The council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities.^[1] Council–manager government form also is used in county governments in the United States and the governing body in a county may be called a council, a commission, freeholders, aldermen, and such. The council-manager form also is used for municipal government in Canada and in Ireland, among many other countries, both for city councils and county councils.

Under the council–manager form of government for municipalities, the elected governing body (commonly called a city council, city commission, or board of selectmen) is responsible for the legislative function of the municipality such as establishing policy, passing local ordinances, voting appropriations, and developing an overall vision.^[2] County and other types of local government follow the same pattern, with a different title for the governing body members that matches the title of the body.

The legislative body, which is voted into office by public elections, appoints a professional manager to oversee the administrative operations, implement its policies, and advise it. The position of "mayor" present in this type of legislative body is a largely ceremonial title, and may be selected by the council from among its members or elected as an at-large council member with no executive functions.^[3]

The city manager position in this form of municipal government is similar to that of corporate chief executive officer (CEO), providing professional management to the board of directors. Council–manager government is much like a publicly-traded corporation.^[4] In a corporation, the board of directors appoints a CEO, makes major decisions and wields representative power on behalf of shareholders. In council–manager government, the elected council appoints a city manager, makes major decisions, and wields representative power on behalf of the citizens.

This system of government is used in 40.1% of American cities with populations of 2,500 or more, according to the 2011 Municipal Yearbook published by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA),^[5] a professional organization for city managers and other top appointed local government administrators/CAOs.

History of the council–manager government in the United States[link]

The concept of the council–manager form of government was a product of a confluence of the prevailing modes of thought during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[6] Probably the foremost influence was the Progressive Movement; following along the thought lines of the movement, the municipal reformers of that time wanted to rid municipalities of the pervasive “political machine” form of government and the abuses of the spoils system. The thought was to have a politically impartial administrator or manager to carry out the administrative function.

Another influence was the “Scientific Management” movement, often associated with Frederick Winslow Taylor. The focus of this movement was to run organizations in an objective, scientific fashion to maximize efficiency, among other things.

A third influence behind the council-manager idea was that of the organizational structure of the for-profit corporation, with its board of directors, which hires a professional CEO to run its operations.^[6]

Sumter, South Carolina, has the distinction of being the first city in the United States to implement council–manager government successfully, although Staunton, Virginia is credited as the first American city appointing a city manager in 1908.^[7] Some have traced the first occurrence of the manager position to as early as 1904 in Ukiah, California, however, but it seems clear that all experts in the field credit the Staunton position as the one, which began to focus the light on the fledgling profession and caught the eye of Richard S. Childs, who would become known, somewhat, as the “father” of the council-manager form of government and the Model City Charter.^[6][8] The first large city to adopt the council–manager form was Dayton, Ohio, in 1913.

Currently, thirty-eight of Virginia's thirty-nine cities have a council–manager form of government, with the capital, Richmond, being the only exception. Richmond switched to a strong-mayor–council plan in 2004, after having had a council–manager system since 1948, as many large cities have because of their greater areas and populations.

The council–manager system has grown considerably in popularity since the start of the 20th century. In 1935, ICMA recognized 418 U.S. cities and seven counties using the system.

The council-manager form of government developed, at least in part, as a response to some perceived limitations of the city commission government form. The council-manager form became the preferred alternative for progressive reform, and after World War I, very few cities adopted the commission form and many cities using the commission plan switched to the council-manager form. Galveston itself changed forms in 1960.

By 2001, 3,302 cities with a population over 2,500 and 371 counties used the council-manager system. Phoenix, Arizona is the largest city in the United States to retain council–manager government.^[9]

Adaptive structural models in larger cities[link]

While the popularity of council–manager government has endured into the twenty-first century, the system as practiced has changed over time, particularly in once medium-sized communities that have grown into more heterogeneous and politically contentious large cities.^[10] In such communities, their elected officials increasingly see themselves as political activists responding to a constituency rather than trustees performing a public service, and they take a greater interest in administration on a day-to-day basis, participating more closely in resolving civic issues, rather than simply identifying them as in the traditional model.^[10]

The model for council-manager government has grown in structural diversity as well with population growth. In a 1996 study, 62 percent of responding council-manager communities indicated that they granted the office additional powers such as appointing officials or vetoing legislation or elected their mayors directly.^[11]

Recent hybrids[link]

Indeed, much has been written over the last decade regarding the variety of hybrid forms of local governments that have evolved from the two pure forms (council-manager and mayor-council). The cities that have modified their organizational structure from one of the pure forms now commonly are termed “adaptive” community organizations.^[12]

These variations necessitate a delineation of the distinguishing features of the council-manager form of government. ICMA has listed at least three defining characteristics that distinguish a truly council-manager government:

• All governmental authority rests with the council, or other sovereign elected body, except for certain duties that are assigned by charter or other law to the manager, however, the manager always is employed at the pleasure of the elected body.

