5 Tips for a Healthy Council-Manager Working Relationship
Relationships with colleagues can be make-or-break when it comes to job satisfaction. While this is true in any career field, it is especially true in the field of city governance. Among the different forms of municipal government in the U.S., the city council/city manager form of government is one of the most common. According to a 2018 survey from ICMA, the council-manager form of government remains the most popular form in the U.S. Even more common than this type of governance are the conflicts that arise between its elected and appointed officials.
Conflicts in the Council-Manager System of Government
According to a report from Cal-ICMA, 69% of city managers who were surveyed listed “relationship issues” as their biggest challenge on the job. While these relationships could be with anyone or any group from unions to the media, for most city managers, the most important relationship that determines their job satisfaction is with their elected officials. The same goes for council members, too! The best way to enact change in your city is by establishing a good working relationship with the person in charge of carrying out your policy decisions.
Unfortunately, limited resources throw up barriers to progress, and when hard decisions are on the table, it can be easy for conflict to arise. Add in layers of personal opinion and perception, and the working relationship between the city manager and council members can quickly deteriorate. Council members may suspect that the city manager allows personal politics to influence their recommendations, or that the manager may even "play favorites" among council members. Conversely, the city manager may feel unfairly under fire from the council when organizational mistakes come to light or unwelcome information is shared.
Finding compromise amidst conflict can be challenging – but it doesn’t always have to be unpleasant. If you find yourself repeatedly butting heads with your counterpart, here are a few important things to keep in mind to help turn around a rocky relationship.
1. Try to See it from the Other Perspective
In any good working relationship with potential for conflict, it’s important to try and understand the perspective of the other side. City managers and council members both have difficult positions, and it’s important for each to understand and respect the unique challenges of the other’s job.
As elected representatives of their community, city council members must answer to their constituents. Unfortunately, the will of the people is rarely (if ever) unified. Balancing the needs and values of a diverse community requires making difficult decisions. Moreso, those decisions are made in a public forum that leaves council members open to pressure and scrutiny from the community and the press. Theirs is not an easy job!
But neither is the job of a city manager. City managers must balance a bevy of responsibilities, from overseeing all city departments and managing the city’s budget and finances to developing, implementing and maintaining programs that provide services to residents.
Finding balance between what the council wants and what the city has the resources to accomplish can be stressful – and when under stress, it can be easy to zero in on what’s not working well. When conflict arises, rather than focusing on your differences, take a step back and reframe your perspective to focus on the priorities you do share. Though your tactics, strategies and responsibilities may differ, at a fundamental level, both parties share a common goal: to serve and ultimately improve your community. Finding common ground is often the first step forward.
2. Set Goals Together
The next logical step? Set goals together. In a study from Cal-ICMA, 87% of city managers who were surveyed listed goal setting as a way to strengthen their relationship with their governing board. Goal-setting workshops not only provide the city manager and staff with clear direction for implementing policy, but they can help a divisive council settle on priorities.
Without a clear roadmap, it can be difficult for city managers to know where to prioritize efforts. It can be even more confusing when responding to a council composed of officials with differing priorities themselves. Bringing together the full council and the city manager to agree on top priorities for your community can help to alleviate that confusion by getting everyone on the same page. While it is necessary to establish goals anytime council membership changes, goals should be revisited annually as well.
3. Establish Processes and Set Expectations
To better facilitate your conversations about the issues facing your city, it sometimes helps to take the issues off the table and talk about work styles. Share your communication preferences. Establish protocols for sharing information, conducting meetings and making decisions. Having guidelines or standard operating procedures makes it easier for everyone.
For city managers, getting a clear directive from the council – who has hiring and firing authority – on their expectations for how their position should operate can prove helpful in mitigating conflict. This “check-in” can also be helpful for city council members, too. There is often a misconception that city managers personally agree with the policies they enact – a misconception that can be problematic when council leadership changes, and the new council wishes to make major policy changes from the previous governing body. Often new council members believe that in order to enact change, they need to replace the city manager. Meeting with the city manager to understand their non-partisan role can help to clear the air and set the expectation for council as well.
4. Be Smart When Dealing with the Media
Both city managers and city council members must deal with the press. This puts both groups in a public spotlight. A few media faux pas could turn up the heat on an already stressful relationship, so be sure to use that exposure wisely!
First, don’t share anything with the media that you haven’t already shared with your fellow internal stakeholders. The city manager should never let council members find out critical information about an issue from the press, and vice versa. A transparent flow of information can build trust, whereas failure to disclose important facts before talking with the media can deter it.
Second, consider adopting the old adage of “praise in public, criticize in private.” Giving the other side the credit they deserve in the public eye can go a long way toward building good relationships. For city managers, make sure your elected officials are getting due credit for the work they are doing for your community. As elected officials, holding favor in the eyes of the public can be make-or-break for their careers. And for city council members, don’t be afraid to do the same for your city manager. Everyone likes to hear praise when something is going well. Conversely, it should go without saying, but never throw the other party “under the bus” or offer public criticism.
5. Establish operational visibility.
A quick way to land yourself in the “hot seat” – with the public for council members, and with the council for city managers – is to give the appearance of doing nothing. Providing up-to-date reports backed by comprehensive data can help provide greater transparency and display the value of the programs that you and your staff are working on day in and day out.
Investing in technology that offers built-in reporting, like Comcate’s 311/CRM Software, can make compiling and sharing these reports easier, allowing all internal stakeholders to have a 360 degree view of what’s going on. In Arvada, CO, the city manager added the town council to their software solution, allowing them to pull up individual cases, review actions taken and response time, and have greater visibility for more fact-based conversations.
"Ultimately, we hope this dynamic will bridge the gap between policy and operations making for a more effective government,” said Mark Deven, City Manager for Arvada, CO. Read more about Arvada, CO’s journey to operational visibility.
Provide Transparency with Comcate’s CRM/311 Software
At Comcate, we believe in better government for all. To that end, we strive to provide products that support well-run government agencies.
If you’re a city manager in need of a way to provide better visibility to your council members, Comcate’s CRM/311 software can help. With built-in reporting and a host of available integrations, our 311 software makes it easy to provide municipal information and demonstrate to leadership that priority initiatives are being addressed. Learn more about Comcate’s CRM software today.
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