City Councils and Local Government

Class Project Options

• Group 1: Simulate a San Marcos City Council meeting.
  • Topic: Debate on granting permission to build a 15-story building next to the UAC.
  • Roles: Council members, concerned citizens, developer.
• Group 2: Simulate a committee debate over a specific bill before the Texas state legislature.
  • Requires deciding on an interesting bill.
• Group 3: Write a second 500-word paper.
  • Topic: Federalism, state politics, or local government.

Questions Involving Councils

• What should be their role?
• How many members should it have?
• Should elections be at-large or single-member district?
• Mayor's Role:
  • Presides at council meetings.
  • Recognized as head of city government for ceremonial purposes.
  • Receives service of civil process.
  • For emergency management purposes.
  • Votes on all matters but has no veto power.
• Mayor Pro Tempore:
  • Designated by the council at its first meeting after each regular election.

Numbers of Local Government Type in Texas and the U.S.

• Municipal (City):
  • Texas: 1,209
  • U.S.: 21,000
• County:
  • Texas: 254
  • U.S.: 3,033
• Special Districts:
  • Texas: 2,291
  • U.S.: 37,381
• School Districts:
  • Texas: 1,081
  • U.S.: 13,501
• Total Local Governments:
  • Texas: 4,835
  • U.S.: 89,476

Examples of Cities

• Hutto
• Arlington: The American Dream City

Fulshear and Fort Bend County

• Fulshear is in Fort Bend County.
• Richmond is the county seat.
• In 2015, Fort Bend County became Texas's wealthiest county.
  • Median household income: 95,389

Seminole, Texas

• Population: 7,656
• Violent crime rate: 0
• Property crimes per 1,000: 15.80
• Claimed to be the safest city in Texas!
• Chris Jones (former student) was director of the Seminole Economic Development Corporation.
• Located in Gaines County in far west Texas.

Parliamentary System

• Voters vote for a member of the legislature, not directly for the chief executive.
• The party (or coalition) with a majority in the legislature chooses the leader (prime minister).
• Example: Justin Trudeau chosen by fellow Liberals in Parliament.
• Similar to how the U.S. Congress chooses its leadership.
  • Example: Nancy Pelosi chosen by the House Democrats.
• San Marcos City Council also chooses the city manager (chief executive).

Legislative Bodies (Councils) Powers

• Change laws (ordinances).
• Fire the city manager.
• Hold hearings.
• Change the budget.
• Set goals.
• No checks and balances in city government.
  • If 4 of 7 council members agree, it will happen.
  • No separate executive branch or second legislative chamber.
• City Council's Five Goals:
  • Expanding economic development.
  • Improving the image of San Marcos.
  • Enhancing the region's transportation grid.
  • Improving collaboration between San Marcos and other regional entities.
  • Ensuring environmental protection and smart growth.

Home Rule and Council-Manager Government

• Form of government: Council-manager government.
• All powers of the city are vested in an elective council.
  • Enacts local legislation, adopts budgets, determines policies, and appoints the city manager.
  • The city manager executes the laws and administers the government.
• Goals of the city government:
  • Safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of residents.
  • Provide a high quality of life.
  • Including neighborhood integrity, clean water, cost-efficient electricity, effective police and fire departments, educational opportunities, effective road and transportation systems, a healthy business environment, well-maintained parkland and recreational opportunities.
  • Foster intergovernmental liaison and communication.
  • Encourage responsible citizenship.
  • Promote sound community and economic development.
  • Conserve and protect the city's natural resources and environment.

City of Dallas Organizational Chart

• Includes the Dallas City Council and City Manager.
• City Manager: Larry Casto
• Various departments and services.

San Marcos City Council Chambers

• Chris Jones: Former Executive Director of the Seminole Economic Development Corporation.

Austin City Council

• Former Mayor Steve Adler.
• Members were elected at-large until 2014.
• Since then, there are 10 individual districts and one mayor elected by all voters.

Chicago City Council

• 50 members elected in individual districts

San Antonio City Council

• 10 members elected by district and one mayor elected by all citizens.
• Terms of office: Two years, beginning on the first day of June following their election.
• Vacancies: If a member files for another public office, their council seat is immediately vacated.
• Compensation:
  • Council members: 45,722 per annum.
  • Mayor: 61,725 per annum.

San Marcos City Council 2013-2014

• Members: Jude Prather, John Thomaides, Shane Scott, Mayor Daniel Guerrero, Lisa Prewitt, Wayne Becak, and Ryan Thomason.
• Composed of a Mayor elected at-large for a two-year term and six Council Members elected at-large for three-year terms.
• Elections in November.
• Meetings: First and third Tuesdays of each month at 5:30 p.m.
• Jane Hughson is now mayor.

San Marcos City Council and Lamar Smith

• Meeting with former Congressman Lamar Smith (21st district in U.S. House).

San Marcos and Sanctuary Cities

• San Marcos City Council voted unanimously on 8/22/17 to file an amicus brief in opposition to Senate Bill 4 (ban on so-called sanctuary cities).
• Joined Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio in their lawsuit.
• The law mandates punishment for jurisdictions that do not fully cooperate with federal immigration officials.
• Karen Muñoz, of Mano Amiga, supported the action.

