The city of Marysville has outgrown its century old mayor-council form of government. Thanks to the efforts of the group Reform Now, Marysville voters will decide if they would like to change to a more efficient and responsive council-manager form of government.
The proposed form of government will make the elected city council decision makers for our community. They will hire a professionally trained city manager to carry out the city’s business and choose from among their own members a largely ceremonial mayor to preside over council meetings.
The International City/County Management Association, the professional association of appointed managers, has a code of ethics prohibiting its members from participating in the election of their employers. Our new manager will be ethically restrained from participating in Marysville’s seamy political activities.
Currently the mayor is the chief executive officer of the city, has nearly complete authority to supervise city staff and prepares the agendas for and presides over city council meetings. As we have seen in the most recent city election, the mayor is allowed to support or oppose candidates for city council, to solicit contributions from other council members on their behalf, and to conceal derogatory information about council candidates from the council and other voters.
Marysville voters dissatisfied with their current form of government, which has brought us the disgraceful shenanigans and cover-up of the last city election and made Marysville the subject of considerable notoriety, should vote to change to a council-manager form of government. This would result in the city hiring a trained manager responsible for running the city’s business in a professional and ethical manner.
Marysville
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