Under our new form of government, all the mayor does (besides being Portland’s cheerleader) is hire a city manager. The city manager is the person who actually DOES THINGS that can bring change to the city. So isn’t this person elected? This position seems like a scapegoat; If they don’t make Portland great, the mayor can fire them and hire someone new. Am I wrong? —I Voted for People Who Could Be Elected

I understand why a lover of democracy like you might be upset with a system that vests supreme executive power in the hands of an unelected official, Voted. However, as you may now realize, our system for electing top executives is not exactly perfect either.

In any case, the executive power a city manager exercises is not that supreme: For all their influence over operations and administrative procedures, city managers do not make policy.

The council-manager model was developed in the 1910s in response to the machine politics of the previous few decades, with its autocratic rule and “strong mayors” with a “l’etat, c’est moi” attitude, often coming with generous aid. corruption, nepotism and mismanagement.

To avoid this, the creators of the new system decided to separate executive power – the power to “do something” – from legislative power, that is, the power to decide what to do. Legislative power is vested in the council, which, as representatives of the people, determines civilian priorities. City leaders do not represent anyone; they exercise narrow executive powers solely as representatives of the council.

It’s true that it’s easy to fire city managers; But this is not a bug, it’s a feature! If you don’t like the mayor (use your imagination), your only options are to wait until the next election or stage a cumbersome recall. But a city manager serves at the pleasure of the council.

Finally, the fact that they weren’t chosen is actually the best part. Let’s face it, we’re terrible at choosing leaders. The whole idea of ​​a city manager is more or less a tacit admission that we are too stupid to elect competent, effective managers; We trample a dozen budgeting and operations experts to get to a car salesman with good hair. The council-manager system takes this important hiring decision away from us and is a welcome relief. I’ve said it before: Democracy is too important a matter to be left in the hands of the people.

Do you have any questions? Send them to: [email protected].