ABSTRACT
The incipient manager needs to know about the power structure that enables him/her to function in a reasonably competent manner. This means that the manager must recognize where authority lies in the development of policy that guides the agency. This chapter is concerned with the relationship between the employed executive and the commissions which may exist as an extension of the Common Council or whatever legislative body controls the community. As municipal responsibilities increased in number and complexity, the
need for wider representation of the citizenry in public affairs arose. The plan of appointing commissions of lay-people to preside over the affairs of the separate town functions evolved. In essence, these commissions were appendages of the Common Council. Their members, presumably wellinformed citizens in their respective fields, were deemed competent to advise the Common Council, city manager, and departmental executives, and to provide effective communication between citizens and their government.
The council-manager form of local government has been rapidly accepted as the most effective type because of the need for professionalization of public service. Under this plan, a unicameral council is elected by the voters and the council selects and employs a municipal manager. The council also elects a mayor from among its own membership, usually the individual who received the greatest number of votes. The city manager serves at the pleasure of the city council, but the specialized field of management has developed such ethical codes applicable to appointments and dismissal that members are fairly well protected from political pressure and personal enmity. The commission form of government has steadily lost its place of emi-
nence over the past generation. Its basic defects include a lack of centralized responsibility for administrative assignment and, in some cases, incompetence of commissioners to assume the functions of departments regardless of their qualifications.
