Capital Punishment

By invitation from CP, Ward One Civic Association President Doug Smith offers his views on the latest "city manager" legislation sponsored by Ald. Cordle, Finlayson, and Hoyle. [CA-06-08]. CP is in complete agreement with Mr Smith (except for his suggestion that we focus on light rail transit)and continues to fully support council members Arnett and Israel on this very important piece of legislation. As it stands now, members Cordle, Hoyle and Finlayson, an unlikely trio if there ever was one, and at least two if not all of them considering a run for mayor, are trying to derail this growing citizen-led demand for change.

I have learned from one reliable source that neither Finlayson nor Hoyle had read the legislation upon which their names appear and that Cordle had little to do with drafting it. This, I am told, was mainly done by City Administrator (can you say sinecure) Bob Agee and by Moyer associate and former Delegate Don Lamb Minor. It is highly unlikely that the International City Management Association would recognize the reality of the trio's proposal as a Council Manager form of government and no certified city manager would take the job. Where would that leave us? At this point, Alderman Paone appears to be the remaining swing vote as Stankivic and Shropshire are likely to align with Israel and Arnett and the mayor, well that would be pretty obvious. Please attend the city council hearing this Monday night and testify. And now, Mr Smith:

In the paragraphs below, I have highlighted some of the elements of this newest submission, and then I offer a comparison to the Arnett/ Israel document. [CA-05-08]. In short, these two bills are about as different as night and day. I will state up front that I strongly support the Arnett/ Israel legislation that establishes a true Council-Manager structure, utilizing a professionally –trained city manager. Both versions can be read in full on the city web site.

The Cordle/Finlayson/Hoyle [CA-06-08] legislation reinforces what we have today. The job title ‘city administrator’ changes to ‘city manager.’ However, a title change does nothing to change the structure of city government. The office of the mayor retains 99% of the power.
Compensation of each director must be approved by the mayor.

The city manager shall be a direct subordinate of the mayor
The city manager shall be appointed by the mayor
The city manager may be removed from office by the mayor.
The compensation of the city manager shall be fixed by the mayor
The city manager can exercise supervisory authority over department directors, [my observation – but final authority for hiring, firing and compensation rests with the mayor.]

Comparison to legislation offered by Ald. Arnett, Israel, Stankivic, and Shropshire [CA-05-08]

What changes if we adopt the Arnett/Israel amendment?

CA-05-08 would amend the city charter to adopt the Council-Manager form of government. The choice of words is important. The ‘Council’, (mayor and aldermen) are clearly responsible for the direction of the city, as our elected representatives. The ‘Manager’ refers to the city manager position. The city manager would report to the council. In our case, the position of city administrator would be eliminated and replaced with a professionally trained City Manager.

Here are the key differences to our current structure:

1. The decision-making authority for the city would now be shared across all members of City Council. (mayor and aldermen).
2. The City Manager, hired by and reporting to the council, would serve at the pleasure of City Council, would be measured on performance, and would implement the policies a set by our elected officials.
3. All department heads would report to the City Manager, who would have authority for hiring, firing, and compensation. The City Manager is responsibility for good day-to-day operations of the city; accountable for job performance of all city employees; and has the authority to reward people for good work and make changes where necessary.

Why is this better government?

One of the most important advantages to this change is a balancing of power across all of our elected officials. Today, power is very heavily concentrated in the office of mayor.

By having the City Manager report to City Council, your aldermen will have a stronger voice in the major decisions affecting our city. For voters, this means greater representation and a stronger voice in the direction we would like to see. We (voters) will be just as involved and just as active with the Council-Manager structure as we are today.

We will benefit by having the day-to-day operations of the city managed by a skilled professional, with experience and training in public finance, public administration, and municipal management. A candidate for city manager would be hired on the basis of education and prior job performance. This is not a political appointment.

You would want to retain a good city manager from one administration to the next. If a particular city manager does not work out, that person can be terminated at any time, based on performance – there is no waiting for the next election cycle.

Considering the size and complexity of managing the city of Annapolis, it is unrealistic to expect a candidate for mayor – or even a group of aldermen – to have both political leadership skills as well as in-depth management experience in public administration. The proposed change enables us to attract good political leaders for the positions of mayor and alderman, and at the same time hire a very competent city manager who is directly accountable to our elected officials.

Why do we need to make a change now?

The Annapolis budget has grown from $54.6 M in 2002, to our current budget of $81M. We have approximately 530 employees. We have quickly become a large and complex organization. Other cities of our size have experienced the same growing pains and have found the Council-Manager structure to be very successful. In fact, over 3,500 cities use this structure today, with 40-50 cities moving to this structure every year.

We face significant financial challenges with reduced tax revenue and the growing need for expensive infrastructure repair. The city faces significant challenges in terms of traffic, parking, mass transit, economic development, etc. These are exactly the types of problems where a skilled city manager can be of tremendous help to the next administration. With the downturn in the economy, the city needs to tighten its belt just like everyone else. We need a professional manager to look for ways to reduce cost and find more effective ways to deliver city services.

We all benefit with increased accountability and transparency at all levels of government. The Council-Manager structure will give the aldermen more accountability for our government process. We will have clear accountability for operations with a city manager.

How will this change the role of mayor, alderman, or citizen involvement?

The voters remain the ultimate, final authority on how we want the city of Annapolis to be managed. Our elected officials reflect the wishes of the voters. We will continue to look to the mayor and aldermen to set policy, make decisions, pass legislation, and map out the vision for the city. The city manager will be responsible for implementing the direction set by our elected officials.

The mayor’s role is critical as the political leader of the city. By shifting day–to-day operations to city manager, the mayor would provide leadership, working with the aldermen, to focus on the major (big) policy issues facing the city, such as parking, traffic flow, light rail transit, a plan for City Dock, revitalization of public housing, etc. The mayor will have an increasingly important responsibility to build strong working relationships with county, state and federal officials, as we tackle regional transportation issues, alternative energy sources, and development of properties within and around Annapolis.

Citizens will continue to interact with the city as they do today. We can talk to whomever we wish - the mayor, our aldermen or city hall. Citizen commissions and active volunteer organizations will continue to be just as important as ever.

Next Steps

On Nov. 24, we all have an opportunity to speak at the public hearing. We believe the recommended change to Council-Manager represents a major improvement and evolution in the structure of our city government.

Following the Public Hearing, the legislation goes to the Rules Committee. We would expect a vote by City Council in early January.

Doug Smith, President Ward One Association

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