CCP 10-12-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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, . Council-Manager Relations: Time for Adjustment, Before It Is Too Late his spring, I spoke to administrators. elected officials. and academicians at a -;onference on ~he Cle\-eIand State t~ni- versicy campus. The purpose of the conference. which was titled "Governing Local America-Maximizing Respon- siveness and Efficiency," was (Q explore the council-man- ager form of government, focusing on elected officials' expectations of the changing role of the professional ad- - ministrator. as well as to address council-administrator re. lationships. The conference also called public attention . to the role that professional local government managers can play in strengthening local government and local democracy. ........... ........................................................... The conference presentation was based on my 20 years A 15-Year of experience as a local government manager and my five ................................................................... years as an execuu\'e search consultant to local go"'ern. Look at ment. It centered on council expectations and how these expectations have changed over the years, council-man- ................................................................... ager relationships. and what administrators need to do (0 Cogncil strengthen them. .......... ........................................................ Expectations What Has Changed and What Remains the Same .......... ........................................................ ",im Brimeyer As I began my research for the presentation. 1 found posi- tion profiles from the past 15 years-from the late 1970s and late 1980s-which 1 compared with 1993 profiles. 1 di- vided the profiles into two categories: council's expecr.a~ dons in terms of organizational skills and council's expec- tations in terms of management and personality style, . This is what 1 found.