City manager: who is he and what does he do?

In English, the word city means “city,” and the word manager means “manage.” Thus, the English term “city manager” should be understood literally as “city manager”. Today in Russia this is a very common administrative position used in the management sector of a municipal economy.

The specialty, called the city manager, appeared in 2003 thanks to the adoption of Federal Law N 131 “On General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation”. And after 3 years, its new edition made it possible to manage the city not only for candidates selected by the population, but also for hired employees, accepted on a competitive basis and performing their duties under a fixed-term employment contract.

Consider the difference between a city manager and a city mayor.

• The mayor is the elected head of the citycarrying out general management in it. He is a representative of the political forces that won the election. Its main function is to work with the local Council of Deputies and to exercise the powers of representation of this state structure.
• The city manager is the employee responsible for the operation of urban infrastructure. For example, for energy supply, housing and communal services, transport, social welfare of the population and so on. In addition, the manager is responsible for the targeted use of municipal property and finances.

When the manager of an administration is only a municipal employee employed, all his activities are carried out under the control of a representative body established for this purpose under the municipality.

In order to take the post of head of administration and conclude a contract with the municipality, the city manager is undergoing competitive selection among several applicants. The procedure for holding such a competition is determined by a specially organized body, which is a representative of the municipality.

To participate in the competition, potential managers are presented with the following requirements:

• the presence of constitutional suffrage, as well as the absence of objective reasons for the election;
• the age of the candidate may not be younger than 35 years;
• higher education;
• management experience in the field of the municipality or in government structures from 3 years;
• positive characteristics and recommendations from the last places of employment;
• possession of knowledge in the field of legislation related to the issues of administrative activities;
• a positive decision of a special commission conducting an examination of a candidate for the possibility of him performing the work of the head of administration.

An employment contract with a selected representative for the position of a city manager is concluded for a period determined by the representative body of the municipality. However, the duration of this agreement should not be less than two years.

The list of official duties of the city manager depends on the needs and specifics of the municipality in which he will work. However, among this list, we can distinguish those that are inherent in the hired manager of any Russian city:

• resolving issues related to the management of the municipal economy and property;
• planning and organization of work on the management of the tax policy of the municipality;
• legal protection of the interests of the city in litigation;
• compilation and management of estimates of income and expenses of the municipality;
• issuing the necessary instructions to ensure the implementation of the work processes of the city administration on a local scale;
• control over the work of local governments in the exercise of state powers delegated to them;
• drawing up and control over budget spending aimed at improving the social and economic sphere of the city;
• leadership of the heads of services that are directly subordinate to the head of the administration, including the reception and dismissal of them from their posts;
• issuing municipal acts and making proposals to the City Duma on the development of the city;
• control over the activities of the structural units of the municipality;
• Reception of citizens on personal matters.

The city manager is responsible for his work not only to the municipality, but also indirectly to all citizens of the city. Among other things, he is entrusted with the duty of compiling annual reports on the results of his activities as head of administration. The contract with the hired manager can be terminated if he is not able to properly resolve issues of local importance.

The specifics of the position of the municipal manager implies not only work related to management, but also the implementation of representative functions performed by the city manager on behalf of the municipality. The direction of the hired manager in this matter is as follows:

• Impeccable compliance with the rules of business etiquette and all standards of office work;
• compliance with the regulations and requirements of the municipality;
• consideration of all appeals of citizens, enterprises and institutions sent to the city administration;
• preparing a project for introducing someone to the award and organizing events accompanied by this event;
• coordination of work related to the material and technical support of the municipality;
• convening and organizing meetings of the heads of the municipality;
• assistance in organizing and conducting election campaigns;
• resolving issues and leading the commission on housing issues, evacuation measures, ensuring a personnel reserve.

More and more municipalities are moving to the new management system. But, like every administrative decision, this issue has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The position of a hired manager has certain positive aspects.

• Strict selection requirements to the applicant are the guarantor of his professional suitability, and the limits of the competence of the employee are clearly formulated in his contract. This approach minimizes conflicts due to the distribution of powers.
• Competition unlike the choice of the mayor, it does not require significant expenditures from the budget, which makes it possible in case of manager's inefficient work to fire him and hold the competition again or transfer the authority to the mayor.
• If the introduced city management scheme does not give the desired results, there is always the opportunity to return to the previous standards of administrative activitywhile the financial budget of the city will not incur.

In addition to the pros, the specifics of a hired manager has its drawbacks.

• The employee refers to his work as a temporary project and does not connect himself with the long-term prospects of the city. In addition, a person who has arrived from another city or region who does not know all the nuances of local city life may be appointed to the managerial post.
• City Manager Appointed by Municipality Representatives, therefore, this manager does not bear direct subordination to the people. This moment introduces a certain split between the unity of power and people, casting doubt on the part of the city residents all the actions of a hired employee.
• Often, the dependence of the hired manager on the head of the city council, the governor, who approved his candidacy in the competitive selection, can be traced.. Such an addiction is not always beneficial to the common cause and well-being of the city.

The practice of appointing a city manager is an optimization of the local municipal government system. As a result of the adopted law, hired managers share with the mayor a front of work aimed at supporting the city. It is possible that the interests of citizens will not suffer with such a distribution of powers, but it becomes obvious that people were deprived of the right to choose. It remains only to observe how a new word of the law is being introduced into our lives and to hope that the results of such optimization will not disappoint anyone.