Mayor

The office of mayor is probably the most misunderstood leadership position in government. Some mayors occupy a true executive office. Other mayors may serve primarily as a figurehead. Non-executive mayors are commonly perceived either to be doing less than they actually are or to have more power to act than state law and the municipal charter give them. Mayors in council-manager cities are not mere ribbon cutters and gavel-pounders, nor are they the driving force in city government. What they are lies somewhere between the two stereotypes. They are an important leader who can strongly influence how well city government performs.

It is difficult for voters to assess candidates for mayor. Those who seek and hold the office may also need to know more about the position and the realistic potential inherent in it. Mayoral candidates, borrowing a page from the campaign book of the executive mayor, often present themselves as the leader who will take charge of city government and propose bold solutions to the city’s problems. Once elected, however, they will have difficulty in following through. Although he or she has the title of mayor and some of the popular expectations for leadership associated with the title, the mayor has no powers on which to base true executive leadership and must depend on other officials, elected and appointed, for most of what he accomplishes. He lacks both the ability to initiate policies on his own and the legal authority to implement those policies.

Let’s look at the office of council-manager mayor in order to help voters know what qualities to look for in a candidate and to suggest to officeholders and candidates how they can best fill the post.

The Nature of the Office

The council-manager mayor is analogous to a company’s chairman of the board, important but not crucial to the organization’s operation. The government may operate adequately with minimal leadership from the mayor, since the plural executive organization provided by the council spreads out the responsibility for policy initiation. In addition, the manager has considerable informal influence, based on expertise and staff support, over the generation of proposals, and he has formal authority to direct implementation. Still, the "chairman" mayor can have an impact on governmental performance through contributions to the governing process that, though different from those of the "executive" mayor, are still important.

The elements of leadership can be organized in two categories. One category is a coordinative function in which the mayor is more or less active at pulling together the parts of the system to improve their interaction. The parts are the council, manager/staff, and public; the mayor has a special and close relationship with each. By virtue of his favored position, the mayor can tap into various communication networks among elected officials, governmental staff, and community leaders. Although they can and do interact with each other independently, the mayor- if he has done his homework- can transmit messages better than anyone else in the government because of his broad knowledge. He therefore has a unique potential to expand the level of understanding and improve the coordination among the participants in city government.

The second element is guidance in the initiation of policy, which may be done as part of the coordinating function or separately. The mayor not only channels communication but may also influence and shape messages being transmitted. He can also use more dramatic techniques to raise issues and put forth proposals, but these must be used cautiously because he runs the risk of alienating the council, whose support he needs to be effective.

Variations

There are countless variations of the duties and limitations of mayors across the U.S. For instance, larger cities often forbid the Mayor to hold other employment while serving their term.

Here are a few examples of the many variations on the duties of Mayor from throughout the country;

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