Who is a city manager? Job responsibilities

According to the law, which entered into force on 01.01.2006, the head of the city administration can be not only an elected person, but also a “hired person”. Such a manager works under a contract.

City manager is a person appointed to the position of head of the city administration. The contract is signed for the period established by the charter of the city administration. Such a leader is selected based on the competition. The contract can be concluded for at least two years.

Requirements for a candidate

The position of a city manager implies the existence of rights and obligations that are associated with the adoption of decisions at a city-wide level. In order for the future leader to carry out his work as efficiently as possible and be useful to the territorial entity entrusted to him, he must meet certain requirements.

The most significant:

• the right to be elected and to elect;
• age from 25 years;
• higher professional education;

  work experience of three years in municipal or state posts or in senior positions of state or municipal service;

• positive recommendations from previous jobs;
• knowledge of regional and federal legislation;
• the presence of a conclusion from the state expert commission that it is possible to fulfill the duties of the head of administration on the implementation of state powers, which are transferred to local authorities by law.

Competition

The appointment is preceded by a competition. The city manager is selected according to the procedure established by the local representative body of the municipality.

Duties

A large amount of responsibilities is performed by the city manager. The head of administration oversees this process.

The responsibilities that a contract manager must fulfill can vary, but most of them are the same for all cities in Russia.

The duties include:

• publication of decisions addressed to the city administration on those issues of local importance;
• issuance of decisions that relate to the exercise of certain state powers transferred to local governments;
• issuing orders addressed to the city administration regarding the organization of the work process of the administration itself;
• taking measures to ensure and protect the interests of the municipality in litigations, state bodies and the arbitration court;
• development of a draft budget, draft programs, as well as plans for socio-economic development;
• management and disposal of estimates of income and expenses of the city administration;
• resolving issues and organizing the tax policy of the city;
• management of urban property issues, the plan of the municipality, urban economy;
• appointment and dismissal of those service employees who are subordinate to him.

Reporting

A city manager is an employee who bears great responsibility not only to the higher management who has concluded an agreement with him, but also to the whole city and its inhabitants.

In this regard, he is obliged to annually report on the results of his activities to the City Duma.

In addition, the law clearly regulates the permitted types of classes for the manager. So, he is not entitled to engage in entrepreneurial activity and any type of business.

The main activities

A new city manager is appointed to a post or a contract is renewed with an employee who has satisfied all requests - not so important. It is important that in any case, the activities of a specialist will be associated with certain points.

The main activities are:

• compliance with the regulations and requirements of the city administration;
• compliance with internal regulations, etiquette;
• compliance with all office work standards;
• work on consideration of complaints, appeals, letters, petitions, proposals, other documents that go to the administration;
• processing documentation from associations, citizens, organizations, enterprises or institutions in electronic or oral and written forms;
• organization of necessary events that accompany the presentation for the award;
• preparation of presentation projects for the award;
• training in staffing, development of organizational structure, monitoring compliance with the developed schemes;
• ensuring control, as well as participation in the preparation of city administration work plans;
• coordination of work on the logistics of the city;
• organization of necessary meetings, including with the participation of the mayor;
• organization of activities of various bodies that are created during the election campaign;
• assisting commissions in the conduct of elections;
• Speech by the chairman of the commission on housing issues, personnel reserve, evacuation commission, the supply of goods and the performance of work or the provision of services for the administration.

Even such moments as developing the symbolism of the city, printing and preparing souvenir products are the responsibility of the manager.

Interaction

The work of a city manager involves interaction with the representative body of the municipality, to which he submits and reports to.

If a scheme is organized in the city, in which both the mayor and the city manager participate, then the first in this situation is the head of the city, the politician who leads the city. The mayor communicates with the Council of Deputies of the city. Its functions are representative.

City manager is a performer. He is responsible for the current situation in housing and communal services, energy, and transport. His tasks include the organization of the relevant work of the municipal economy, budget execution and management of municipal property.

In his work, the manager is guided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, charters and laws, the Charter of the city, as well as moral and ethical standards.

For the disclosure of state secrets, personal information of citizens or other information that is confidential, is responsible in accordance with the norm established by law.

Position Benefits

The position of a city manager has several advantages.

The most significant advantages:

• requirements for the applicant provide a certain level of candidates;
• the contract that is concluded with the employee is clearly and without vague authority;
• selection of a candidate on the basis of a tender does not require financial expenses of the same size as are necessary for organizing the election process;
• in the case when the employee does not do his job or does not satisfy the requirements, he can be fired, and the competition for the replacement held again;
• the head of administration will not have to perform ceremonial duties;
• the manager must be completely apolitical and impartial in making decisions;
• when revealing the inefficiency of the new system, you can always roll back the control system to the previous version, such an event will not require additional costs, and management will be transferred to the mayor.

Payment

City manager is not only a great responsibility, but also a worthy reward. If an employee performs his job duties in accordance with the expected level, and the results are high and have positive dynamics, then payment is made according to several articles, each of which consists of an amount with several zeros.

Payment consists of:

• salary;
• allowances, which every month relies to employees of municipal services;
• increase in length of service;
• monthly bonus;
• allowances for work with certain information that is a state secret;
• Prize relying on the implementation of complex and critical tasks;
• financial assistance and one-time payments when going on vacation.

disadvantages

Like every decision, the transition to a new management system is accompanied by both laudatory reviews and criticism. Judging objectively, the appointment of a city manager for a city can carry certain disadvantages.

Negative points may be:

• the manager is not subordinate to the population;
• The employee is not associated with long-term plans;
• the manager’s dependence on the governor and city council that initiated his hiring is clearly traced;
• often conflicts arise with heads of administrations.

Experience in Russia

For the first time in the world, the position of manager who manages the city under contract appeared in 1908 in the American town of Staunton.

In October 2003, an order was issued in the Russian Federation that permitted such a contractual form of management. By 2009, there were more than 9,000 municipalities that in practice used such a management system.

At this stage in Russia, this approach is used in the following cities: Tyumen, Kurgan, Perm, Tula, Priozersk, Murmansk, Barnaul, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Norilsk, Blagoveshchensk, Orenburg, Orel, Tambov, Tobolsk, Kostroma, Bratsk, Nefteyugansk, Noyabrsk, Ulan-Ude, Elista, Azov, Asbest, Efremov, Serpukhov, Lipetsk, Podolsk, Balashikha, Khimki.