• The appointed executive, a manager, officially is allocated the executive or administrative functions in codified form, minimum functions not being at the whim of a mayor, for example.

• The manager must be responsible to, hired by, and can be dismissed only by the entire council, not one individual, such as a mayor or chairperson.^[13]

"Model City Charter"[link]

The Model City Charter (MCC), published by the National Civic League, formerly the National Municipal League, is closely associated to the council-manager form of government. The Model City Charter is in its eighth edition, adopted in 2003. Since its second edition, adopted in 1915, the model charter for municipalities has recommended this council-manager form of government.^[14][15]

History of the council–manager government in the Republic of Ireland[link]

Following the turmoil of World War I 1914–1918, the 1916 rising, the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921, and the Irish Civil War 1921–1923, the Irish government found it necessary to remove the members of several local authorities and replace them temporarily by paid commissioners.

Both Dublin and Cork city councils were so removed. In both cities, there was a body of opinion that the services provided by the councils were delivered more efficiently and fairly under the commissioners than under the previous system, where the executive function had been, in effect, vested in the councils and their committees.

In 1926, a committee of commercial and industrial interests in Cork came together to consider a scheme of city government. Having regard to the city's experience of commissioners and recent experience in the United States a council–manager plan of city government was proposed.

After discussion between the minister for local government and local representatives, the minister, Richard Mulcahy, introduced as a government measure, The Cork City Management Bill, 1929 and it became law despite opposition. The minister proposed and the Oireachtas enacted similar provision for Dublin City in 1930. Similar laws were passed for Limerick in 1934 and Waterford in 1939 under the Fianna Fáil Government.

Under the County (Management) Act, 1940, which was brought into operation in August 1942, a county manager is the manager of every borough or town in that county, but since the 1990s, has the power to delegate these functions to any other officer of that borough or town council.

The system was modified also in subsequent legislation, particularly the City and County Management (Amendment) Act, 1955, which made some adjustments to give greater power to the council members, and the Local Government Act 1985, which provided for the council–manager system in Galway City once detached for local government purposes from Galway County.

The above acts have been replaced since that time, in substantially the same form, by the Local Government Act 2001.

See also[link]

• Mayor–council government
• City commission government

External links[link]

• City Mayors feature on US council managers
• International City/County Management Association
• National Civic League

Notes[link]

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Randy Hall was co-arranger with Miles Davis of the gold album, The Man With The Horn. The title track featured the lead vocals of Randy Hall, who also played guitar, synthesizer and celesta on the track.

Hall collaborated with Miles Davis a number of times during the 1980s. Randy Hall is a singer/guitarist/producer who currently lives in Las Vegas, NV where he has a production studio. He performs locally, nationally, and internationally. Hall grew up in Chicago. His first instrument was the piano, but at thirteen, he switched to guitar, taking guitar lessons from British jazz guitarist Peter Budd. Despite Budd's best efforts, Hall adopted a playing technique similar to Wes Montgomery, whereby the thumb is used as a pick. Hall can play fast and explosively, as in the opening number "One Phone Call/Street Scenes" on the ESP 2 DVD "A Tribute to Miles."

Hall met Miles's nephew (and future drummer) Vince Wilburn Jr in kindergarten and the two became life-long friends. Wilburn's mother Dorothy, was Miles's sister. The two friends started playing together and at the age of sixteen, joined a local band Time, Space and Distance.

That soon gained them a reputation around Chicago and they did session work for local groups, including The Dells. When Hall and Wilburn were around seventeen, Pete Cosey, who had played in Miles's band from 1973–1975, began giving them lessons. They did gigs with him, festivals, and other events. Pete played bass and Randy played guitar. In 1975, Hall went to study music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. When Hall returned to Chicago, he joined a new band called Data, which included Wilburn, bassist Richard Patterson, keyboardist Robert Irving III, and saxophonist Glenn Burris. All of these musicians later worked with Miles Davis, with Patterson becoming the last bassist in a Miles Davis band and the others working on Davis' comeback album, The Man With The Horn. Irving and Wilburn also joined Davis' band in the 1980s.

