Local Government A Teacher s Companion

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1 Dear Educator, ICMA (International City/County Management Association) and Life, Well Run are pleased to offer you Local Government 101 and this guide to using it. Experience teaches us that government is most accessible at the local level, yet few people know what local government does and how it works. Learning about local government can be a great way to understand democracy. This presentation gives a general introduction to the fundamentals of local government operations. We intentionally limited its scope to make it a flexible tool that you could use at your own pace in the classroom. The motivation behind this presentation is a deep-seated commitment to providing efficient, ethical, and effective local government. We admit at the outset that we have a bias in favor of professional government management at the local level, and you will see hints of that in this presentation. However, this bias is wellfounded: A February 2011 study by IBM Global Business Services found that professionally-managed cities are nearly 10 percent more efficient than those without professional managers. Sixty-one percent of the 87 U.S. cities that received Moody s highest rating (Aaa) in December 2009 operated under the council-manager form of government. Seventy-three percent of communities recognized with the coveted All-America City Award between 2008 and 2012 are run by professional local government managers. While ICMA cannot speak for all local government managers, our members are professionally trained to provide efficient, effective service to our communities and to uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct. We hope you find Local Government 101 and this companion piece to be helpful in your work. We also hope you will encourage your students to explore, think, and discuss some of the questions we ve presented in this document. Rather than leading you to support a particular position on forms of government or political perspectives, we hope you and they join in a vigorous discussion of what makes government work, and how it can best serve the public. Our ulterior motive? There is an impending shortage of professional local government managers. We hope that by learning more about local government and its vital role in our country in the twenty-first century, your students may consider a career in public service. Life, Well Run is an initiative to raise awareness of and appreciation for the value professional local government managers bring to building ethical, efficient, effective local government and great communities we re proud to call home. Local Government 101 can be downloaded as a Prezi or a PDF from the resource tab of our website at LifeWellRun.org/join-the-campaign along with other resources for learning about local government and the profession of local government management. Please contact Catherine Smith at or csmith@icma.org if you have any questions.

2 Local Government A Teacher s Companion About ICMA ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government worldwide. The organization s mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and fostering professional management to build sustainable communities that improve people s lives. ICMA provides a stringently-enforced set of ethical standards; member support; publications; data and information; peer and results-oriented assistance; and training and professional development to 9,000 city, town, and county managers and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA s members affect millions of individuals living in thousands of communities, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas.

3 This is a visual overview of the entire presentation. Point out the path your students will take on their local government journey. Notice the different types of localities: small town, city, rural area. Local governments come in all shapes and sizes.

4 The profession of local government management has been around since ICMA, the membership association for professional local government managers, is celebrating its 100 th anniversary. ICMA s mission statement reads, The organization s mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and fostering professional management to build better communities. These two quotations embody the American philosophy of government. Both statements speak to the role of the people in government. Ask students to discuss the meaning and implications of this philosophy. What role can and should they play in local, state, or federal government? Have them discuss ways they can play a more active role in government and the impact on our democracy if they don t.

5 Explain the three levels of government to your students. Federal and state roles are defined in the U.S Constitution. The role of local government was first defined by the Dillon rule, which is explained in further detail on the next slide. Have your students read the U.S. Constitution and identify the duties of government at the federal and state levels. What are the implications for local governance since the role of local government isn t addressed? Ask your students why they think the role of local government wasn t mentioned in the Constitution. Judge John G. Dillon was chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court in the late 1800s. He was one of the greatest authorities on local government law at the time. The Dillon rule, named for him, grew out of his strong distrust of local government and local government officials. There are three qualifications for a municipal government s power under the Dillon rule. He asserted that all power resided with the state and that only powers granted in express words, those that are necessarily or fairly implied, or those that are essential to the accomplishment of the declared objects and purposes of the municipality resided in local government. Since Dillon s time, some states, which are called home rule states, have granted broad powers to local governments, and some have not. In the states that are strict Dillon rule states, local governments may be required to go to the state legislature to increase taxes or impose a new tax, build or maintain roads, set salaries of elected local officials, or impose regulations such as prohibiting guns and knives from schools, courthouses, and recreation centers. Invite your city, town, or county manager to speak to your class about the role of local government and the authority your local government has. Have your students research whether their state is a home rule or Dillon rule state.

6 Talking about local government can be a challenge because there is no set format for how it may be organized. The basic structures include counties, cities, and towns or villages, but they don t necessarily nest neatly one inside of the other. In some states, counties are composed of cities and towns but may have their own elected government, which operates independently from the cities and towns. In some Dillon rule states, counties, towns, and cities may be separate, independent entities. They may be called the same name, such as town, but have different status and authority in different states. In addition, there may be special purpose districts created for a specific function. These can be school districts, neighborhood associations, library associations, waste-water districts, or unincorporated areas to name a few. There are many types of special districts and each operates in its own unique way, possibly with its own operational and taxing authority. Have students identify the type of local government(s) where they live. Is it a city, town, village, or county? Do they have special districts in their communities? Ask students to think of what other government function might be managed in a special district. Have students discuss the pros and cons of so many types of government.

