City of St. Helens – Strategic Plan
Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Introduction
This paper is intended to give the City Council of the City of St. Helens an
overview of its current government structure as well as alternatives. This paper is
not intended to analyze these forms for their appropriateness for use in St.
Helens. Rather, that analysis should be performed as part of the City’s strategic
planning process.
Changes in government structure should only be pursued if it is determined that
such changes will support the City’s short and long range goals.
The St. Helens Municipal Structure
The following general description of the St. Helens government comes from the
City’s web site:
The City of St. Helens, incorporated in 1889, has a Council/Mayor form of
government consisting of four Councilors, elected to four-year terms, and
a Mayor, elected to a two-year term. At each biennial general election, the
Mayor and two Councilors are elected. Appointed City officials include the
City Administrator (who also acts as the City Recorder), Finance Director,
City Attorney, City Engineering Manager, Planning Administrator, Police
Chief, Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent, Building Official,
Library Director, and Municipal Court Judges.
Chapter III of the City Charter establishes this structure. Section 6 reads:
WHERE POWERS VESTED. Except as this charter provides otherwise,
all powers of the city shall be vested in the Council.
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
A Council/Mayor form of government is described in detail in the Alternatives
section below, but in summary all legislative and executive authority rests with
the Council. In actuality, St. Helens’ government has a strong resemblance to a
Commission form of government as each Councilor has authority over certain
specific city functions. However this is not a charter provision and is more the
custom of how St. Helens operates. Therefore it cannot be said that the City truly
has a Commission form of government.
Each Councilor has a portfolio of oversight authority over certain assigned city
functions as listed below:
Councilor
Mayor Peterson
Councilor Huff
Councilor Locke
Councilor Youngberg
Councilor Grant
Portfolio
City Administration, City Attorney,
Finance, & ROCN
Engineering Dept., Parks Dept., Public
Works, SMART, CEPA
Cable TV, Police Dept. Public
Buildings, Tourism Committee
Building Dept., Wastewater Treatment
Plant, Safety Committee
Planning Dept., Library, Arts & Cultural
Commission
The Council hires a City Administrator to help them on a day-to-day basis to
carry out their duties. This position was created through Ordinance 2220 adopted
on February 7, 1978.
The duties of the City Administrator are specifically delineated in Section 2:
The City Administrator shall report directly to the city Council, shall be the
administrative head of the central business office and the financial
department of the city of St. Helens, and shall do all things with respect to
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
management of the central business office and the financial department
as are permitted or directed by statute, charter, ordinance and the city
Council.
The following section of the Ordinance specifically determines that the City
Administrator does not have authority over city functions other than central
administration and finance. It reads:
… shall have the same responsibility with respect to the central business
office and financial department as do other municipal officers with respect
to the departments of which they are the department head.
In addition, the City Administrator also serves as the City Recorder.
Alternative Municipal Forms
There are a number of alternative forms of local government used in the United
States. In New England many communities still use the town meeting form of
government that has been in place for over 200 years. Many large communities
use municipal forms that are based on elected officials having both legislative
and executive authority. Portland is an example of a Commissioner form of
government where each elected commissioner serves as the head of one or
more departments. In larger cities using this form, the commissioner positions
are full time salaried positions and are supported by large staffs. Some larger
communities, such as Beaverton, use the Strong Mayor form of government
where the full-time, salaried Mayor has executive authority.
Most communities, however, use one of two primary models; Mayor/Council and
Council/Manager. Each is described in detail below, but in summary in a
Mayor/Council form the Council both makes policy and runs the day-to-day
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affairs of the City. The Council may hire an administrator to help with those
duties. In a Council/Manager form of government the Council sets policy and the
City Manager runs the City on a day-to-day basis.
Virtually all smaller communities in Oregon run on the Mayor/Council form of
government. This is due to both smaller budgets and the volume of operational
issues not needing a full time Manager. However, in many cases these smaller
communities also have a City Administrator.
All medium sized and larger communities in Oregon, except Beaverton, Portland,
and St. Helens, use the Council/Manager form of government.
Each of the major forms of government used by American municipalities is listed
and described below, along with a general identification of positive and negative
factors of each type. However, there are variations on each of these to be found
around the Country.
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Mayor/Council (Strong Council or Weak
Mayor)
Mayor/Council (Strong Council)
The mayor/Council form of government is
very common is Oregon especially among
VOTERS
smaller cities. Nationwide it represents
about 43% of city governments. In this
system the Council, usually including the
COUNCIL
ADMINISTRATOR
DEPARTMENT HEADS
mayor, is the legislative and policy making
body of the city and also performs the
executive and administrative functions. Department heads are accountable to
the Council but some of the Council’s day to day oversight is often delegated to
an agency specific committee or to a specific Councilor. For example, the
Council might have the public works director report to a Council appointed public
works committee, or there might be one Councilor who the public works director
reports to regularly and that Councilor brings up public works issues to the full
Council. In communities where issues and budgets have grown beyond the
capability of volunteer city Councilors to administrate on a day-to-day basis, it is
common for the Council hire a City Administrator to help with those functions.
