Rumors are floating around that we need a strong mayor system for the City of San Angelo. I do not think that the Mayor’s position needs to be any stronger than what it is today. He is by the city charter the Chief Executive Officer of the city. We also have in place a Council and a Mayor that leads that Council in the goal setting, financial and operational decision-making. The City Council and the Mayor appoint the City Manager to run the day-to-day operations of the city and to report to the Mayor and City Council. What more do we need? Other cities have tried the Strong City Mayor approach and have failed. Do we need to follow that example or do we need to hold our City Council and Mayor to a higher standard and insure they are doing what they are elected to do? The Mayor is like the chairman of the board, and the Council Members are the board of directors - they need to be doing their job (start directing and get out of the day-to-day operations - let the City Manager and his/her staff do their jobs). If it is felt that the Mayor of San Angelo does not have the power needed to do the job, then take another look at it. He has more than enough power to do his work; he just needs to apply all areas of his office to work for him and the people that he has been elected to work for. There are many areas that we need to look at and re-think in the City Charter and have changed; however, a Strong Mayor approach to the City of San Angelo is not one of them. Take a stand and let your council members know that this is not the direction that you want the city to follow.
GW ELMQUIST
First, welcome as a poster, and good post. Something I have discussed without hammering down details follows. I can see justification for the mayor's position to be slightly elevated above a single, co-equal vote, in that he is the only member elected city wide.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be your opinion of remaining with our current strong manager/Council as setting policy, but giving the mayor limited veto?
As I envision this, Mayor could veto a particular measure, the measure would then need five votes, mayor included for passage? I'd have to look through Code to see if it is even legal, but right now JWT has my book and disc.