Two types of municipal government

The council-manager government is one of two main variations of representative municipal government in the United States. Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of the people's representatives Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a State. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the This system of government is used in the majority of American cities with populations over 12,000. (for contrast, see mayor-council government). The Mayor-Council government system sometimes called the Mayor-Commission government system is one of two variations of Government used for the most part in modern The system is also used in the Republic of Ireland, both for city councils and county councils. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. A city council is a form of Local government, usually covering a City or other Urban area, such as a Town. A County council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a County.

In the council-manager form of government, an elected city council (typically between five and 11 people) is responsible for making policy, passing ordinances, voting appropriations, and having overall supervisory authority in the city government. A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s In such a government, the mayor (or equivalent executive) will perform strictly ceremonial duties or will act as a member and presiding officer of the council, similar to a chairman. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. The council will appoint a city manager or administrator who will be responsible for supervising government operations and implementing the policies adopted by the council. A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a City, in a council-manager form of city government The manager serves the council, usually with a contract that specifies duties and responsibilities. A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Ideally, the manager is apolitical, but this is often difficult. Technocracy: A form of government in which scientists and technical experts are in control "technocracy is described as that society in which those who govern justify themselves

Municipal governments are usually administratively divided into several departments, depending on the size of the city. A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a City, Town, or Village, or Though cities differ in the division of responsibility, the typical arrangement is to have the following departments handle the following roles:

1. Urban planning and zoning:
2. Economic development and tourism
3. Public works - construction and maintenance of all city-owned or operated assets, including the water supply system, sewer, streets, stormwater, snow removal, street signs, vehicles, buildings, land, etc. Zoning is a term used in Urban planning for a system of land-use Regulation in various parts of the world including North America the United Kingdom Economic development is the development of economic wealth of countries or regions for the well-being of their inhabitants Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Public works are the construction or engineering projects carried out by the State on behalf of the Community. Snow removal is the job of removing Snow after a snowfall to make travel easier and safer Most countries post signage known as traffic signs or road signs, at the side of Roads to
4. Parks and recreation - construction and maintenance of city parks, common areas, parkways, publicly-owned land, operation of various recreation programs and facilities
5. Police
6. Fire
7. Emergency medical services
8. Emergency management
9. Accounting/finance - often tax collection, audits
10. Human resources - for city workers
11. Legal counsel/risk management - legal matters such as writing municipal bonds, ensuring city compliance with state and federal law, responding to citizen lawsuits stemming from city actions or inactions. A park is a protected area of Land and Water, usually in its natural or semi-natural (landscaped state and set aside for some purpose often to do with human Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's Body or Mind. In the United States, Parkways are defined as follows A type of road A broad landscaped thoroughfare especially: one from which trucks and Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of Fires ref>NFPA Fire Protection Handbook pg Emergency medical services (abbreviated to the initialism "EMS" in many countries are a branch of Emergency services dedicated to providing out-of-hospital Emergency management (or disaster management) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks Accountancy or accounting is the measurement statement or provision of assurance about financial information primarily used by Lenders managers, The field of finance refers to the concepts of Time, Money and Risk and how they are interrelated A tax collector is a person who collects unpaid Taxes from other people or corporations The most general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person organization system process project or product A general counsel is the chief Lawyer of a legal department usually in a corporation or government department For non-business risks see Risk or the disambiguation page Risk analysis. In the United States, a municipal bond (or muni) is a bond issued by a city or other local government or their agencies State law in the United States, is the Law of each separate U Federal law is the body of Law created by the Federal government of a country In law a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a Court in which the party commencing the action the Plaintiff, seeks a legal or equitable remedy
12. Transportation (varies widely) - if the city has a municipal bus or light rail service, this function may be its own department or it may be folded into the another of the above departments. Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another For specific light rail systems many of which use the words "light rail" as part of their name see List of light-rail transit systems.
13. Information technology - supports computer systems used by city employees; may be also responsible for a city website, phones and other systems. Information technology ( IT) as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA is "the study design development implementation support
14. Housing department

The council-manager system can be seen to place all power into the hands of the legislative branch. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation However, a city manager can be seen as a similar role to that of corporate chief executive officer (CEO) in providing professional management to an organization. A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator Council-manager government is much like a publicly-traded corporation. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc In a corporation, the board of directors appoints a CEO, makes major decisions and wields representative power on behalf of shareholders. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business In council-manager government, the city council appoints a city manager, makes major decisions, and wields representative power on behalf of the citizens.

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is a professional organization for city managers. A professional body or professional organization also known as a professional association or professional society is an organization usually Non-profit, that exists It was founded in 1914, and has more than 8000 members worldwide.

In New England, where municipal government is often invested in an incorporated town, the city manager may be called town manager, and the council can often be referred to its traditional name of board of selectmen. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan The Board of Selectmen is commonly the executive arm of Town Governments in the New England region of the United States.

History of the council-manager government in the United States

Sumter, South Carolina has the distinction of being the first city in the United States to successfully implement this form of government, known as council-manager government.

The progressive-inspired city-manager system of government was designed to remove politics from municipal administration.

History of the council-manager government in the Republic of Ireland

Following the turmoil of the first world war 1914-1918, 1916 rising, Irish War of Independence 1919-1921 and Irish Civil War 1921-1923. The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents The Irish Government found it necessary to remove the members of several local authorities and replace them temporarily by paid commissioners.

Both Dublin and Cork city councils were so removed . In both cities there was a body of opinion that the services provided by the councils were delivered more efficiently and fairly under the commissioners that under the previous system where the executive function was in effect vested in the Councils and their committees.

In 1926 a committee of commercial and industrial interests in Cork came together to consider a scheme of city government and having regard to the city's experience of commissioners and recent experience in the United states a council-manager plan of city government woas proposed. After discussion between the Minister for Local Government and local representatives, the Minister, Richard Mulcahy, introduced as a Government measure The Cork City Management Bill, 1929 and it became law despite opposition. The Minister proposed and the Oireachtas enacted similar provision for Dublin City in 1930. Similar laws were passed for Limerick in 1934 and Waterford in 1939 under the Fianna Fáil Government

Under the County (Management) Act, 1940, which was brought into operation in August 1942 A County Manager is manager of every borough or town in that county but has since the 1990s has power to delegate these functions to any officer of thet Borough or Town Council

The system was also modified in subsequent legislation particularly The City and County Management (Amendment) Act, 1955, which made some adjustments to give greater power to the council members and the Local Government (reorganization act)1985 which provided for the Council- manager system in Galway City on its being detached for Local Government purposes from Galway County

Note the above acts are now replaced (in substantially the same form) by the Local Government Act 2001

See also

• City commission government
• Managing Urban America -- David R. Morgan & Robert E. England (1999)

External links

• City Mayors feature on US council managers
• The International City/County Management Association