City Charter Review Commission under the direction and control of City Council have dropped the ball as far as citizen engagement in process is concerned. What were they thinking?. What are they afaid of?

1. Gresham City Charter Review
Commission
Recommendations for Review Process
2011-2012
Submitted by Richard Strathern
Gresham Citizen at Large

2. Contents
 Key Facts
 Council Directives
 Four Types of Local Government Options
 Research and Public Policy
 The Role of the Charter Commission
 Citizen and Stakeholder Engagement
 No Form is Perfect
 Discussions on Form
 Background Material
 Hamiltonian Model / Strong Executive
 Recommended Charter Review Process
2 Gresham City Charter Committee 2011 12/31/2011

3. Key Facts
 Current City Charter was adopted May 2, 1978
 Charter may be amended, repealed, or replaced
 60 % of citizens must pass a ballot measure to
approve any changes
 The current charter has been revised nine times
 The City Council appoints the charter review
committee
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4. Council Directives
 Goals :
 Identified City Council concerns and city needs to
be addressed by the charter committee resulting in
recommendations to City Council for it’s action
 Hold “open forum” for suggestions from Council members
both current and past.
 Insure that staff has authored a research summary
for committee members on alternative forms of city
government outlining strength, weaknesses and
opportunities of change
 This information should be shared with general
public soliciting their input and recommendations
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5. Four Type of Local Government
Options
 1. Mayor - Council (Strong Mayor)
 2. Council - Manager (Weak Mayor)
 3. Council - Manager ( Traditional)
 4. Council - Manager (Hybrid)
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6. Research and Public Policy
 Key Question:
 Will a specific form of government by itself address
community needs, issues, and concerns?
 The Charter Committee should start with a
discussion on “Form of Government.”
 The expressed intent of this discussion is to
seek consensus and address the
needs, concerns and issues of City Council
and the citizen community.
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7. The Role of a Charter Commission
 (1) the need to identify and respond to the changing
environment and
 (2) the utility of using the “Form of Government”
discussion as a starting point to address
Council/Citizen needs
 “Over time, communities change. Issues change. Needs
change. As a consequence, our charter needs to be
revised, depending upon the kind of issues that surface
in your voting community. It is the committee’s job to
gather the ideas and information from people in our
community, and put a charter together and to present it
to the citizen for a vote.”
• Kenneth Verburg – Michigan State University
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8. Citizen and Stakeholder Engagement
 Objectives:
 Within current financial constraints, the committee
should seek the opinions and input from Gresham
residents and community stakeholders.
 Outreach activity should include a wide range of
citizens, community organizations, businesses, not-
for-profit organizations, religious, organized
labor, past and current government
leaders, including special public services
announcements and appeals from current Mayor
and former Mayors to encourage citizen and
stakeholder input
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9. No Form is Perfect
 Arguably, issues of abuse and personnel influences
of private resources for private gain can and do occur
in all forms of government.
 The selection of a government structure in of itself
does not enhance or reduce or create a barrier to
prevent individual or machine based
influenced, citizen abuse or inappropriate use of
private resources to advance the interests of private
people
 Researcher Curtis Wood, University of Kansas (2010)
indicates that the best protection against violation of
public trust is a strong involved community.
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10. Discussion on Form
 Research studies see a definite relationship
between form of government and voter turnout in
city elections and citizen engagement. Why is
this?
 It may be helpful to focus on two questions, as
opposed to deciding upon a governmental type
as a single exercise:
 What type of city do you envision
 What type of defects or corrections are you
addressing, the Form of Government discussion
inevitable flow from these critical questions.
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11. Examples of Citizen Objectives
 Curb abuse of public funds and resources
 Create a more effective city that responds to the
priorities of the citizenry
 Plan for a city to attract jobs and other
opportunities that current and potential citizens
and stakeholders can take full advantage
 Create opportunities for older as well as younger
Gresham citizens
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12. Background Material for Charter
Committee
 International City/County Management
Association (“ICMA”) Model City Charter and
statistical survey of 3,864 cities, 2006. It
compares Mayor - Council with Council Manager:
 Main Features
 % of cities using this form by population
 Mayoral Powers
 Council Powers
 Arguments For
 Argument Against
 Examples
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13. Background Material Continued
 Current Mayoral Models in Municipalities
 Appointment Powers Chart:
 Form of Government
 Mayor - Council
 Council – Manager
 Commission
 Town Meeting
 Population size
 Geographic
 Metro Status (Central, Suburban, Independent)
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14. Background Material Continued
 Beyond Stereotypes: Socio-economic
Characteristics of Modern Council-Manager Cities
 This is a (5) part series of articles by Kevin
Carter, Management Fellow (January 31, 2011)
ICMA Article
 Part (1) Structure, Brief History
 Part (2) Previous Academic Work
 Part (3) Overview of Theory, Socio-economic
Characteristics of Communities by Impact of demographics
on Form of Government
 Part (4) Questions of Research
 Part (5) Final Findings
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15. A Hamiltonian Model of Municipal
Power in Action
 Strong Argument for Mayor-Council:
 A Primer on Governance
 Unplanned City? Yes and No.
 Sources of Change in City Government
 Looking Below the Radar – The Underside of City
Governance
 Storm Clouds: Reasons for Citizen Concern About
Local Governance
 Scorecard
 Postscript: Three Suggestions for Improving
Governance
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16. Strong Executive
 Dr. Richard Murray, University of Houston, is the
author of “A Hamiltonian Model of Municipal Power in
Action.” (See Blog)
 He quotes Federalist Paper # 70:
 “Energy in the executive is a leading character in the
definition of good government… A feeble executive
implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble
execution is but another phase for a bad execution; and
a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory,
must be in practice, a bad government…The ingredients
which constitute energy in the executive are unity;
duration; an adequate provision for its support; and
competent powers” (Alexander Hamilton)
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17. Recommended City Charter Review
Process – 2011/2012
Line by Line Review
 Based on history in city archives Names and Boundaries Powers
review rational for pass changes
Form of Government
to City Charter
 Review current “best practices” City Council
in city governance Powers/Duties of Officers
 Perform a SWOT analysis of
Elections
current Charter based on
citizen, stakeholders and past Vacancies in Office
and present City Councilors and Ordinances
Mayor(s)
Public Improvements
 Perform Decision Analysis and
draft recommendations for Misc Provisions
presentation to City Council Ordinances Power, Initiatives, Referendum and Recall
 Council approves final proposal
for citizen approval
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