Governing Magazine/November 1993

REBUTTAL

BEWARE THE LURE OF THE `STRONG' MAYOR

By Terrell Blodgett

Terrell Blodgett is the Mike Hogg Professor in Urban Management at the
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas
at Austin.

GOVERNING jumped on the bandwagon of unrealistic "quick fix" dreamers
with its article entitled "The Lure of the Strong Mayor" in this
July's issue. Author Rob Gurwitt argues that to exercise political
leadership, a mayor needs administrative authority similar to that
afforded to the mayor of Denver, who can:
 --Award contracts up to $500,000 without going to the city council.
 --Submit an annual budget that cannot be changed except by a two-
thirds vote of the council.
 --Appoint some 50 department heads, county judges and virtually all
boards and commissions without council confirmation.
 --Veto council actions, with the votes of nine of the 13 council
members required to overturn a veto.
 The executive mayor form relies on a single powerful leader who often
forges coalitions by exchanging benefits for support and uses his or
her power to gain leverage over opponents. Contrary to Gurwitt's
assertion, a number of highly regarded mayors have demonstrated that
political clout can be achieved WITHOUS administrative authority. Two
outstanding examples from large cities that use the council-manager
form of government are former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros (now
HUD secretary) and former Charlotte, North Carolina, Mayor Harvey
Gantt (who currently manages his own architectural firm). Both mayors
led their cities to greater economic stability and an improved quality
of life. Both credit the prosperity of their communities to the
council-manager form.
 Cisneros says San Antonio's greatest successes "can be attributed
directly to our council-manager form of government, characterized by
top-flight professionals with a corruption-free, fiscally sound
administration." Gantt thinks council-manager government is best
"particularly because it leaves the mayor and council free to focus on
the big policy issues. The day-to-day operations of the city do not
distract the mayor from this focus."
 Gurwitt's article implies that the council-manager plan is outdated
because it cannot respond to the new demands of highly diverse
communities. The truth is, the strongest examples of citizen
participation can be found in council-manager cities. The neighborhood
boards in the city of Dayton, Ohio, the first large city to adopt the
council-manager plan, have been cited repeatedly as models of citizen
involvement. Today, after 80 years, the city remains a strong advocate
of professional local government management. Cincinnati also has a
long and distinguished history of neighborhood activism.
 Gurwitt implies that strong-mayor communities CAN have professional
management. However, under the strong-mayor system, the chief
administrative officer is appointed by and subject to the mayor alone.
Administra-tors in strong-mayor cities also may have shorter tenures
and may be less likely to be experienced professional managers.
 Because Gurwitt pointed to Dallas as a longstanding council-manager
city that has considered a change in its form of government, it seems
appropriate to take a closer look at that city's politics. Only now,
with the switch to 14 single-member districts, are African-Americans
and Hispanics represented on the Dallas council in numbers that
reflect the community's diversity. In light of these improvements, Al
Lipscomb, an African-American businessman, long-time civil rights
leader and (until forced to retire because of term limits) mayor pro
tem of the Dallas city council, opposes a change in Dallas' form of
government. "Every time minorities get into the loop," he notes, "the
rules are changed under some pretext or through some slick scheme."
 At one time, the current mayor pro tem, Domingo Garcia, thought he
could support a move toward strong-mayor government. Today, however,
he feels differently. "North Dallas has the economic and political
clout to continue to elect a mayor, and under a strong-mayor system we
would be left out," he says. With Hispanics finally getting on the
city council, he adds, "I want to increase the power and authority of
the council, not decrease it as the strong-mayor system would do."
 There is no question that the stressful challenges facing today's big
cities call for strong political leadership. But today's complex
communities require consensus building and facilitation skills, not
power. Inexperienced leaders and political leaders simply CANNOT be as
effective.
 In the final analysis, today's big cities cannot succeed without the
guidance of effective mayors who provide a sense of direction and
contribute to the smooth functioning of a local government. Cities
also need thoughtful, dedicated council members, who work with the
mayor to establish appropriate policy, and competent, professional
managers to carry out those policies. None of the three are mutually
exclusive; they CAN and DO work together today in many of the
country's successful council-manager cities.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 1993, Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Reproduction in any form
without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited.
Governing, City & State and Governing.com are registered trademarks of
Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
http://governing.com