7 In addition to the types of local governments listed on the previous slide, local governments also have different forms under which they operate. The four main forms of local government are councilmanager, mayor-council, commission, and town meeting. Council-manager governments are run by a professional city, town, or county manager who is hired by the council. In this form of government, the council is the elected body and the manager serves at the will of the council. The councilmanager form of government is often compared to a business, with the manager as the CEO and the council as the board of directors. The manager is responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the city and overseeing its staff. In a mayor-council form of government the mayor is elected by the people and is responsible for the day-to-day operations. This is a traditional separation of power model in which the mayor is accountable to the council. The commission form of local government is composed of an elected body where each member is responsible for a different function of the government. Usually each commissioner is appointed as a department head and is responsible for managing that department. The commission form is in decline. In a town meeting form of local government, qualified voters (or their representatives) meet to make basic policy and elect officials to carry out the policies. It is a citizen government with limited services, and is most common in the New England area. The citizens convene to make decisions on taxes, budgets, and other questions that affect them such as road and building repair. Although this form of government can work well in smaller communities, it s impractical in larger towns and cities. These are the four most common forms of local government; there are many variations of these. It is important to remember that no two local governments are exactly the same. Ask the students to identify the form of government in their community. If it doesn t fit within one of these forms, how does it operate? Is there a local government staff? Who manages the staff and the day-to-day operations of the government?

8 Here are some areas of responsibility of local government. Not every local government does all of these, and there are some government functions that are not on this list. Have students think about what responsibilities their local governments have. Who maintains the roads? Who operates the public library? Is there a municipality- or region-wide transportation system? Which of these are important to the quality of life in the community? These are two models of how local government functions. The left side is an illustration of a council-manager form of government. The right side illustrates a mayor-council form of government. Notice how both forms have responsibility for managing professional department directors, managers, supervisors, and staff. Have students discuss the benefits and pitfalls of each model. Can there be adequate accountability in the council-manager form of government since the manager is not elected by the citizens? Can government avoid gridlock when a mayor and council are elected separately but need to work together for the common good? Is it a problem if politics is a factor in the day-to-day operation of government? Does the council-manager form of government help eliminate political intrusion into the operations of government? Is long-term continuity important for a smoothly operating local government? Which model is more likely to provide long-term continuity?

9 Elected officials are the visionaries and policy makers. They represent their constituents and lead their communities. Elected officials also provide general oversight of the government and its chief executive or managers. Ask students to discuss what it means to say elected officials represent their constituents. Is being a representative different from being a leader. How can elected officials lead if their vision isn t shared by their constituents? What is an example of a policy elected officials might make? Ask students to imagine a policy that could improve the quality of life in their community. Have students discuss the benefits or drawbacks to having a local government manager who is accountable only to the council, not directly to the citizenry. The role of a professional local government manager is different from that of an elected official. While they both work for the best interests of the community when managing their local government, the professional manager does not have to juggle the same kind of political issues that elected officials do when they set policy. A manager wears many different hats: caretaker of the city, symbolic head of government, coordinator, partner, director, and leader. The manager s roles and responsibilities are usually defined by the elected officials and are included in his or her employment contract. Managers are influenced by the citizens expectations of government, meaning they look at the bigger picture, taking the needs of all the residents into account when preparing budgets and developing strategic plans. A manager needs to have a long-term perspective because many projects take years to envision and accomplish, sometimes coming to completion long after the elected officials who originally voted for the projects are out of office.

10 Watch the Life, Well Run video and discuss it with students. Prior to seeing the video, who did they think was responsible for the services shown? The Life, Well Run video runs for 2 ½ minutes. Because local government managers are employees, they have certain responsibilities to the legislative body that hired them. One of the most important is to develop a budget reflecting the policies of the elected officials, which they will then debate, modify, and approve. Have students talk about mangers other responsibilities, such as strategic thinking and soliciting public input. Why are these responsibilities important? What kind of state and federal laws might require local government compliance? Under what circumstances might regional cooperation be important?

11 Review the characteristics of a good local leader with students and ask them to identify what they believe to be the most important and why. Do all of these characteristics apply both to professional local government managers and to elected officials? Why or why not? This is ICMA s code of ethics to which all of its member subscribe, and which ICMA enforces. Those local government managers who are not ICMA members may or may not subscribe to this specific code of ethics, but most jurisdictions have some kind of ethical standards by which all staff members swear to abide. Review with students. Discuss each item and why it s important that local government professionals live by it. How far should a code of ethics go? For example, ask the students if it s reasonable for a professional manager or an elected official to decline a cup of coffee if it s paid for by a friend or constituent. Should they be able to attend a fundraiser for a local nonprofit organization if they receive a complimentary ticket? Should ICMA delete any of these items in the code of ethics or should they add any more? Ask the students to write their own code of ethics and explain why they ve included the items on their list.

12 The following slides contain quotes from ICMA s Board members who are professional local government managers and are completing the sentence above. Read these quotes with your students. Have them discuss what they think each quote means. Which response resonates the most with them? Ask them to complete the sentence themselves.

13 These are a variety of ways your students can get involved with local government ranging from learning more at LifeWellRun.org to planning to get an advanced degree and working as a professional local government manager. Work with your students to identify an issue affecting their community, explain why it s an issue, and follow the way the community is working to resolve it.