City manager - who is this? Job Responsibilities

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-09 14:06

According to the law, which came into force on January 1, 2006, not only an elected person, but also a "hired" person can be the head of the city administration. Such a manager works under a contract.

A city manager is a person appointed to the position of head of the city administration. The contract is signed for a period established by the charter of the city administration. Such a leader is selected on the basis of a competition. The contract can be concluded for at least two years.

Requirements for the candidate

The position of city manager implies the existence of rights and obligations that are associated with the adoption of city-wide decisions. In order for the future leader to perform his work as efficiently as possible and be useful to the territorial subject entrusted to him, he must meet certain requirements.

Most Significant:

• having the right to be elected and elect;
• age over 25;
• higher vocational education;3 years of work experience in municipal or state positions or inleadership positions in the state or municipal service;
• positive references from previous jobs;
• knowledge of regional and federal legislation;
• the presence of a conclusion from the state expert commission that it is possible to fulfill the official duties of the head of the administration on the implementation of state powers, which are transferred to self-government bodies by law.

Contest holding

Appointment is preceded by a competition. The city manager is selected according to the procedure established by the local representative body of the municipality.

Responsibilities

A city manager performs a large amount of duties. The head of administration controls this process.

The duties that a contract manager must perform may vary, but most of them are the same for all Russian cities.

Job Responsibilities Include:

• publication of resolutions addressed to the city administration on those issues of local importance;
• issuance of regulations that relate to the exercise of certain state powers transferred to local governments;
• issuance of orders addressed to the city administration on the organization of the workflow of the administration itself;
• taking measures to ensure and protect the interests of the municipality in litigation, state bodies and the arbitration court;
• development of the draft budget, draft programs, as well as plans for socio-economic development;
• management and disposal of estimates of income and expenses of the city administration;
• solving issues and organizing the city's tax policy;
• management of city property issues, municipality plan, urban economy;
• appointment and removal from office of those employees of the service who report to him.

Reporting

A city manager is an employee who bears great responsibility not only to the higher management, which has concluded an agreement with him, but also to the whole city and its residents.

In this regard, he is obliged to report annually on the results of his activities to the City Council.

In addition, the legislation clearly regulates the permitted activities for the manager. So, he has no right to engage in entrepreneurial activity and any type of business.

Main activities

A new city manager is appointed to a post or a contract is extended with an employee who has satisfied all requests - it does not matter. The important thing is that in any case, the activity of a specialist will be associated with certain points.

The main activities are:

• compliance with the regulations and requirements of the city administration;
• observance of internal regulations, rules of etiquette;
• fulfillment of all office work norms;
• work on consideration of complaints, appeals, letters, petitions, proposals, other documents that come to the administration;
• processing documentation from associations, citizens, organizations, enterprises or institutions in electronic or oral and written form;
• organization of the necessary events that accompany the performance for the award;
• preparation of submission projects for the award;
• preparing the staffing table, developing the organizational structure, monitoring compliance with the developed schemes;
• ensure control, and participate in the preparation of work plans for the city administration;
• occupation with the coordination of work on the logistics of the city;
• organize the necessary meetings, including with the participation of the mayor;
• organization of the activities of various bodies that are created during the election campaign;
• assistance to election commissions;
• Speaking as chairman of the commission on housing issues, personnel reserve, evacuation commission, supply of goods and performance of work or provision of services for the administration.

Even such moments as the development of city symbols, printing and preparation of souvenirs are the responsibility of the manager.

Interaction

Working as a city manager involves interacting with the representative body of the municipality, to which he reports and reports.

If inIn the city, a scheme is organized in which both the mayor and the city manager participate, then the first in this situation is the head of the city, the politician who manages the city. The Mayor communicates with the City Council of Deputies. Its functions are representative.

The city manager is the performer. He is responsible for the current situation in housing and communal services, energy, and transport. Its tasks include the organization of the relevant work of the city economy, the execution of the budget and the management of municipal property.

In his work, the manager is guided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, charters and laws, the Charter of the city, as well as the norms of morality and ethics.

For the disclosure of state secrets, personal information of citizens or other information that is confidential, is responsible in accordance with the norm established by law.

Position advantages

The position of City Manager has a number of benefits.

Most significant pluses:

• requirements that apply to the applicant, provide a certain level of candidates;
• contract, which is concluded with an employee, is prescribed clearly and without vague authority;
• Selection of a candidate on the basis of a competition does not require financial expenses of the same amount as are necessary for the organization of the election process;
• in the event that an employee does not do his job or does not meet the requirements, he can be fired, and a competition for replacement can be heldagain;
• the chief of staff will not have to perform ceremonial duties;
• manager must be completely apolitical and impartial in decision-making;
• if you find the inefficiency of the new system, you can always roll back the management system to the previous version, such an event will not require additional costs, and control will pass into the hands of the mayor.

Payment

City manager is not only a great responsibility, but also a worthy reward. If an employee performs his duties in accordance with the expected level, and the results of work are high and have a positive trend, then payment is made under several items, each of which consists of an amount with several zeros.

Payment consists of:

• salary;
• surcharge, which is due every month to employees of municipal services;
• long service increase;
• monthly premium;
• surcharges for working with certain information that is a state secret;
• bonuses for completing difficult and especially important tasks;
• material assistance and a one-time payment when going on vacation.

Flaws

Like every decision, the transition to a new management system is accompanied by both laudatory reviews and criticism. Judging objectively, the appointment of a city manager for the city may carry certain disadvantages.

Negative points can be:

• manager is notsubject to the population;
• employee not linked to long-term plans;
• manager is clearly dependent on the governor and city council that initiated his hiring;
• conflicts often arise with heads of administrations.

Experience in Russia

For the first time in the world, the position of a manager who manages a city under a contract appeared in 1908 in the American town of Staunton.

In October 2003, an order was issued in the Russian Federation that allowed this form of contract management. By 2009, there were more than 9,000 municipalities that actually used such a system of government.

At this stage in Russia, this approach is used in the following cities: Tyumen, Kurgan, Perm, Tula, Priozersk, Murmansk, Barnaul, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Norilsk, Blagoveshchensk, Orenburg, Orel, Tambov, Tobolsk, Kostroma, Bratsk, Nefteyugansk, Noyabrsk, Ulan-Ude, Elista, Azov, Asbest, Efremov, Serpukhov, Lipetsk, Podolsk, Balashikha, Khimki.