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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A West Jordan legislator plans legislation that would take power away from mayors of Utah's largest cities and give it to city managers.
Under Republican Rep. Peggy Wallace's bill, first and second-class cities that have a mayor-council form of government would have to hire a city manager to take over many of the mayor's duties.
Jobs like the hiring and firing of appointed workers, negotiating with unions and arranging the sale and use of real property would taken from the mayor and handed over to the city manager.
"With a good city manager there's going to be a lot more oversight on a day-to-day business," Wallace said.
Salt Lake City Councilman Dave Buhler said the plan take away the ability of cities to choose their form of government for themselves.
"I'm all for competent public managers, but I don't know that it should be mandated by the Legislature," Buhler said.
"The people should be able to decide their form of government," said Salt Lake City Councilwoman Jill Remington Love.
Wallace said Utah cities should have professional municipal managers who know what they are doing. Wallace also wants to take politics out of the day-to-day operations of the city as much as possible and give continuity to city management.
"Under the council-mayor form of government there is inherently significant conflict between the administration and the council," Lincoln Shurtz, legislative analyst for the Utah League of Cities & Towns, said.
"If you had a city manager in there that was not politicized -- that could kind of operate on his own being a strong city manager -- it would remove the ability of the mayor's office to essentially politicize issues that have been ratified by the legislative branch," Shurtz said.
Wallace said mayors often do not have much experience with city government or process. Lawyers, lobbyists, real estate developers and other professionals sometimes have little experience in running a huge city that functions like a corporation.
The private sector would never pick a CEO with no corporate experience, so she questions why a city, which often functions like a big company, would choose to, she said.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
