Getting Support from City Council

Abstract

This article discusses the roles of city-managers in building effective council-manager relationships. Based on a survey of city managers in cities over 50,000, this study finds that a majority of city managers are only moderately satisfied with council-manager relations. It also finds that pro-active trust-enhancing efforts by city managers significantly increase support by city councils for managerial strategies, as do positive assessments by community leaders about local government. Trust-building strategies and community leaders` assessments are related in a complementary manner.