Long–Serving City Managers: Practical Application of the Academic Literature

Abstract

The authors identified 146 city managers who have served in the same city for the past 20 years and asked them to complete a survey to determine the factors leading to their long service. As a part of the survey, the city managers were invited to express, in their own words, the reasons they had stayed in the same city for such an extended time compared to the average tenure for city managers. In the article that follows, the authors quote from the academic literature statements pertaining to practical issues of concern to city managers and the elected officials for whom they work, giving credence to the applicability of the academic literature to today's city management profession. Following the quotations from the literature, the authors present the heartfelt reflections of these senior city managers on their long careers in public service.

Interaction Frequency and Quality as Two Dimensions of Complementarity: An Empirical Examination of Some Contingency Variables

“…They promote not just the notion of frequent interaction but also propose that the interaction should rest on mutual respect (e.g., Svara 1999;Hasset and Watson 2002). As senior partners in the partnership, elected officials' authority must be respected by professional public administrators.…”

“…Although there is a literature on contingency variables and their impact on city managers' and elected officials' roles and behaviors, it is important to link that literature more explicitly to the major concepts of the complementarity view. Most research to this date has employed more qualitative approaches relying on interviews, personal observations and anecdotal evidence (Hasset and Watson 2002;Nalbandian 1999). Furthermore, concepts were examined with limited datasets.…”

“…Population is one of the important contributors to political stability (e.g., Hasset and Watson 2002). In stable political environments, problems are relatively well-known, and solutions are more likely to be programmed.…”

“…As tenure increases, city managers can develop good contacts and working relationship with elected officials and community members (Hasset and Watson 2002;Crewson and Fisher 1997), which, in turn, will likely increase the quality of interaction. It is often noted that as city managers gain more experience, their knowledge and skills evolve (e.g., Crewson and Fisher 1997).…”

“…Orthodox models such as the politicsadministration dichotomy have been replaced by propositions that emphasize partnership, connectedness, communication, and cooperation (e.g., Nalbandian 1999). Ongoing interaction, reciprocal influence, overlapping roles, shared responsibility between elected and administrative officials, mutual respect and support emerged as important themes of interest in the literature on local government administration (e.g., Giegold and Dunsing 1978;Kiracofe 1990; Golembiewski and Gabris 1995;Svara 2001;Wheeland 2000;Hasset and Watson 2002;Demir 2009). …”