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How did we get here?

A History of the City Management Profession

TCMA William “King” Cole Series

January 29, 2015

Lou Fox Asst. to the President Incarnate Word University

James Thurmond MPA Program

University of Houston

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Acknowledgement

This presentation uses materials from Terrell Blodgett’s

City Government That Works The History of Council-Manager

Government in Texas

1998, TCMA

Fox’s Public Service Experience

• 8 years in US Marine Corp and US Army Reserves • 26 Years in Local Government • Cities of Wichita, KS, Overland Park, KS, Orange, San Antonio, and

Lubbock, TX • 17 years in Higher Education- Trinity University and University of the

Incarnate Word, TX • City Manager- Assistant City Manager, Budget Officer, Chaired a

Graduate Program in Urban Administration • Directed an Executive Search Program and Facilitated numerous

team building and goal setting sessions

Lou as assistant city manager in San Antonio

Thurmond’s Public Service Experience

• 2 years in US Army • 30 years in local government • Cities of Bryan, Austin, Denison, Cleveland, Uvalde, &

Missouri City • Worked for 11 mayors and 44 councilmembers, one

department head, and two city managers • MPA Director/Teaching at University of Houston

Cleveland City Council 1977

The guy with hair in the double knit suit

10K Run – Uvalde, TX, 1983

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Why history of council-mgr?

• There are plenty of council-mgr cities in Texas

• The city mgt. profession has been around a long time.

• So what?

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Refresher on Local Government

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Forms of City Govt.

1. Mayor – Council • Oldest form • Corruption rampant in late 1800s • Mayor is political and administrative

head • Largest cities in U.S. – NYC, LA,

Chicago • In Texas – Houston, Pasadena, and

Texas City; 39 of 290 home rule cities

Strong Mayor - Council

Weak Mayor - Council

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Forms of City Govt. (cont..)

2. Commission – Galveston hurricane 1900 – Small elected body performs both legislative

and administrative functions – Adopted by many cities: Houston, Dallas,

Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin – Popularity rose and fell like a meteor – U.S. – only Portland, Oregon – Texas – no city

Commission Form

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Forms of City Govt. (cont..)

3. Council – Manager • It is not “city manager” government • It is Council-Manager government • Based on business model • Emphasizes unity of authority and policy

• Policy in council and administration in mgr. • Texas: All major cities (284) • Except for Houston and Pasadena

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Council-Manager Form

• Similar to a board of directors and CEO in private enterprise • Policy • Administration • Reform Movement

Voters

Mayor and City Council

City Manager

City Staff

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Council-Mgr. Form Today

• Most popular in cities 5,000 and larger

• 3,400 cities in USA • 89 million Americans • 141 cities out of 237 cities over

100,000 population

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284 Cities In Texas Council Mgr Form Largest Cities

Dallas Fort Worth

Corpus Christi Austin

San Antonio Beaumont

El Paso Arlington

Grand Prairie Plano

Lubbock Amarillo

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Benefits of the

Council-Manager Form

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Benefits of Council-Mgr. • Unity of authority – not divided by gridlock • Professionalism –

– manager and dept heads – Expertise to policymaking

• Continuity • Objectivity • Vision • No administrative participation in electoral

politics

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What’s the bang for the buck?

• Productivity, Efficiency, and Effectiveness – Paved 9 miles of brick pavement and reduced

water rates 50% - Walter Lander, Eastland 1921

– City freed itself from debt – C.E. Johnson, Teague 1922

– Paved all 66 blocks in town – Tom Hinton, Weimar 1955

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More bang for the buck

• Increases professionalism • Increases continuity • Balance of power • Allows Council to focus on big picture

items and major policy • Keeps partisan politics out of city

operations

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More bang for the buck - Examples • Council-mgr cities nearly 10% more efficient

than strong mayor types of cities (>100,000) (Edwards, IBM)

• Nearly 66% of Moody’s AAA cities are council mgr

• 60% of best places to live are council-mgr (CNNMoney)

• Reduced levels of municipal expenditures and property taxes (Stumm and Corrigan1998)

• Managerial skills are a good predictor of performance measures (Carmeli 2006)

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Even more bang for the buck • More outward looking • Advocacy rather than conserver • More private-public partnerships • More jurisdiction based management • Lower levels of conflict and more

cooperation in the decisionmaking process in 165 medium sized cities (Nollenberger 2008)

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How did council-manager

form get to where it is today?

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Why Learn History? Bryan Miller, Wichita Falls City Mgr & ICMA Pres., 1937 • Your position is more than the product of your

talents or the reward for your performance • It is your heritage from the hundreds of men

[ and women] before you • It is based upon their service, their integrity, and

their joint efforts toward self-improvement • They have made the title of ‘City Manager’ a

badge of distinction and honor” Our challenge to you: Add value to this heritage

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Early concepts • 1792 – “skillful superintendent” for

Washington D.C. • 1821 – “city intendant” for Boston • 1887 – Woodrow Wilson’s perspective • 1900 – Politics/Adm dichotomy • 1908 – “business manager” • 1913 – “controlled city executive” (Terrell)

• 1945 – “a city mgr means dictatorship (Corpus Christi)

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Note: End of Pol./Adm. Dichotomy

This is still true today: • Technical competence is not enough for

successful city mgt. Today’s manager must be politically astute and have broad understanding of his community. He must understand fully the import and consequences of public policy.

