The outcry from those opposed to Marysville’s Proposition 1 is that “you have a right to elect your mayor.” If Proposition 1 passes, you still will. Under a manager-council form of city government, the mayor, who officiates at “ceremonial” functions, typically is picked from the ranks of the elected city council. The city manager, having no political affiliations, is hired by the council simply to run the day-to-day business of the city. If the city manager’s performance is unsatisfactory, it is the city council’s responsibility. Why else would council member Mike Leighan be so outspoken in his opposition to Proposition 1? Because, as a council member, he will have more reason to fear the voters come election-day – or perhaps he aspires to be mayor himself.
Let’s move to the real meat of this issue: Marysville is a city with roughly a $40 million annual budget. If you had stock in a $40 million company, would you hand over the business reins, and the fate of your investments, to someone because they were a nice person? Or would you rather trust someone with proven experience to run a business of that size? The choice is obvious. It also makes fiscal sense to have a city manager. Currently, Marysville pays substantial salaries to both a mayor and a chief administrative officer. With a city manager, whose sole responsibility is to run the city, both positions are eliminated, replaced by the single salary of the manager.
The voter’s pamphlet statement against Prop. 1 states, “If you are unhappy with the Mayor’s performance, you can vote him or her out of office in the next election.” Well, if you are unhappy with the performance of the city manager and the council hasn’t done anything about it, you can vote the council members out of office in the next election.
Marysville
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