City manager: who is he and what does he do?

In English, the word city means "city" and the word manager means "to manage". Thus, the English-language term “city manager” literally means “city manager”. Today, on the territory of Russia, this is a very common administrative position used in the management sphere of the municipal economy.

A specialty called a city manager appeared in 2003 thanks to the adoption of Federal Law No. 131 "On general principles of organizing local self-government in the Russian Federation." And after 3 years, its new edition made it possible to govern the city not only to candidates chosen by the population, but also to a hired employee accepted on a competitive basis and performing their duties under a fixed-term employment contract.

Consider the difference between a city manager and a city mayor.

• The mayor is the elected head of the city, carrying out general management in it. He is a representative of the political forces that won the elections. Its main function is to work with the local Council of Deputies and fulfill the powers of the representation of this state structure.
• The city manager is a salaried employee in charge of the functioning of the city's infrastructure.... For example, for energy supply, housing and communal services, transport, social security of the population, and so on. In addition, the manager is responsible for the targeted use of municipal property and finances.

When the manager of the administration is only a municipal employee who is employed, all his activities are carried out under the supervision of a representative body created for this purpose within the municipality.

In order to take the post of head of administration and conclude a contract with the municipality, the city manager is selected through a competitive selection among several applicants. The procedure for holding such a competition is determined by a specially organized body that is a representative from the municipality.

To participate in the competition, potential managers must meet the following requirements:

• the presence of constitutional suffrage, as well as the absence of objective reasons for election;
• the age of the candidate must not be younger than 35;
• availability of higher education;
• at least 3 years of experience in management work in the area of ​​the municipality or in government agencies;
• positive characteristics and recommendations from the last places of employment;
• possession of knowledge in the field of legislation related to the issues of conducting administrative and economic activities;
• a positive decision of a special commission conducting an examination of the candidate for the possibility of performing the work of the head of the administration.

An employment contract with the selected representative for the position of city manager is concluded for a period determined by the representative body of the municipality. However, the term of this agreement must not be less than two years.

The list of official duties of a city manager depends on the needs and specifics of the municipality in which he will work. However, among this list, one can also single out those that are inherent in the hired manager of any Russian city:

• solution of issues related to the management of municipal economy and property;
• planning and organization of work on the management of the tax policy of the municipality;
• legal protection of the interests of the city in litigation;
• preparation and management of estimates of income and expenses of the municipality;
• issuance of the necessary orders to ensure the implementation of the work processes of the city administration on a local scale;
• control over the work of local self-government structures for the execution of state powers delegated to them;
• drawing up and control over the spending of the budget aimed at improving the social and economic sphere of the city;
• leadership of the heads of services that are directly subordinate to the head of the administration, including the reception and dismissal of them from office;
• issue of municipal acts and submission of proposals to the city duma on the development of the city;
• control over the activities of structural divisions of the municipality;
• reception of citizens on personal matters.

The city manager is responsible for his work not only to the municipality, but also indirectly to all citizens of the city.... Among other things, he is entrusted with the responsibility of compiling annual reports on the results of his activities as head of administration. A contract with a hired manager may be terminated if he is not able to properly resolve issues of local importance.

The specifics of the position of a municipal manager implies not only work related to management, but also the implementation of representative functions performed by the city manager on behalf of the municipality. The direction of the hired manager's activity in this matter is as follows:

• impeccable observance of the rules of business etiquette and all standards of office work;
• compliance with the regulations and requirements of the municipality;
• consideration of all applications from citizens, enterprises and institutions sent to the city administration;
• preparation of a project of presenting someone for an award and the organization of events accompanied by this event;
• coordination of work related to the material and technical support of the municipality;
• convocation and organization of meetings of the heads of the municipality;
• assistance in organizing and conducting election campaigns;
• resolving issues and heading the commission on housing issues, evacuation measures, providing a personnel reserve.

More and more municipalities are switching over to the new management system. But, like every administrative decision, this issue has its merits and demerits.

The position of a hired manager has certain positive aspects.

• Strict qualifying requirements to the applicant are the guarantor of his professional suitability, and the limits of the employee's competence are clearly formulated in his contract. This approach minimizes the emergence of conflicts over the distribution of powers to a minimum.
• Conducting a competition, unlike the election of the mayor, it does not require significant expenditures from the budget, which makes it possible, in the event of ineffective work of the manager, to dismiss him and hold the competition again or transfer powers into the hands of the mayor.
• If the introduced city management scheme does not give the desired results, there is always an opportunity to return to the previous norms of conducting administrative and economic activities, while the financial costs of the city budget will not be borne.

In addition to the advantages, the specifics of the work of a hired manager also has its disadvantages.

• The employee treats his work as a temporary project and does not associate himself with the long-term prospects of the city. In addition, a person who has arrived from another city or region who does not know all the nuances of local city life can be appointed to the post of manager.
• The city manager was appointed by the representatives of the municipality, therefore, this manager does not bear direct subordination to the people. This moment introduces a certain split between the unity of the government and the people, questioning all the actions of a hired employee on the part of the residents of the city.
• The dependence of the hired manager on the head of the city council - the governor is often traced, who approved his candidacy in the competitive selection... Such dependence is not always beneficial to the common cause and well-being for the city.

The practice of appointing a city manager is an optimization of the local system of municipal government. As a result of the adopted law, hired managers share with the mayor the front of work aimed at the life support of the city. It is possible that the interests of the townspeople will not suffer with such a distribution of powers, but it becomes obvious that people have been deprived of the right to choose. It remains only to observe how a new word of the law is being introduced into our lives and to hope that the results of such optimization will not disappoint anyone.