1. New Role for City Council
President
IN A WEAK MAYOR COUNCIL-MANAGER
FORM OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
2. Elimination of Council Voting Districts
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City Councilors, without districts are now similar to
the Mayor’s position by having the same role of
representing all citizens of the City
Citizen voices have gotten lost as an unintended
consequence in the process of eliminating of voting
districts
Community awareness and neighborhood influence
has also felt diminished representation and voice
Special interest are clearly the winners in this
structure because they can amass financial and
organizational resources for their purpose
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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3. New Role for Council President
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The Council President’s current role as backup to the Mayor
could be expanded by Charter Amendment to fill this
new communication and citizen engagement gap.
This city wide elected official is the best person to fill this role
because its already acts as a supportive bridge between the
Mayor’s Office and City Council, driving interaction and
communication. This position is best prepared to involve
and keep current neighborhood citizens in matters of
potential upcoming legislative actions impacting their
community, neighborhood, and neighbors.
The Council President could coordinate and lead in the
reestablishment of “neighborhood councils” to empower
and reactivate meaningful citizen engagement and
involvement in local problem solving, decision making and
actual governance at this grass roots level.
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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4. Mayors New Role
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The current mayor serves part time. some estimating
three (3) days a week in a primarily ceremonial role.
Under a new charter empowered executive role the mayor
would be too busy attending to active participation in
programs of economic development and in recruiting
investment capital and job creation to have time for this
heighten role of citizen engagement.
The Council President’s important role serves as
facilitor between the Mayor’s Office and the Legislative and
Policy Making City Council insures effective communication
and cooperation for achievement of city’s goals and
work plan. This positions unique and innovative
interaction and influence with citizens would be of
great benefit to the city and serve as a model for charter
reform to other cities suffering from the same dilemma.
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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5. Charter Reform Efforts
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The media, based on engaged citizens input, have recently become
critical of City Council and Mayor leadership in the current Charter
Review Process as it relates to citizen involvement.
This has had the consequence of opening the “Pandora Box” leading to
a broader evaluation of what has happen to citizen voice over the
pass years as those representatives of special interests weaken citizen
authority and participation in local governance, and what adds insult to
injury is that they utilized the City Charter to accomplish their aim.
Some political scientists opinion that “special interests” have too
often been successful at convincing elected officials that their
expertise and voice is of greater worth than that of the local
citizenry.
It only took the straight forward inquiry of seeking examples of their
process for gathering meaningful input and recommendations from the
citizen community to verify that this was self-serving propaganda.
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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6. Citizen Input Auditor
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The Council President as dedicated citizen listening
post, engaging and soliciting relevant input and
feedback at street, neighborhood and community levels
with the aid of the Internet and social media as
backup would develop new knowledge and expertise
unknown and therefore not utilized in most cities.
It would be the Council President’s responsibility to
throw the red flag and cry foul anytime he/she
recognized critical and significant citizen
information as absent from City Council or the Office
of Mayor deliberations.
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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7. Recruiting Potential Candidates for City Council
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The Council President could play a key role in community leadership
development and recruit outstanding citizens to run for elected office.
It is sad indeed to see in a city of 100,000+ city few if any competing
candidates for Council and Mayor Offices. This not because all is well in
paradise! Most citizens see the current form of government as not engaging
or involving in anything meaningful at their community level and have a
perception that their cannot make a differences.
City Staff are not skilled in citizen problem solving and engagement at the
neighborhood and community level because historically council-
manager organizations did not value such involvement and saw it
as potential political interference lacking the necessary subject
matter expertise.
The elite skepticism that drove out elected executive authority and created
the council-manager weak mayor form of government refuses even here
to give citizens a foothold even in their own neighborhoods
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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8. Delivering Adequate Representation
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It is the Charter Review Committee responsibility to see to it that
there are provisions in the Charter that provide for adequate
representation of citizens in their governing bodies and process. This
proposal for an expanded role of Council President will be a first step and
go along way toward accomplishing this end.
Council elections- at-large and elimination of voting districts has more or
less reduced citizen engagement to a whimper. A few years ago the
City Charter established a requirement that the mayor report once a year
on citizen engagement accomplishment. This was not intended to be a
“Campaign” public relations event where in the “State of the City Report”
list the many Mayor’s accomplishment, which unfortunately it has now
become. What was the intent of that Charter Review Committee?
Would City Council and Special Interests Groups block the
reestablishment of voting districts placement on the special
election ballot, now that they have established a supermajority
requirement for adoption.
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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9. Who does this Council Care About?
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The more diverse a community, the more important are issues of
representation and citizen voice. Does the average citizen feel
invested in the public good?
In many ways representing reflects caring!
Who does this current Charter and Council care about?
Have lost the value of difference by focusing on the entire city?
Have we lost the participative value of citizen interaction and
influence?
Who do we think fills this communication gap and political vacuum
and for what purpose?
Is this the democratic process that we as a nation have so long
espoused?
We think not.
Does our Charter Review Committee have the courage to start the
journey back to the future?
Council President Closes Citizen Engagement 1/11/2012
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