LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW:
The Great Falls Experience
Bill Bronson
Great Falls City Commissioner
December 8, 2014
History of Great Falls
Local Government, 1888 - Present
 “Weak Mayor”-Council (1888 – 1973)
 Commission-Manager [Old Form]
(1973-1986)
 Commission-Manager [Charter]
(1986-Present]
City Government, 1888 - 1973
 “”Weak-Mayor” System:
 Mayor elected separately from members of the City Council
(council members called “aldermen” under this system)
 All elected on partisan basis; alderman, by wards (five wards,
two aldermen per ward)
 Department heads appointed by mayor with consent of council,
and could only be removed with council consent
 Council was in charge of official meetings and elected its own
presiding officer
 Council appointed numerous advisory boards and commissions
 Mayor had veto power; could be overruled by a 2/3 vote of the
council
City Government, 1888 - 1973
 Problems:
 Conflicting lines of authority/weak executive
 Problem identifying who was in charge
 “Ward politics”
 Financial issues:
 Unbalanced budget
 Bank concerns over city finances
 Unpopular “fees”
 Hiring practices (religion and cronyism)
Time for a Change????
The End of the “Old Regime,” 1972
 Citizen initiative to convert to a commission-manager form
of government, with at-large, non-partisan elections
 Robust public debate
 Special Election, December 7, 1972:
 To retain the mayor-council system – 3,307 (22%)
 To replace it with a commission-manager—11,633 (78%)
City Government: An Employee’s
Perspective, December 8, 1972
Commission-Manager [Old Form]
(1973-1986)
 First election for commissioners held March 1973
 Under this system, candidate with highest vote became the
presiding officer or “ceremonial mayor”
 New commission proceeds to hire a professional manager
 Much controversy as the new commission took the reins of
power
Commission-Manager [Old Form]
(1973-1986)
 Experience:
 Budget/finances eventually brought under control
 Lines of authority clarified
 Continuing disputes:
 Supporters of old system continued to “wage war” on the new form of
government
 Issues over the power of the “mayor” under this system in relation to the
city manager
Commission-Manager [Old Form]
(1973-1986)
 Local Government Review (1975-1976): supporters of a
“mayor-council” system make an effort to return Great Falls
to a mayor-council system
 Proposal did NOT have unanimous support among members
of the Study Commission
 Proposal overwhelmingly defeated, 35% for change, 65%
opposed (November1976)
 Consensus: most voters were comfortable with the new
form of government
Commission-Manager [Charter]
(1986 – Present]
 Second Local Government Review Commission (1985-1986)
proposed to retain commission-manager system under a
“charter”
 Under this “charter government,” a mayor would be elected
separately, but would have NO EXECUTIVE POWERS
 Styled as a “Tune-Up, Not an Overhaul”
 Proposal passed (June 1986)
Commission-Manager [Charter]
(1986 – Present]
 This form remains in place today
 1995-1996 Study Review Commission: recommends three
amendments to Charter:
 Establish Neighborhood Councils – PASSED
 Increase size of the Commission from 5 to 7 members—FAILED
 Extend term of the Mayor from 2 to 4 years – FAILED
Reflections
 Was a change in “form” of government necessary to achieve
political goals of the opponents of the “old system”?
 Is the form of government really as important as some may
think it is?
Reflections
Viewpoint: Change UNNECESSARY
 Financial issues could have been addressed with policy
changes
 Internal structural improvements
 Elect new mayor and aldermen: “Throw the bums out!”
Viewpoint: Change NECESSARY
 Reforms impractical/impossible under the old system:
 Ward system was self-defeating
 Partisan politics was getting in the way
 “Weak-Mayor” system was inherently dysfunctional
 A “Strong-Mayor” format was not even available statutorily until
1973 (RCM 11-802.1, now Mont. Code Ann. § 7-3-4101)
WAS A “SHOCK” TO THE SYSTEM
NECESSARY???
Summary
 Regardless of the form of government chosen, a community
should consider the following:
 Establish clear lines of authority
 Ensure sound budgeting and financial planning, with assistance
of professionals, or at least, “smart money-people”
 Acknowledge need for professional personnel management
 Utilize a chief administrative officer or equivalent, even if the
government is NOT a “commission-manager” form
Sources
 In addition to the personal recollections and experiences of
the speaker, the following sources were consulted for this
presentation:
 Revised Codes of Montana, 1947, Sections 11-801 through -
803; 11-802.1; 11-3201 through 11-3286
 Montana Code Annotated Sections 7-3-4101;
 Great Falls Tribune, December 1 through December 9, 1972;
 Peter Koehn, Ph.D., Unpublished research paper on the
transition from the mayor-council to commission-manager form
of government in Great Falls, University of Montana, February
1975 (in speaker’s possession);
Sources (continued)
 Great Falls City Charter;
 Montana Code Annotated, Title 7, Chapter 1, Part 1, and
Chapter 3, Part 7;
 J. Lopach & P. Koehn, MONTANA LOCAL
GOVERNMENT REVIEW: AN ANALYSIS AND
SUMMARY(Bureau of Government Research, University of
Montana, September 1977)