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Pro
Con
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Allows elected official to influence
all city operations and policy as
needed
Allows for a wide range of
participation by many individuals of
the citizenry
Response elected representative
Council
Long historic tradition
Allows for volunteer or low paid
elected officials
Works well in small and rural
communities
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Often unclear structure of
responsibility
Diffused power and responsibility
Lack of strong leadership
Can be confusing to citizenry
Hard to enact change quickly
Can result in fragmented operations
stemming fragmented management
Political vacuum by lead to “bossism,” machine politics, or cronyism
Council/Manager
In the Council/Manager form of government, an elected Council is the governing
body of the city but a Manager is hired by Council to carry out the day-to-day
operations. It operates much as a corporation with a board of directions that sets
general direction and policy and a Chief Executive Officer that is responsible for
operations.
The Council usually consists of five to nine members including a mayor who is
either selected by the Council or elected by the people as defined in the city
charter. The size of the Council is generally smaller than that of a Mayor/Council
municipality, and Council elections are usually nonpartisan.
The mayor and Council are responsible for setting policy and passing legislation.
The mayor is usually recognized as the political head of the municipality, but is a
member of the legislative body and has very limited independent powers.
Besides serving the CEO function, the Manager serves as the Council’s chief
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advisor. Managers also serve at the pleasure of the Council and are responsible
for preparing the budget, directing day-to-day operations, and hiring and firing
personnel. Most Council/Manager based City Charters specifically prohibit the
Council from interfering in operations, especially personnel issues.
The Manager position may also be referred to as an
administrator but usually a Manager is position
established in a city charter creating a true
Council/Manager
VOTERS
Council/Manager system while an administrator is
often established only by ordinance. Although often
functioning much the same, by establishing a
COUNCIL
MANAGER
professional administrator position only through
ordinance the underlying government structure is not
a
DEPARTMENTS
Council manger form. In a true Council/Manager form,
the Charter will lay out specific functions for the Council and for the Manager. For
example, most Council/Manager based Charters give the City Manager sole
authority for all personnel issues and the Council is specifically prohibited in
interfering in those issues.
About 49% of all US cities use the Council/Manager form of government with it
used in 57% of cities over 10,000 population. It is the only form of city
government that is increasing in use nationwide.
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Pro
Con
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Establishes clear structure of
responsibility and accountability
Removes politics from hiring and
firing and other personnel issues
Allows elected officials to focus on
policy
Maximizes efficiency with
professional management
City run in a business-like manner
Allows for volunteer or low paid
elected officials
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Difficult for voters to create rapid
change
Limits voter influence on certain
government functions
Creates level of bureaucracy
Manager may tend to usurp policy
making
Mayor may tend to usurp
administrative functions
Manager likely to come from the
outside without any historical
relationship with city or long-term
commitment
Mayor/Council (Strong Mayor)
The Mayor/Council strong mayor
form of government separates the
legislative and executive functions of
Mayor/Council (Strong Mayor)
VOTERS
government. The Legislative power
is given to an elected Council and
MAYOR
COUNCIL
the executive power to an elected
DEPARTMENTS
Mayor.
Although the exact power of the mayor can very greatly in this system they are
often responsible for all day-to-day operations including hiring and firing of
personal and may also have veto power over legislation. This centralization of
powers is why this system is often referred to as a ‘strong mayor system.’
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Many Mayor/Council cities also hire a professional city administrator or the mayor
may have a chief of staff. These persons assist with the day to day operations,
but they have no authority other than that delegated by the mayor. An
administrator is most often used in cities where mayors receive little or no
compensation and have less then full strong mayor authority, or where the
municipal organization so large that the mayor cannot undertake the duties
without assistance.
Pro
Con
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Strong leadership
Establishes clear structure of
responsibility
Clear accountability directly to the
voters
Allows Council to focus on policy
Direct implementation of policy
Mayor can facilitate both policy
development and implementation
Voters can enact rapid change
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Excessive power and responsibility
given to one person.
Can limit participation and
representation in the management
of the city
Machine politics can undermine
broad representation or service
Leads to patronage in hiring and
firing
Enhances partisanship with a
winner take all environment
Requires significant pay for the
position of mayor to attract a
qualified individual
No guarantee that mayor will have
the skills necessary to manage the
city effectively as a professional
administrator
Give incentive to mayor to focus on
politics instead of management
Mayor and Councilor time
availability may be limited.
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Commission
The commission form of government is characterized by an elected governing
board that holds both legislative and executive powers. The commission is
expected to run much of the day to day operations themselves. The board of
commissioners is usually the governing board and serves as the head of the
government. This form is typically used
in county government. Often counties
using this system elect a number of
Commission
other officials to a serve as heads of
VOTERS
some of the major county departments
such as the county sheriff.
