Preview

A memo to the City Council

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
658 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A memo to the City Council
memorandum to the Board to: Members of city council from: assistant city manager subject: the executive search date: 12/2/2014 cc: office of the mayor, city clerk and city attorney

I have been working as an assistant city manager for a long time. I witnessed the city’s ups and downs, and now that the late city manager was asked to resign, I thought I should share some of my thoughts with you, and with that, I look forward to aiding the selection process of our next City Manager. The previous city manager made many mistakes; starting from his abuse of power, lack of leadership and communication, and ending with his hunch-based decisions. I believe that there are several characteristics that our new city manager should have. Beside the usual qualifications, I believe that the city manager should have the following abilities:
1- Leadership. A successful city manager is the one who is able to set direction, motivate, and inspire. That’s why the person who will occupy this position has to be a real leader, so he/she can motivate and affect positively on the employees, and the organization as a whole. It unites the efforts of the employees under one goal. With leadership the new city manager will not only be able to solve problems, but will also find long-term solutions for these problems1.
2- Management. Leadership and management should go side by side. By being a manager, the city manager will be able to plan a budget, organize the staff, administrate, and put long-term strategies. With this, the city manager should be able to create a policy to eliminate the city’s deficit, and correct some of the imperfections our city is suffering from2.
3- Good administrator. The city manager has to be fully aware of the public and governmental work and policies. He/she has to make sure that the directives are being followed by the staff, and should keep an open eye over the activities in all the departments.
4- Trustworthy. The city manager should follow evidence-based
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Pembroke Pines Proposed Budget Case Study
    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Pembroke Pines Proposed Budget Case Study

    For example, the assistant city manager of finance would have the goal of overseeing, managing and redirecting the city budget to ensure that funds are being used to the best of the city’s abilities. I would assign the city manager, about five assistant city managers who are responsible for the following: finance, public services, recreation and arts, building and housing compliances and community outreach. Each assistant manager will carry the responsibility of their respective sector and work with the city manager to ensure goals are reach for the city. I believe that organizing the city is a vital preliminary step to developing the position of a city manager because it permits the city to build off of an established structure and keep goals of the city and it’s high-ranking employees well defined and…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Stanley Park Paper
    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Stanley Park Paper

    When seeking to complete a goal, such as the City of Kelsey has endeavored to manage, it is not an easy task. The City of Kelsey would proceed go through some steps to succeed a project, such as the Stanley Park Project. The City of Kelsey government, which has a powerful mayor structure (mayor-council government) should play a developmental function in the community. “Public administrators are engaged in a range of activities such as record keeping, money management, law and finance. At other times they do investigative work, searching public records for motor vehicle information, property deeds or life insurance policies of the deceased” (Boateng). In consideration to the Stanley Park Project, public administrators are required to do more in regard to the law and finance. “According to the proponents of the complementarity view, public administrators do and should engage in various policy activities, while refraining from those activities that fall within the realm of politics” (Demir, 2009).…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Chapter 17 Assessment U.S. History
    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Chapter 17 Assessment U.S. History

    City government became aware of corruption and mismanagement and used various strategies to reform and become more responsible.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Assignment LDR300 Wk1
    • 797 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Assignment LDR300 Wk1

    Leadership and Management are two terms that are often used interchangeably, or else used in very close relation with each other. But leadership is something that is difficult to define, because it is a word that can be defined in a number of different ways. Broadly speaking, however, leadership refers to the ability of an individual to influence a group of subordinate individuals to behave according to a certain manner, and the methods used to motivate those individuals to work together in order to attain a particular goal (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2000, p.4). Leaders, in other words, are innovators, they are men and women of vision, who take risks to inspire and to do the right thing. Management, meanwhile, is more concerned with organization, efficiency, oversight of employees - the more day-to-day activities involved in the running of an organization and in making sure that the organization and its employees are doing things right (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2000, p.8)…

    • 797 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Assessing Average Tenure Among City Managers
    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Assessing Average Tenure Among City Managers

    Generally speaking, turnover among city managers occurs at a high frequency with the average tenure for city managers lasting well under a decade. While past research on the topic sought to explain factors such as the causes of city manager turnover, its consequences, and other variables, rarely have systematic studies focused on developing a more precise measurement of the time interval between the appointment and departure of city managers. Despite the annual surveys completed by the ICMA and research conducted by R.J. Stillman, R.C. Feiock and C. Stream, along with other notable political scientists, inconsistencies in the figures on average tenure remain. To be sure, most casual observations of city manager turnover centers on their length of service in a single community from beginning to end. However, others utilize a different approach which entails asking current city managers about the period of time that they have spent in their current position thus far. This is significant because each of the two terms signifies different intervals of time; therefore, this dual meaning introduces the likelihood of misrepresentation. In this article, the authors focus on the common method of gauging the average tenure of city managers, the potential for misrepresentation, the misuse of the “average tenure” statistic derived by this method, and the consequences of misrepresentation or misuse.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ADMS 1010
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    ADMS 1010

    I believe a manager should possess 3 basic traits. They are self-awareness, curiosity and independency. Let me elaborate more on this. First and foremost, in order to manage others one must first be able to understand oneself and manage themselves. To understand oneself one must be self-aware. They must know what biases they have so when it comes time to make decisions, they can make a clear concise bias free decision. Also when one is self-aware, they can keep their emotions and feelings out of the equation when deciding. Secondly, a manager should be someone who is curious because curious people will not only look at the surface but also dig deeper into the situation to find out what is actually happening. After looking at a situation from different angles, then they can try new approaches to find out if the real deal is actually what they forecast. Lastly, a manager has to be independent because they are the one who is making the crucial decisions. Many times a manager will listen to others for opinions but the final decision has to have gone through critical thinking and be made solely on the manager’s behalf.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Mgt 330 Final Paper
    • 2131 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Mgt 330 Final Paper

