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i.1®rk <br />BIEST BEST & "IEGER � <br />ATTORNEYS AT LAW Irlq nrT •_ f !"" 'I; P(:-� <br />C I T Y P I f a <br />4 I <br />MEMORANDUM <br />To: MUNICIPAL CLIENTS <br />From: BEST BEST & KRIEGER LLP <br />Date: OCTOBER 2, 2015 <br />Re: PROPER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AND AMONG CITY COUNCIL <br />MEMBERS, CITY MANAGER AND CITY STAFF: "... Except for the Purpose of <br />Inquiry..." <br />INTRODUCTION <br />Ninety-seven percent' of cities in California operate under the system of local <br />government commonly known as the "Council -Manager form of government," under <br />which the power structure of the city is shared between and among the elected city <br />council on the one hand, and a professional city manager or chief administrator, on the <br />other. <br />And California is not unique in this respect. The first city to adopt a Council - <br />Manager form of government was Staunton, Virginia over one hundred years ago, and <br />since then more than 3,500 cities with populations more than 2,500 people use the <br />form .2 In California, many cities have adopted an ordinance with substantially the same <br />language regarding the "proper" role of the elected official in the day-to-day operations <br />of the government; the language is shown here: <br />"The city council and its members shall deal with the <br />administrative services of the city only through the city <br />manager, except for the purpose of inquiry. Neither the <br />city council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any <br />subordinate of the city manager. ,3 <br />Thus, the dichotomy is set up: the City Manager is in charge of administering the <br />city government, while the Council is generally prohibited from "giving orders" to city <br />employees and, ostensibly, from contacting them in any way "except for the purposes of <br />inquiry." <br />But what exactly does that mean? This memo examines the legal authority and <br />practical applications of the Council -Manager form of government in California, and <br />I According to the League of California Cities, 470 out of California's 485 cities employ the council- <br />manager form of government. www.eacities.org/em. <br />2 "Taking Stock of the Council -Manager Form at 100" Svara and Nelson, Public Managemeni Magazine, <br />Aug. 2008, <br />San Jacinto Municipal Code § 2.12.070 (emphasis added), <br />This product' provided under the Public Policy & Ethics Group Program <br />