The Man With The Horn

Hall, Irving and Wilburn performed with other local musicians, including bassist Darryl Jones (who joined Miles's band in 1983) and guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly, who played on the Amandla album. In 1979, Data disbanded and a new band was formed, AL7, which included Hall, Wilburn, Irving, Burris, bassist Felton Crews (who also joined Miles's band) and Hall's sister Saundra, a vocalist.

AL7 performed part time with their main preoccupation being rehearsing and writing material. They also worked with arranger Tom Washington (known as Tom Tom 84), who was conected with another local band, Earth, Wind & Fire. Tom Tom 84 recorded several demos with AL7, including a track called "Space," which had been written by Robert Irving III.

Miles Davis' record label, Columbia Records, flew four of the AL7 band members - Hall, Wilburn, Crews, and Irving - from Chicago to New York, booked them in a top-flight hotel and arranged recording sessions. Glenn Burris later joined the four and although he was at many of the sessions, he did not play. Instead, the four Chicago musicians were joined by a young saxophonist Bill Evans, who had been recommended to Miles by ex-band member Dave Liebman.

The musicians worked on the music at Miles's house most days and in the studio and recorded more than a dozen tracks, although Davis did not play on any of them at that stage. One of them was "Shout," a disco-funk track written by Hall, Irving, and Burris. Another was "The Man With The Horn," a tribute ballad to Miles written by Hall and Irving, which became the title track for Davis' comeback album. Randy Hall also played guitar, synthesiser and celeste on the track.

ESP2 : A Tribute To Miles

The release of The Man With The Horn gave Hall a lot of exposure and as a result of his singing on the title track, he was invited to join the soul/funk band Pleasure^{[disambiguation needed ]}. Occasionally, Hall was asked by Miles Davis to compose some songs.

After leaving Pleasure, Hall carved out a successful career as an artist/producer and in 1984, he released a solo album, I Belong to You, produced by Ray Parker, Jr. (of Raydio and "Ghostbusters" fame). The album included contributions from Irving, Wilburn, Crews and Burris. In 1985, Hall was in Ray Parker Jr's studio, (Ameraycan) in Los Angeles, recording a follow-up solo album, Love You Like A Stranger. Once again, Crews and Irving were involved in the sessions. Meanwhile, Miles had left Columbia Records after almost thirty years and signed with Warner Bros. Records, with Warner's head of jazz Tommy LiPuma given the responsibility of handling Miles's musical development. During the initial stages, LiPuma was happy for Miles to choose his own musical direction. Miles decided that he wanted Hall to produce his first album for Warner Bros.

Hall decided to work with a number of people from the Love You Like A Stranger sessions on the new Miles album. One of these was Atalla Zane Giles, who had played guitar, keyboards, bass and sang on the album. Giles was asked to compose, arrange and produce the new album with Hall. Engineer Reggie Dozier was asked to join the project, as were keyboardist Adam Holzman (who later joined Miles's band), bassist Cornelius Mims, percussionist Steve Reid, Burris and Wilburn. More than a dozen tunes were recorded during the sessions, which took place between October 1985 and January 1986 and the plan was to release an album called Rubberband. One of the tracks was called "Give It Up," the same name as a hit tune for Pleasure.

The Rubberband material was never released. Davis later worked work with Marcus Miller to record Tutu. Davis' performances from a couple of the Rubberband sessions were used to create new tracks on the Doo-Bop album. Two tunes from the Rubberband sessions were due to appear on a retrospective set called The Last Word, but were ultimately not included.

In more recent years Hall has been working with an up and coming artist Elliott Small. Hall produced, wrote the music, and played piano and guitar on Small's album "This Season's Collection". Hall also wrote the lyrics for two songs on the album, "Share Your Love" and "Delightful".

References[link]

• Cole, George, The Last Miles (University of Michigan Press 2005)
• Cole, George (2006-07-17). "Miles's Associates: Randy Hall". The Last Miles. http://www.thelastmiles.com/associates-randy-hall.php
• Hellingh, Andreas (2006-07-17). "Randy Hall - Biography and Discography". The Soul of Amsterdam. http://www.thesoulofamsterdam.com/randy-hall-biography-discography.htm

External links[link]

• [1]
• [2]