Greg Casar

• Democratic Congressional Candidate.
• Former Austin City Council member.
• Represents U.S. House District #35.

Local vs. Higher-Level Conservatism

• City councils are primarily concerned with land uses like zoning.
• Being conservative at the local level might differ from conservatives at higher levels of government.

San Antonio Population Growth

• Added 100,000 residents since 2010.
• The largest number of residents now reside on the north side in District 8.
  • District 8 is now more than a third larger than District 5.

Atlanta's City Council

• Map showing council districts.

Chicago City Council Districts

• Map illustrating the 50 individual city council districts.

Houston's Strong Mayor System

• The mayor appoints the HPD Chief and other administrators.
• The mayor writes the Houston budget.
• The mayor serves as the chief executive.
• Fifteen council members can put items on the agenda by calling a special meeting.
  • Requires a letter from three council members.

Dallas City Council

• 14 city council members elected in districts and one mayor elected at-large.
• They collectively choose the Dallas City Manager.

City Manager Role

• Like city councils, school board trustees hire new CEOs (superintendents).
• A key task for the council is choosing the city manager in council-manager systems.
• City of San Marcos just chose a new manager after the previous one retired.
• The North East Independent School District has 7,000 employees and more than 66,000 students.
• Discussion on eliminating the 22-student cap per classroom for first through third grade.

Form of Gov’t and Pay for Mayor/Council Members

• New York (Strong Mayor): Population 8.17M, Mayor 225K, Council 121,724
• L.A. (Strong Mayor): Population 3.79M, Mayor 232K, Council 181,292
• Chicago (Strong Mayor): Population 2.69M, Mayor 216K, Council 109,261
• Houston (Strong Mayor): Population 2.2M, Mayor 209K, Council 55,770
• Philadelphia (Strong Mayor): Population 1.54M, Mayor 202K, Council 121,807
• Phoenix (Council/Manager): Population 1.48M, Mayor 88K, Council 61,610
• San Diego (Strong Mayor): Population 1.33M, Mayor 100K, Council 75,096
• Dallas (Council/Manager): Population 1.24M, Mayor 60K, Council 37,500
• San Antonio (Council/Manager): Population 1.38M, Mayor 3,000, Council 1,400
• San Jose (Council/Manager): Population 982,765, Mayor 114K, Council 89,096
• Austin (Council/Manager): Population 842,592, Mayor 81,344, Council 69,885

Single Member Districts

• Each council member represents a defined geographical portion of the city.
• Citizens can only vote for the candidate in their district.
• Often preferred by ethnic minorities; may improve representation.
• Criticized for fragmenting policy perspective and heightening conflict.
• At-large elections: Every voter can vote for every member of the council.
• U.S. House and Texas House also use single-member districts.

Dallas City Council Districts

• Map of the 14 city council districts.

South Dallas

• The four black City Council members serve in South Dallas.
• Oak Cliff is on the southwest side of Dallas.

El Paso City Council Districts

• El Paso has 8 single-member districts.
• Current Districts
  • Ann M.Lilly, Susie Byrd, Emma Acosta, Carl Robinson, Dr. M. Noe, Eddie Holguin, Steve Ortega, Cortney Niland

Austin City Council Districts

• Before 2014, all seven Austin council members (including the mayor) represented the whole city.
• Voters changed the city charter in 2014.
  • Council members are elected in separate districts.
• All maps include one district with one-fifth African American population, one with a majority of Hispanic residents, and the rest majority white.
• Austin voters had rejected district plans six times since 1973.
• Austin was one of the largest U.S. cities without district representation.
• Drawing an Austin district with a large percentage of black residents is difficult.
  • Austin's black population is small (7.7%) and dispersed.
• Districts must have roughly equal populations under federal law.
• Latinos tend to prefer single-member districts.
• Victory Gardens (largely Latino community in San Marcos) might benefit from single-member districts.

Dallas City Manager Selection

• In choosing a new city manager in 2014, the rallying cry of the Dallas City Council was "change."
• A.C. Gonzalez, a longtime assistant city manager, was selected over two outside candidates.
• Since 1950, the City Council has chosen someone with experience inside City Hall.
• Vote to hire him was 15-0, but some council members preferred other candidates.
• Mayor Mike Rawlings questioned the need for new directions.

Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Catalyst for reorganization of Houston's system.
• In 1979, the city’s 8-member, at-large council was replaced by a 14-member system with 9 elected from single-member districts and 5 at-large.
• Dallas, El Paso, and San Antonio also replaced their at-large systems under threat of lawsuits.
• San Marcos school district shifted from all at-large to having 5 of 7 school board members elected in districts under threat from Latinos.
• Austin kept its at-large system until 2014.
• By tradition, Austin reserved one seat for a Latino and 1 seat for an African American.

El Paso: Debating Domestic Partner Benefits

• Tom Brown (pastor of the Word of Life Church) criticized the domestic partnership plan.
• Argued it was illegal due to the Defense of Marriage Act approved by the Texas Legislature in 2003.