COMMISSION
A variation of the commission model
DEPARTMENT HEADS
that is used in some cities, such as
Portland, is where commissioners serve
as administrative heads of specific city
Commission Variation
departments. In this system the mayor
VOTERS
generally the same amount of power as
COMMISSIONERS AS DEPT. HEADS
the other commissioners but is some
cities such as Portland has the added
DEPARTMENTS
authority to select which commissioners
will head which departments.
About 2% of US cities use the
commission form of government. It was developed at the turn of the 19 th century
in response to the “spoils system” and was considered revolutionary at that time.
Pro
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
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Accountability directly to the voters
Allows elected official to influence
all city operations and policy as
needed
Direct implementation of policy
Voters can enact rapid change
Simple organizational structure
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Can limit participation and
representation in the management
of the city
Give incentive to commissioners to
focus on politics instead of
management
No checks and balances
No single administrative authority
Can result in fragmented operations
stemming fragmented management
Can be confusing to citizenry
Requires significant pay for the
position commissioner to attract
qualified individuals
No guarantee that commissioners
will have the skills necessary to
mange effectively
Give incentive to commissions to
focus on politics instead of
management or policy
Mayor and Councilor time
availability may be limited.
Town Meeting
The Town Meeting approach to local government is by
far the oldest. It is characterized by decision making
Town Meeting
coming from a meeting held where all citizens are invited,
encouraged to deliberate, and to vote on both policy and
administrative issues. There may be a mayor that is
VOTERS
DEPARTMENTS
primarily the convener and presiding officer of the town
meetings. Ad Hoc committees may undertake various
functions and projects and agreed upon by the full community.
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
About 5.5% of US communities use the Town Meeting approach in government.
It is mostly limited to New England and generally is used in very small towns.
Many of these communities are hundred of years old and have always used this
form of government.
Pro
Con
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Purest form of democracy
Allows all citizens a say in running
the town
Deep historical tradition
Has worked well in small
communities
A high degree of accountability and
trust
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No centralized authority or
responsibility to administrate daily
functions
No centralized authority or
responsibility to deal with interagency or inter-organization
relationships
Difficult to do long-range planning
Challenging to educate citizens on
complex issues
Meetings can be cumbersome
Meetings can be poorly attended
Changing the Form of Local Government
Since the form of local government is established in a city’s charter, it can only
be changed by amending that charter. Note that the “operation” of City
government can be changed without a charter amendment as will be discussed
below. But, to create a fundamental and legal change in the form of a local
government, a charter amendment is required.
The Oregon Revised Statutes define how a charter amendment takes place as
follows:
221.210 Charter amendments and other municipal measures; initiative
and referendum. The city council may refer and the people may initiate
municipal measures or amendments to the charter of a city
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Since a charter amendment must be approved by the voters it is no small matter.
Most communities will only engage in a charter amendment after a very
deliberate review by an appointed committee. Success is usually only assured by
mounting an effective support campaign as voters are often leery of changes in
their community’s “constitution.” Usually, a successful charter amendment has as
a foundation a full financial analysis of the impacts of the change.
As an alternative, a City can chose to operate as if it has a Council/Manager form
of government by doing two things. First, by ordinance or resolution, the Council
delegates some or all of its executive authority to the City Administrator. This
does not mean the Council abdicates it authority but rather tasks the
Administrator to exercise the authority on behalf of the Council. This commonly
involves making Department Heads subservient to the City Administrator rather
than reporting directly to the Council thereby creating a true leadership position
within the city staff.
The second thing to be done is to change the behavior of those involved in City
government so that they respect and work with this new leadership position. This
involves the individual Councilors respecting the Administrator’s role and not
“micro-managing” and the staff acknowledging the Administrator’s role and
working willingly in the new team structure.
Many Oregon cities have established successful frameworks for municipal
operations within a Council/Mayor form of government by using these
approaches.
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Alternative Municipal Government Structures
Sources:
International City/County Management Association,
http://icma.org/main/topic.asp?tpid=20&hsid=1, July 27, 2005
City of Portland Website,
http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?a=9178&&c=27481
July 28, 2005.
Brown, C; J. Dennis, Other, “Which Government is best?” Washburn University
Topeka, KS, May 8, 2004, www.washburn.educaspoliscipdf.umf
MacManus, Susan A. and Bullock, Charles S, The Form, Structure, and Composition
of America’s Municipalities in the New Millennium, no citation available on source or
date
League of Oregon Cities, Excerpts from the Handbook for Oregon City Councilors,
Revised September 2000
Discussions with Richard Townsand, Retired Executive Director of the League of Oregon
Cities; David Galati, Executive Director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of
Governments; Randy Ealy, City Manager of Estacada and 2005 President of the Oregon
City/County Managers Association; and Erik Kvarsten, City Manager of Gresham
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