A city council member oversees and regulates the everyday functions of the management and government actions. The decisions made by the council members are based solely on the community needs. There are three department of a local city council: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The Executive is the law enforcement of everyday administration. The legislative are the lawmakers. Lastly, the judiciary is the courts of appeals for citizen. The typical city council members represent, legislates, oversees city departments and administrators, and judges the fairness of government operations. Citizens expect their elected officials to be responsive to voter’s demands (Dye & MacManus, 2012, p. 383).
Roles of city councils members’ and the policy …show more content…
Constituents cannot hold members accountable if they do not know who they are. Although many council members are elected there are many factors as to why council members may be unknown to the local citizens. First, the members may be appointed to office by mayors to fill positions. Secondly, in municipal elections only a few votes can elect a person to office. For example, if a candidate is part of the country club, the club voting members may meet the required number of votes that elects him. Another example would be a pastor running for council and his congregation voting for him at the time of election. Next, many citizens and councilmen have little to no contact with one another. This problem is often associated with the socioeconomic status of the citizens. Individuals who are upper class are more likely to be involved with the contact of council member when it comes to city issues, where as a citizen of middle or lower class status would not. Another issue on accountability is that becoming a new member of city council is hard because during elections they are defeated by former council members. Most citizens do not vote for new members in fear that they will make a drastic change or will not make any change. Lastly, city council member retire without the knowledge of the community and new members are appointed to fill the positions. These various issues …show more content…
They are professionals who often have degrees in business or political science and specialize in public administration. They often relocate for career advancement opportunities. City managers are often hired to make sure policies are carried out properly and effectively. There are two types of city managers policy and administrative. Policy managers are city managers who provide community leadership through their recommendations to their councils on a wide variety matters (Dye & MacManus, 2012, p. 385). Administrative managers are city managers who restrict themselves to the supervision of the municipal bureaucracy and avoid innovating policy recommendation particularly in controversial areas (Dye & MacManus, 2012, p. 385). Many city managers identify themselves as Policy
Roles of city councils members’ and the policy …show more content…
Constituents cannot hold members accountable if they do not know who they are. Although many council members are elected there are many factors as to why council members may be unknown to the local citizens. First, the members may be appointed to office by mayors to fill positions. Secondly, in municipal elections only a few votes can elect a person to office. For example, if a candidate is part of the country club, the club voting members may meet the required number of votes that elects him. Another example would be a pastor running for council and his congregation voting for him at the time of election. Next, many citizens and councilmen have little to no contact with one another. This problem is often associated with the socioeconomic status of the citizens. Individuals who are upper class are more likely to be involved with the contact of council member when it comes to city issues, where as a citizen of middle or lower class status would not. Another issue on accountability is that becoming a new member of city council is hard because during elections they are defeated by former council members. Most citizens do not vote for new members in fear that they will make a drastic change or will not make any change. Lastly, city council member retire without the knowledge of the community and new members are appointed to fill the positions. These various issues …show more content…
They are professionals who often have degrees in business or political science and specialize in public administration. They often relocate for career advancement opportunities. City managers are often hired to make sure policies are carried out properly and effectively. There are two types of city managers policy and administrative. Policy managers are city managers who provide community leadership through their recommendations to their councils on a wide variety matters (Dye & MacManus, 2012, p. 385). Administrative managers are city managers who restrict themselves to the supervision of the municipal bureaucracy and avoid innovating policy recommendation particularly in controversial areas (Dye & MacManus, 2012, p. 385). Many city managers identify themselves as Policy