El Paso City Charter and Petitions

• 7-1 Council vote on August 25, 2009.
• Residents can petition the council for reconsideration.
• If dissatisfied, they could petition again to force the issue to a vote of the people.
• Each petition requires signatures of 5% of voters in the May city election.
  • Approximately 1,500 signatures of registered voters.
• About 45 of 6,100 city employees would qualify for the benefits package.
• It would increase the city's costs by 128,000 to 287,000 annually.
• City spends about 35 million a year to insure its employees.

Lawn Watering Debate

• 4-3 vote opposing options on lawn watering.
• On July 7, 2009, Councilmembers Thomaides, Bose, Chris Jones, and Fred Terry went against a measure that would have allowed residents to apply for variances.
• Mayor Susan Narvaiz supported a change.
• City receives 75% of its water from Canyon Lake and 25% from the aquifer.

Ferguson, MO and Municipal Fines

• Teenager Michael Brown was shot by police officers on August 9, 2014.
• Unrest traced to a system of fines and punishments for petty crimes like traffic violations.
• The system can trap poor people who can’t pay tickets or make bond.
• Some municipalities fund significant portions of their budgets by issuing citations.
• Poor residents are ticketed for things such as speeding, disturbing the peace, or violating "saggy pants" ordinances.

City Managers & School Superintendents

• They are appointed by city councils or school boards, respectively.
• Managers have administrative responsibilities (hiring/firing) and write the budget.
• They can influence policy even though they ostensibly only implement policy.
• Elected officials should control unelected administrators in a democracy.

Role of Experts in Democracy

• The country has far more politically appointed civil servants (around 4,000) than most liberal democracies.
• Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reportedly identified nearly 90 percent of its employees as fitting into Schedule F.
• Political actors from OMB could reach into all the engine rooms of democracy.
• Democrats consider it the death knell of expertise in the U.S. government. "It’s ridiculous when you can’t run a modern government without expertise,” he says, “and they want to try to undo that system because of these ideas about the ‘deep state’ and the need to root it out.”

Council-Manager Form of Government

• Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Phoenix, San Diego are run by a city manager selected by the City Council.
• The idea is to limit the impact of politics by making the government more like a corporation.
• Dallas is among the nation’s largest cities using the council-manager form of government.
• Dallas City Manager has charge of a 3 billion-plus annual budget and 13,000 employees.
• Mary Suhm was the previous city manager.

Houston City Manager Attempt

• Houston tried the city manager form, adopted in 1942, but it lasted only four years.
• Term limits and an increase in size from eight to 15 make the council less effective as the only check on the mayor.

School Boards and Policy

• Should school boards make policy?
• School boards are said to “micro-manage” if they interfere with the superintendent too much.
• Should officials elected by the voters make policy?

Legislative Bodies

• Legislative bodies like Councils can:
  • 1) change laws (ordinances)
  • 2) fire the city manager
  • 3) hold hearings
  • 4) change the budget

El Paso City Officials

• El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez
  *El Paso City Attorney Karla Nieman
  City managers, city attorneys, municipal judges, and city clerks are often chosen by the city council. City managers typically choose the heads of other departments like police, utilities, and public works.

Influence of Administrators

• Administrators have career service, specialized knowledge, supportive constituencies, etc.
• This may help them do more than merely implement policies determined by elected bodies like city councils.

President Biden's Appointees

• Are changing the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Woodrow Wilson on Administration and Policy

• Administration and policy should be separate.
• Policy should be implemented by appointed administrators.

Evaluating City Manager Performance

• The city manager of New Braunfels was fired following his annual performance review in 2013.
• Mayor Gale Pospisil said council members lost confidence in Morrison.
• A 5-2 majority to fire Morrison.
• How do we evaluate the performance of an employee?
  • Do we give the employee a raise, do we cut her salary, or do we fire her?
  • What is the job metric?

La Marque Organizational Chart

• Shows the structure of the city government, including boards, commissions, and various departments.

Kyle, Texas

• Former City Manager Tom Mattis and Former Mayor Mike Gonzales

Max Weber's Ideal Bureaucracy

• Max Weber (1864–1920), a German sociologist, described the ideal bureaucracy:
  • 1) hierarchy
  • 2) specialization (a military MOS)
  • 3) career service
  • 4) fixed rules (bureaucratic red tape)
  • 5) clear jurisdiction

John Lindsay, Mayor of New York (1965-73)

• Constituents were unhappy with the quality of services and felt that the central government was too distant.
• Under Mayor Lindsay, attempts were made to decentralize decision-making and to involve community residents.

Office of Neighborhood Government

• 60 Little City Halls were created.
• A District Manager helped coordinate efforts of each “miniature government.”
• Parents were encouraged to help make decisions involved schools.
• A Citizens Review Board was created to review police officer actions.

Rat Problem

• What if a rat is in an apartment (housing), runs into a restaurant (health), then runs into the street (public works)?
• It’s the problem of uncoordinated government activity- endless referrals.

Christopher Monceballez Arrest

• A 3,000 bail was set on Christopher Monceballez, the representative of Council District 4 in New Braunfels.
• Arrested on March 3, 2017, for an argument that turned physical with a 23-year-old man.