Historically, commissions, councils, or boards whose members had both legislative and executive responsibilities governed many cities and towns. This system functioned effectively when municipal government was smaller and limited in scope and complexity. With the expansion of the responsibilities of cities and towns however, the policy-making demands of governing bodies greatly increased, as did the need for technical competence in the management of the operation and delivery of services. Today’s elected board members can better fulfill their legislative or policy-making roles and maintain their overall control of service delivery by delegating the day-to-day management of the municipality to an appointed professional administrator.

Employing a city manager frees elected officials from the administration of daily operations and gives them time to focus on the policy issues that will guide the future of the community. It empowers elected officials to provide leadership, develop a vision for the community, determine what services to provide citizens, lobby the state legislature on the community’s behalf, and communicate and forge new relationships with constituents.

One way to view the Council-Manager form of government is to view the Council as the Board of Directors and the manager as the CEO.

The city manager is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the elected legislative body. They generally do not have guaranteed terms of office or tenure. They are evaluated based on their responsiveness to the elected legislative body and to the community and on their ability to provide efficient and effective services. If the administrator is not responsive to the elected officials, he or she may be terminated at any time. In that sense, the manager’s responsiveness is tested daily.