City manager or mayor: What do you think?

The Edmonds City Council will be holding a public hearing July 20 and possibly take action to place a measure on the Nov. 2 election ballot that would change Edmonds from a mayor-led to a city manager-led form of government.

[polldaddy poll=3169906]

  1. Ron, the Skippers poll actually did not show the final numbers, just percentages, although I just changed the formatting so that is does display both. And I’ve done the same with this poll.
    Thanks for the feedback.
    Teresa

  2. Teresa:

    I agree with Ron B., this site is a great contribution to our community.

    Show the number of participants in your polls is a valuable addition to them, but what happened to the Skippers poll? I can’t find it now, or perhaps I overlooked it.

  3. The easiest way to find it is on the right side of the home page under the “Popular Posts” listing. You can also use the search box at the top to find anything on the site.

  4. Now that this poll has been once again placed in a prominent position, I’d like to suggest that it should be shelved until the issue has been taken up by city council and citizens have been better acquainted with the concept of having a city manager as opposed to having a “strong mayor” form of city government.

  5. I should add that this poll can serve as only one idicator to city council as to whether they should decide to put the issue on a ballot; ultimately it would require a vote of the citizens to change the form of government.

  6. The Council needs to explain clearly what form of City Manager governance they envision, as there are many variations on this idea. What ‘s important is then not the absence of a Mayor, but the ‘contract’ with a City Manager including authorities and powers between the Council and Manager. Voters must educate ourselves about how this model works, and an Internet search will provide that education – the good, the bad and the ugly. In some cases, Councils hire and fire city personnel. Some City Managers actually run their city like a kingdom, in the worst sense. If this idea comes to a vote, it will not be enough to ask voters whether they want this model, we will need a lot of details to know the Council’s mind. Details now please, not later.

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