City Manager Search and Selection Process; Part 2

Opinion

I posted City Manager Points of Reference on August 9, following is my personal analysis of the meaning of those references:

Springfield City Charter

Article III. The City Manager

Section 3.1. Qualifications; Term of office

"The city manager shall be chosen by the council on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to his experience in, and his knowledge of municipal administrations...."*

The City Charter, indicates the council shall choose the city manager "on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications," which Greg Burris has, but also indicates the Council shall do so with special attention "to his experience in, and his knowledge of municipal administrations."

Shall: b —used in laws, regulations, or directives to express what is mandatory

It's my opinion, and I'm not a lawyer, that if the Charter had not meant the council shall choose a city manager who actually had experience in and knowledge of municipal administrations that the charter wouldn't have advised the council to choose the city manager with special attention given "to his experience in...municipal administrations" and there would have been a period between "qualifications" and "with," and it might have read something like this, for example, my additions in red:

The city manager shall be chosen by the council on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications.

(The city council should, could, can, or might make) special reference to his experience in, and his knowledge of municipal administrations.

Because there is no separation, again, in my lay opinion, the sentence appears, in legal terms, to state:

The city manager shall be chosen by the council on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications (and shall make) special reference to his experience in, and his knowledge of municipal administrations.

Further indication that the intended, mandatory qualification was the city manager position be filled by an applicant who actually had experience in municipal administrations, is the fact that the city, in their job description, which was posted by the search firm Arcus Public, identified what that experience in municipal administration was to be when applied to the "ideal candidate:"

Arcus Public

City Manager - Springfield, MO

"Interested candidates should possess a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Business Administration or related discipline from an accredited college or university. Possession of an MBA or Master’s Degree in Public Administration, or related field is preferred. Ten years of municipal experience, with prior service as a City Manager, Assistant/Deputy City Manager or the equivalent in a comparable or larger community. Certification as an ICMA Credentialed Manager within 12 months of appointment is preferred." (page 5)*

Note: "Interested candidates..."

1. "SHOULD possess a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, Business Administration or related discipline from an accredited college or university."

2. "Possession of an MBA or Master's Degree in Public Administration, or related field IS PREFERRED."

3. "Ten years of municipal experience, with prior service as a City Manager, Assistant/Deputy City Manager or equivalent in a comparable or larger community."

4. "Certification as an ICMA Credentialed Manager within 12 months of appointment IS PREFERRED."

There is no SHOULD, there is no indication that the Council would PREFER the candidate to have actual city manager, assistant or deputy city manager or equivalent experience in a comparable or larger community in the job description. The job description therefore, indicates that there was an acceptance on the part of the city and/or the Council that the "ideal candidate" would have municipal administrations experience and that they thought the "ideal candidate" would have "Ten years of municipal experience, with prior service as a City Manager, Assistant/Deputy City Manager or equivalent in a comparable or larger community," this was relayed in the job description by the simple omission of the terms "should" or "preferred."


Therefore, I believe it is a legitimate complaint that since Greg Burris has not had prior service as a City Manager, Assistant/Deputy City Manager or equivalent in a comparable or larger community, and that according to the spirit of the City Charter, special reference to his experience in municipal administrations was to be paid by the Council, and their job description further defined what that experience was to be, the Council did not follow the mandate of the City Charter which they are bound to observe.

In fairness, I believe the Council considers Greg Burris' experience at MSU to be "comparable" experience "in a comparable or larger community," however, it is not experience in a municipal administration.

So, in my opinion, for what it's worth:

Legitimate Complaint 2: The City Council did not follow the mandate of the City Charter that, "The city manager shall be chosen by the council...with special reference to his experience in...municipal administrations," even though it appears they accepted that mandate by further defining it in the city manager job description.

*emphasis mine

CFP provides information on the naming of new City Manager Greg Burris

The new issue of the Community Free Press is online.

Read all about the new city manager, named today and view pictures from the City's News Conference!

The video of the news conference is available at CityConnect.

Life of Jason Interviews City Manager Candidates

Jason at Life Of Jason blog is doing email interviews with the City Manager candidates. He has two of them up so far. Good questions and interesting responses.

Excerpts, spotlighting one of the questions he posed to the candidates, with links to the first two email interviews:

Q & A: City Manager Candidate Greg Burris

LoJ Question:

4. How would you make your office accessible to the public and transparent on decision making?

I believe in the chain of command. While I consider myself accessible to the University community in my current position, I try to direct complaints to the lowest level in the organization able to solve the problem. I can’t solve all of the University’s problems myself . . . and if selected to be the City Manager, I won’t be able to personally solve all of the City’s problems, either.

My operating style tends to be transparent in the delivery of the solution, but the staff needs to be able to collect data, evaluate options, and determine the best points along the way to collect public input. I’m a big proponent of citizen advisory groups. In effect, I believe most citizens want the City to run like an efficient service business, and a careful balance must be achieved between operating efficiently and having to explain everything you’re doing to someone looking over your shoulder.

In the spirit of openness and transparency, I invite anyone to contact members of the University that they know and ask them about me. Ask what type of City Manager I would make. Most members of the University community will have an opinion about me, whether positive or negative.*

Q & A : City Manager Candidate Kent A. Myers

LoJ Question:

4. How would you make your office accessible to the public and transparent on decision making?

First of all, I think that it is important that my office create an environment of full accessibility to the public and I want all citizens to feel welcome and comfortable contacting or visiting my office at any time. I have always tried to set a positive example for the entire city organization with regard to public accessibility. I practice an “open door” policy in dealing with the public. I make it a practice to respond to phone calls, e-mails and letters on a timely basis. In contacting my office, I want to hear citizen concerns and complaints but I also want to hear their ideas and suggestions on how the city can progress and do our jobs better.

I have found that the public often times does not want to stop by City Hall to voice their concerns or offer their input. Therefore, in order to be effective in dealing with the public and get them involved with their city government, I have to get out of my office on a regular basis. If I am hired for the City Manager position in Springfield, you will see me out in the community attending meetings and special events and getting involved in a number of civic and professional organizations. In Hot Springs, for example, I have used community coffees and brown bag lunches as efforts to reach out to the community. I want to stay in touch with the needs and interests of the community in any way that I can.

Finally, I commit to working with the Public Information Officer to communicate to the public about any important activity or project involving their city government. I currently utilize such things as monthly radio shows, bi-monthly cable television programs, quarterly citizen newsletter and other ways to get our message out and be as transparent as possible.*

Update: Jason @ Life Of Jason has added Larry Stevens answers to his email interview questions:

Q & A : City Manager Candidate Larry Stevens

LoJ Question:

4. How would you make your office accessible to the public and transparent on decision making?

Transparency and openess is an emphasis of our city government in Edmond. About five years I created a seperate small department to coordinate and enhance our communication with the citizens we exist to serve. Extensive communication in a variety of forms would be a priority.*

Read more.

*"The author (Jason) gives permission for electronic, print or broadcast media to use information from any posting ONLY if a link to this blog site is provided and printed identification of the location of the information provided or the full web address of the site, www.lifeofjason.com, is mentioned as the source of the information."