Steve Matthews, 1962

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Thoughts behind Council-Mgr. • “[Council-manager] is the application

of plain business principles to the city government and removes it entirely from the domain of politics.”

• “. . . will save many times his salary to the city. ” Terrell Daily Transcript 1913

• “A real city mgr never keeps barnacles & drones on the public payroll.” Wichita Falls News 1926

• “. . . would save the city dollars & cents” Nacogdoches Sentinel 1928

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Note: Home Rule Legislation & Council Mgr.

• 1913 - Home rule legislation passed and council-mgr adopted in Terrell & Amarillo

• Home rule facilitated spread of council-mgr. form of govt.

• But no causal link

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Trends Leading to Council-Mgr

1. Urbanization 2. Popularity of the business model 3. Progressive Reform Movement

– corruption 4. “Scientific management”

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Early Supporters • Herman G. James – “father of

council-mgr. govt. in Texas” • Bureau of Municipal Research and

Reference • Newspapers: Nacogdoches Sentinel, Wichita Falls News,

Sherman Chronicle, San Angelo Standard, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times-Herald, etc.

• ICMA’s Public Management magazine -1928

• City Manager Clubs – Austin, Waco

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Note: Why “Commission” instead of City Council?

• Early on with the adoption of council-mgr, “city councils” became “commissions”

• At that time, the term city council had a negative connotation of a large, ineffective governing body

• Today Amarillo is one of few cities still using “commission”

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Nationally

• Ukiah, CA 1904 • Staunton, VA 1908 • Sumter, South Carolina 1912

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Texas – 1913

• Terrell 1913 • Amarillo 1913 • TML formed in 1913 (League of

Texas Municipalities) • TML was supportive of council-mgr

form of government • Bureau of Municipal Research and

Reference

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90 years of council-mgr

• Denton, Taylor, Sherman, Yoakum, Tyler, San Angelo, Brownsville, Beaumont, Bryan, Lubbock, and Lufkin

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Large City Adoptions

• Fort Worth 1924 • Wichita Falls 1928 • Austin 1926 • Dallas 1931 • Corpus Christi 1945 • San Antonio 1951 • Laredo 1981 • El Paso 2004

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Texas – Abandonments

Three abandonments which remained the mayor-council form:

–Ranger –Electra –Houston

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Early Texas City Managers

• M. H. Hardin – Amarillo 1913 – Member of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders – Initiated idea for the ICMA – Installed incinerator by himself

• Ossian E. Carr – Forth Worth 1925 – Corrected 65% water loss – Opposed the KKK -- crosses were burned in his yard

and the mayor’s – Put church owned but commercially used property on

the tax rolls

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Early Texas City Mgrs. (cont.) • John North Edy – Dallas

– 1st city mgr in all five cities he served: Berkeley, CA; Flint, MI; Dallas; Toledo, OH; & Houston

– He set two conditions for his employment (46)

• Adam R. Johnson – Austin 1926 – Shot 4 times in his office by disgruntled

former city health officer – Survived to serve 6 more years

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Early Texas City Mgrs. (cont.)

• E.E. McAdams – Waco 1924 – Installed electrical traffic signal controls – Reorganized police department

• Robert Cooper – Port Arthur 1932 – Reduced his salary from $500/mo. to

$350/mo due to continuing eco. Depression

• Russell McClure – Corpus Christi – 1953 – Initiated weekly TV programs

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Early Texas City Mgrs. (cont.) • H.P. Clifton – Lubbock – 1955

– “City hall should operate as though competing city hall across the street.”

– “I’ve never known a city mgr. big enough to run a newspaper out of town.”

• L.P. Cookie Cookingham – Fort Worth – 1959 – Ordered one man police cars – Required developers to pay city more – Privatized city equalization of property values

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Not so Early Texas City Mgrs.

• John S. Stiff – Amarillo 1963-83 – Served in both WWII and Korean War – first city when he was 36 – “The Stiff Approach” – John Birch Society wanted him fired

• George Schrader – Dallas 1972-81 – Started as planner asst. in San Angelo

• David Harner – Denison twice – First KU mgr in Texas

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Note: Mentors and Influences

• Marvin Townsend – CC and Laredo – I grew up in Refugio thinking that Marvin was

Mr. Corpus Christi -1960’s

• Gary Halter – Teacher and Mayor – I was in his first class at Texas A&M 1967 – He influenced me into city mgt.

