Test Legal Handbook 2022

DATE:

August 11, 2022

TO:

Mayor and City Council

FROM:

Chuck Watts, City Attorney

SUBJECT:

Council-Manager Form of Government

The City of Greensboro employs the council-manager form of government. The council is the policy-making body and appoints the manager, who is the chief administrator. The Manager and City Attorney serve at the pleasure of the Council. The Mayor, elected separately, presides over the Council but has few independent powers. The Mayor serves as the official head of the city. All Council Members including the Mayor vote. The Manager is responsible for preparing the budget and for administering it consistent with the Council's policy determinations. The Manager has to power to hire and fire employees and supervises all departments, except the City Attorney and the City Attorney’s Office. The City Attorney advises Council and the Manager regarding legal matters, oversees the legal affairs of the City and manages the City Attorney’s Office. Members of the Office serve at his pleasure. This form of government promotes separation of the Council's responsibility for political judgments and policy determinations from the Manager's responsibility for administration in accordance with the Council's overall policy guidance and his or her own politically neutral professional expertise. This explanation of the Council-Manager form of government borrows heavily from David Lawrence, Municipal Government in North Carolina, (1995), S econd Edition , Institute of Government.

CDW/jgs Reference:

City of Greensboro Charter, Chapter 2 City of Greensboro Charter, Chapter 4