    For some reasons, the managers’ positions have been seen in a negative way for many years. However, this does not change the essentiality of this position in any organization, especially in business set-ups. There have been a constant confusion between the role of leaders and managers, and what should be clearly established is that these two roles do not share the same meaning. Being a manager does not guarantee that one is already a good leader. However, leaders can be effective managers. This only means that in order for managers to be effective and avoid negative feedback, they should have sufficient knowledge and skills on leadership. Aside from this, managing and leading a company will also have different impacts on the organization, as well as business outputs (Treacy, 2006). Not all of the renowned managers are great leaders, but these two cannot be separated. As a matter of fact, so many supervisors, administrators, and other high-ranking officials in different organizations have been performing their role without being good leaders themselves. It is just that their positions open better opportunities to be leaders. A manager can truly rise from other managers if he or she manages to be an efficient manager and leader at the same time (Bateman & Snell, 2009).…

    • 2131 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Anatomy of Leadership, by Baimba Kamara. Jd. (Law)
    • 17190 Words
    • 69 Pages

    The Anatomy of Leadership, by Baimba Kamara. Jd. (Law)

    Perhaps one of the most important sets of skills to possess in our rapidly changing and complex world are those of leaderships. This has become painfully obvious, as we have continued to struggle to hold dominion over our own destiny in the quickly changing landscape of our society and workplace. Perhaps, because of effective leadership, or the lack thereof, that will determine if our cities, organizations, and governments continue to succeed, prosper and move forward; or if instead, they will become stagnant and die.…

    • 17190 Words
    • 69 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sss Software in Basket Exercise
    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Sss Software in Basket Exercise

    Hi, Paula, this is Chris. Can you please recommend me any capable in-house candidates for the position of Group#7 Manager? I would like to have a meeting with you and Sharon tomorrow morning to talk about this and select a qualified manager as soon as possible.…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Outlines the Procedure for Protecting Clients Patients and Colleagues from Harm
    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Outlines the Procedure for Protecting Clients Patients and Colleagues from Harm

    The Mayor has a range of specific powers and duties, and a general power to do anything that will promote economic and social development, and environmental improvement, in London. Before using many of his powers the Mayor must consult with Londoners, and in all cases, the Mayor must promote equality of opportunity.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Characteristics of a Knowledge and Value- Centered Manager
    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Characteristics of a Knowledge and Value- Centered Manager

    All of these characteristics add value for an effective manager. The first one is vision; this helps because everyone starts something with a view of what it will become. This will also help motivate other by knowing as your company grows it will improve and be something great because, the whole team has worked together. You need a vision so you have a goal/ something to work towards. A manager needs to be efficient, because they have many responsibilities that need to be fulfilled and people depending on them. They need to be organized also because, they have so many responsibilities and so little time. Managers need to control their company, if you have a group of regular employees telling you what to do confusion starts, because there is not a designated person to go to for issues. So it is safe to say, you should know your role. A manager needs to have the ability to plan, everything might come at you and you will have to know what to do. Say you have a restaurant; you would have to plan on ‘chilly’ more in winter months than you would at other times of the year. When a manager you need to have a positive attitude, you cannot expect your employee to have a positive attitude when you don’t have one. Besides that it’s good for business, people are not going to want to go somewhere that has snotty service. Sense perspective is something a manager should have; respect is a very important quality. More often than not if your manager shows respect to you, it will catch on. A manager should want to gain their employees trust. I know at my first…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hcs 325 Management Style Research Paper
    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hcs 325 Management Style Research Paper

    employees, one sided and intimidate and bully staff is all poor qualities for a manager.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Council Meeting
    • 950 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Council Meeting

    I would like to start this report off by saying that I have never been to city council meeting before, even though my father was the mayor, and still serves on city council back in my home town of Kingsford, Michigan. I found this experience both interesting and exhausting to see and understand the scope of the council’s role and responsibilities in keeping this city running. All members of council must have to have a very extensive education and background in finance and public administration even in mid-sized city like Colorado Springs. I couldn’t imagine the business required in a major metropolitan city.…

    • 950 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Leadership and Management

    • 3312 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Leadership and Management

    A manager directs work through others, is responsible for the quality of work from her subordinates, and acts as a liaison between subordinates and superiors. According to Caroselli (2000), a leader “creates something of value that did not exist before” (p. 3). A leader should have the following traits: courage, pride, sincerity, adaptability and influence. She should have the courage to think outside the box and to create change and prepare for opposition by anticipating objections, showing the benefits of change, accounting for all who will be impacted, and ultimately developing a strong plan for change. A leader should take pride in her accomplishments and be genuine in her interactions towards others. She should take dissidence in stride and be flexible to alter course as warranted to solve problems. A leader…

    • 3312 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pros And Cons Of Being A Mayor
    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page

    Pros And Cons Of Being A Mayor

    A whole city to run, hundreds of Citizens to keep happy, huge responsibilities, and all of it is up to you.That is some of the hard truth about being mayor. It’s a lot of work, but With a creative mind, good perseverance, and intuition, it can be done well. Throughout history most of our mayors have been very successful in keeping our town clean and keeping our citizens happy and together as one. It's their work that i would want to keep going if i were mayor. a mayor would need to work hard to keep our city a friendly and clean place, Making the citizens of Council Bluffs happy, and to Make sure we are all together as one through volunteering and other projects. I believe that I would do all of those things…

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics