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<br />The Council-Manager Form of Government: <br /> <br />Page 3 of7 <br /> <br />Q: Is this form of government used only in certain kinds of cities? <br /> <br />A: No. In fact, it is not restricted to cities. It is used by towns and counties too. More than 3,400 <br />cities operate under this form, and more than 371 counties operate under the council-administrator form. <br />They vary greatly in size and characteristics. <br /> <br />Q: How many Americans live in communities that operate under council-manager <br />government? <br /> <br />A: More than 89 million. <br /> <br />Q: Is the form popular in large communities? <br /> <br />A: Yes. Out of237 cities with greater than 100,000 residents, 141 use this form of government. <br />Some examples are Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Oklahoma City, <br />Okl~Qm~; PhQ~nix, ArizQn~; S~ AntQniQ, Tex~; S~ Di~gQ ~ng S~ Jo~e, C~lifQrni~; Virginia Be~~h, <br />Virginia; and Wichita, Kansas. Large counties that use the structure include: Broward County, Florida; <br />Clark County, Nevada; Fairfax County, Virginia; Hamilton County, Ohio; Mecklenburg County, North <br />Carolina; and Santa Clara County, California. <br /> <br />Q: How much citizen participation is possible under council-manager- gover-nment? <br /> <br />A: Successful examples of citizen participation in the local government service delivery <br />decision-making process are widespread among professionally managed communities. Because <br />professional local government management offers government of the people, by the people, and for the <br />people, it sets the stage for citizen activism by encouraging open communication between citizens and <br />their government. Examples range from visioning, in which citizens playa major role in determining <br />the future of their community, to neighborhood service delivery, which involves residtmts through the <br />development ofcitizenlgovernment partnerships, to community-oriented local government services. <br />. Because political power is concentrated in the entire governing body rather than one elected <br />official, more citizens have an opportunity to be elected to a position in which they have significant <br />infllJ~m;~ ov~r th~ fuwr~ of their ~ommunity, <br /> <br />http://www2.icma.orglupload/libraryIIQ/114238.htm <br /> <br />1/16/2003 <br />