Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 09-16-08 workshop agenda — reading text

a charter can, at the margins, make it more likely that preferred values will be actualized in the governmental process. The first model charter was built on the bedrock value of local self governance - with an emphasis on home rule and broad assignment of authority to cities as the foundation of reform. All subsequent editions assume this value as well. The first edition also stressed the value of simplification and centralization of city government structure. It sought to replace the condition common in cities at the time of having multiple elected officials and the assignment of authority to a number of officials and boards. With centralization, all governmental authority is assigned to the mayor and council. Other boards are advisory, and all administrative officials and departments report to the executive. This value is also present in all subsequent editions. The first charter organized the governmental form around the principle of the strong elected executive. This approach accomplished the objectives of concentrating authority and strengthening leadership, but reformers recognized limitations in this approach and soon sought an alternative that moved beyond the separation of powers between a powerful mayor and a council with a limited legislative function. The second Model City Charter, adopted in 1915, recommended the council - manager form with unified authority in the hands of the council. The second edition was based on I fundamental values of representative democracy and responsible professionalism. Rather than relying on a powerful elected executive, the reformers now broadened the base of political leadership and provided for an appointed executive who could be both effective and directly accountable to the council. Council appointment of the city manager strengthened the council and the executive without perpetuating separation of powers. Each value is briefly explained as follows: Representative democracy. Democratically accountable representatives who make policy on behalf of the citizenry constitute the core component of representative democracy. At the local government level, the council should be relatively small so it can act in a deliberative way. Council members are connected to citizens through election and regular interaction during their terms in office. They act as a body of trustees who govern the city and select the executive. The early model charters stressed collective leadership and assumed that citizens would participate in the governmental process through the election of their representatives and the contact they had with council members between elections. The goal was to have a cohesive council that concentrated on the good of the city as a whole. To strengthen these qualities, the current edition recommends four -year, staggered terms— features that reinforce continuity and somewhat greater detachment from the electoral process since only half of the council stands for election in any election and all have longer terms. A small cohesive council would also be better able to provide regular and comprehensive supervision of the appointed executive. Responsible professionalism. The early editions of the model charter envisioned the city manager as a professional chosen on the basis of appropriate training and experience. Responsibility would come from balancing the need to be accountable to the city council with the need to serve the public and advance the best interests of the community as a whole. To strengthen these qualities, the current edition specifies in more detail than previous editions the qualifications the city manager should have. The city manager is expected to offer policy advice 69  and recommendations to the council in its enactment of legislation and to achieve a high level of effectiveness and efficiency in city government. Furthermore, this edition provides specific recommendations that the city manager should focus on goals, performance, and outcomes in policy recommendations, budget formulation, and organizational leadership. A key feature that links representative democracy to professionalism is to make the city manager accountable to the entire council. Another change in the eighth edition is to apply these values to mayor- council government. The preferred option in mayor -council cities is to have a chief administrative officer ( CAO) with professional qualifications who is responsible to both the mayor and the council ( either the mayor would appoint the CAO and the council would approve the selection or the appointment would be made jointly). The CAO would also inform the council of budget and personnel recommendations developed by the CAO for the mayor. The values of representative democracy to provide collective political leadership and professional leadership by an appointed chief executive were dominant from the second through the fifth editions. They continue to be central —and as noted above have been strengthened in the eighth edition. Still, in this edition and the previous two, other values have received increased attention as well.Although early reformers were convinced that a cohesive board of governors could provide appropriate leadership and link citizens to government, beginning with the sixth model charter efforts have been made to strengthen democratic leadership and further enhance representativeness among the mayor and members of the city council. Political leadership and representativeness emerged as important values in their own right. Political leadership. In the early editions of the model charter no special role was assigned to the mayor except to be presiding officer of the council, which provided collective leadership in functioning like a board of governors. Direct election of the mayor was an alternative in the sixth edition and by the time of the seventh edition, it was clear that special provision needed to be made for the value of political leadership. The mayor does not supplant the council but has more resources to draw upon in leading the council and the city as a whole. As problems became more complex and councils more diverse, the charter has been revised to provide options that can make the mayor the focal point for leadership. To more closely link the mayor to the council, the eighth edition recommends that the mayor have the same voting power as other members of the city council. If direct election of the mayor is used and all the activities enumerated in section 2. 03 are assigned to the mayor, this official has charter support to promote cohesion on the council and lead the council to set clear goals for the city. Representativeness. The sixth edition also started the process of the enhancing representativeness of the council. Although the charter has always supported representative democracy over direct democracy as noted earlier, the concern in the past three charter revisions has been to ensure that the officials who are making decisions more closely reflect the characteristics and preferences of the citizenry. District elections used exclusively or in combination with at -large seats ensure direct representation of all parts of the city. In addition, the long- standing endorsement of proportional representation has been reaffirmed in the current edition, and it is linked to a number of other measures designed to improve the way that elections translate citizen preferences into the membership of the governing body. Whereas district elections can only address geographical representativeness and provide voice for groups concentrated in particular neighborhoods, proportional _representation allows the election of representatives from any sufficiently large group with a common bond. Efforts to increase the O  fairness of the electoral process, through allowing local government to undertake campaign reform and to increase the number of voters who participate in the selection of leaders, also reflect the emphasis on enhancing representativeness. For example, since voter participation rates are greater during general elections than in runoff elections, the use of instant runoff voting to eliminate the need for a subsequent runoff election would ensure that electoral outcomes are more representative ( instant runoff voting allows voters to decide the winner of the election by indicating their first choice and their backup choice). Local governments are encouraged to look for other ways to increase turnout including holding local elections at the same time as state and national elections. The current edition includes two additional values. Just as the sixth edition offered initial recognition of the option of mayoral election and district elections and thus began strengthening the values of political leadership and representativeness, the current edition directs attention to citizen participation and the integration of urban regions. Citizen participation. There is widespread recognition that it is not sufficient for cities to rely on elections and the representational activities of council members, as important as these activities are. Exclusive reliance on representative democracy as the basis for citizen participation raises three concerns: some voices are not heard and, therefore, do not get represented, representation of citizen views by council members is not a complete substitute for the direct expression of views by citizens, and citizens need to have the opportunity to take part directly in the work of government. Opportunities for direct citizen participation in the process of making and implementing policy in cities can be a positive supplement to the conscientious work of representatives. The current edition reexamines the traditional mechanisms of direct democracy —the initiative, referendum, and recall —and offers recommended guidelines that would make these mechanisms uniformly available but would discourage capricious use of citizen -initiated actions that might undermine the continuing importance of representative democracy. Over most of the history of the reform movement, citizen participation has been subsumed under representative democracy. In this view, the primary channels for citizen participation are voting and the ongoing interaction with elected representatives. Without diminishing the importance of effective and responsive representation, there are many ways that cities can promote citizen participation and enrich the quality and increase the inclusiveness of the Stn community' s dialogue concerning its current needs and its future aspirations. In the edition, officials are encouraged to join with citizens in exploring which of these ways best match the conditions of their city. Regional integration. Governance of urban regions with