Job Description of a City Manager
A city manager is an executive level administrator in municipal affairs. The city manager's job as a professional post is generally filled by appointment as opposed to election as a political post. The city council or the city council and the mayor appoint the city manager. City managers are sometimes referred to as chief executive officers or chief administrative officers for the city, and their qualifications must meet such responsibilities.
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Education/Experience
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Many municipalities require city managers to have a college degree or a certain number of years of experience in lieu of a college degree. D'Iberville, Mississippi, requires the city manager to have a bachelor's degree in a field related to public administration or have 10 years of executive level experience for a city, county or state agency. The charter for the city of Petaluma, California, requires that the city manager have experience in the council-manager form of government. Additionally, the Petaluma city manager must hold a bachelor's degree. The International City/County Management Association offers credentials to city managers who are in full-time appointed positions, demonstrate adequate knowledge in a knowledge assessment survey and successfully pass a peer review process.
Function
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City managers have a number of duties including charter-mandated responsibilities.
In El Paso, Texas, the city manager's main responsibility is to provide administrative and organizational leadership from a comprehensive perspective as opposed to taking a district-by-district approach. Typically, city managers play a major role in formulating the city budget, forming and implementing city policy and generating ideas for increased efficiency in city services. The hiring and firing of city department heads also falls under the direction of city managers. City managers meet with city council members and other elected and appointed officials for regularly scheduled or chartered mandated meetings and on an as-needed basis. Some city managers travel to other cities on exploratory missions to gather successful practices and policies to implement in their respective cities. -
Size
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According to the International City/County Management Association, its 9,000 members make decisions that impact 185 million people around the world. The council-manager form of government is used by cities and towns both large and small.
Time Frame
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Most city manager posts are full-time positions that require at least 40 hours per week of work.
Salary
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that the median annual salary of a city manager is $94,992. The median annual salary for city managers is higher than that of engineers, fire chiefs and treasurers who work in local government.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit city image by WojtekZ from Fotolia.com