• Terrell Blodgett – Consultant & Teacher – I met him in 1973 when he was a consultant – Spoke to his classes at the LBJ School

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Firsts

• First Woman Willie J. Brockman – Beaumont – 1948

• First Hispanic George Ozuna Jr. – Crystal City – 1963

• First African American Terry Childers – Celina – 1975

• Husband and Wife Managers Aaron Lam (Edinburgh 1980-84) and Dr Wai-Lim Lam (San Juan 1981-84)

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City Mgrs’ Background

• Early – engineering and business (grocer, furniture sales, car dealer, and railroad), chamber of commerce

• 1954: 15% from non-govt positions • Today: Average of 17 years in local

government management positions

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City Mgrs’ Education • 1916 – noted need for professional

education at annual convention • “. . . to develop the training program from

the practical side.” (Clarence Ridley) • 1924 – Texas A&M – “city mgt graduate

course in engineering” • 1948 – MPA • 1954 – ave. were college graduates; 90 out

of 480 were business or PA; 198 were engineering

• Today –73% have MPA, urban affairs, or public affairs or professional degrees

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MPA Programs 22 in Texas

1962 University North Texas 1969 University of Texas at Arlington 1970 University of Texas LBJ School 1972 University of Houston

1973 Texas State University 1974 Texas A&M University 1975 Texas Tech University

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Note: Who is Clarence Ridley?

• TCMA annual scholarship is named after him

• Port Arthur city engineer and water supt.

• Masters degree Columbia University • Bluefield, W. VA, city manager • PhD, Syracuse Maxwell School • ICMA Executive Director – 1929 - 1956

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Note: Length of Tenures

Two year standard not that common in the early years:

• Roderic B. Thomas- Corpus Christi’s 1st mgr – 1946 -14 months

• Jim Aston – Bryan – 1939 – 1 yr. • Bill Taylor – McAllen – 1945 – 14

months

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Professional Organizations • 1913 – League of Texas Municipalities • 1916 – “section meeting” at League of

Texas Municipalities annual meeting • “traded stories, swapped secrets, and

discussed the state of city mgt.” • 1925 – organized “City Mgr section” • 1926 – 8 mgrs met in Corpus Christi and

re-elected E.E. McAdams president • 1927 – new name: TCMA • 1959 – TCMA regional associations

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Conference Topics • 1940: proper mgr-council relations;

personnel training; sustaining citizens interest in local govt.

• 1942: price/wage/rent controls; civil defense; replacement of lost personnel

• 1948: should city mgr. assume the status of a leader in his community?

• 1981: privatization • Today – contracts, ethics, 3P

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More Notes

• 1926 -- Special bathing girls revue held at convention in Corpus Christi

• 1927 – majority of city mgrs agreed they had most trouble with their police depts., and the least from their fire depts.

• 1929 – Invitation to breakfast at annual League conference to meet “every one of the thirty-odd city mgrs of Texas”

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Note: Bill Pitstick • Accepted city clerk/treasurer job in

Kerrville at a lower salary as an entrée to a city mgt career – 1952

• Borrowed money to attend his first ICMA conference – 1954

• Met Dallas city mgr at ICMA • In 1955 Dallas city mgr recommended

him for Arlington city mgt job. • Moral of story?

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Note: Democratic Theory

Remember who is the boss! • There is no such thing as the

“council’s policy.” • The minute the council passes a

policy, it’s my policy! H.P. Clifton 1968

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Note: Spouses 1960’s survey

• Wife is interviewed as part of the process

• Dress properly and take part in everything she could

• Spousal attendance at city sponsored events was almost 100%

Today: with dual careers and women in city management, a survey would reveal different behaviors

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So you think you got it tough?

• KKK • Bumper stickers: “Cookie’s Gotta Go” • Wife wearing shorts • The REALLY Great Depression • World War II, the draft, and rationing • No sales tax prior to 1968 • 1979 energy crunch • Oil bust of mid-1980’s • Uncertainty – Cold War

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Well, you do have it tough!

• Post 9-11 • Current major recession • Globalization • More constraints on government • More government bashing • Energy costs • Greater expectations of government • Uncertainty – War on Terrorism

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Your Challenges • Implementing within the constraints

and uncertainty • Educating new-comers to council-mgr

form of government • Wicked problems • Addressing the new information

technology as you manage • Addressing globalism & what it

means to your city and region

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Note: Practice-Theory Dilemma Richard Child – 1947

– City mgrs claim to be practical men and “guy” [support with guywires] those thought to be theorists

– My response is “yes, I am a theorist, because I know where I want to get to but nobody will listen.”

– Meanwhile the practical man gets there . – And then finds that he is in the wrong

place!!

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What will be your history?

• Are you ensuring the council-manager form of government’s sustainability?

• Are you protecting managerial prerogatives?

• Are you practicing democratic theory? • Are you a creature or a creator? • Are you successfully implementing? • Or are you a “free rider”?

Regardless of your choice, some things never change

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Summary • What a city manager did in 1927

matters today. • You owe much to city mgt from the

hundreds of men [women] who have made city mgt the career it is today

• What you do today will matter to someone in 2075.

• You are responsible for the future of city management

• Learn from the past