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City-manager option aims to provide accountability

No preconceived ideas. No bias.

Just good old-fashioned, fair, hard-nosed research and interviews.

That’s what the Williamsport Charter Commission leadership said it took to reach a recommendation for a council-manager under optional third-class city charter law as the preferred form of city government moving forward.

Voters have that choice on Nov. 6, said Fred Holland, commission chairman.

The recommendation to be on the ballot took nine months of research to include three surveys and interviews with former and present-day city employees, he said.

“We felt the individual hired would work best under optional third-class city charter law,” Holland, an attorney, said.

Joining Holland and Patrick Marty, commission vice chairman, on the charter commission were Gerry Fausnaught, David Stone, Howard Biichle and Tony Nardi. Steven Shope was initially elected but resigned and was replaced by Thomas Forquer.

The commission produced a six-page final report that was released by the group in early August.

“The report describes how the seven elected volunteers reached their conclusion of a council-manager form to replace the mayor-council form of government that was put in place in 1972,” Marty said.

The council-manager form under the existing city charter will be an option for registered voters to consider on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election.

The big change is that, similar to Loyalsock Township or South Williamsport, a manager with complete administrative duties would be hired in lieu of electing a full-time mayor as chief executive officer, starting in January 2020.

Instead, the mayor is to be elected among and preside over council with limited ceremonial responsibilities, Holland said.

The commission faced scrutiny from Mayor Gabriel J. Campana, who claimed several of its members had an agenda to change government.

“It’s not a referendum on the current mayor,” Holland said. “Our commission kept strictly to what is available under optional third-class city charter law.”

Under that limitation, the commission could recommend keeping the status quo, or a commission form, or a council-manager. It quickly did away with the idea of a commission form, he said.

The commission disbanded once its August report was filed with the city clerk.

“Our scope was much more narrow than that of the home rule study commission, and was driven by charter law,” Marty said.

The report, he said, contains numerous watchwords that demonstrate a consistent theme of a manager providing efficiency and better communication among the administration and council across electoral cycles.

“Improving communications was a stated goal of several commissioners, and a constant theme in interviews,” Marty added.

“A professional manager would be expected to bring increased efficiency and to eliminate duplicative work between departments,” the report concluded.

“A professional manager would also be expected to enhance the level of communication between the departments and between the employees in the city,” it stated.

Unlike Campana, who said he considers running the executive branch of city government to be like a business, the commission believed a manager would better suit the changing times and financial challenges the city faces each year.

“In short, while we recognize that a government is not a business, we believe that the use of a professional manager would allow the government of the city of Williamsport to adopt successful business practices, when appropriate, in order to increase efficiency,” the commission wrote in its report.

The manager would be hired by council. He or she would serve as a chief administrator and would be responsible for executing the ordinances of council, which would continue to be a seven-member body elected on staggered terms.

The city also would continue to have an elected treasurer and controller.

The decision was not arbitrary, but deliberate and methodical, according to Marty.

“It is a serious question,” he said.

Research included interviews with state officials from the Department of Community and Economic Development, and with consultants from the Pennsylvania Economy League, and commissioners heard from leadership in similar Pennsylvania cities of the third-class, such as Altoona, Easton and Sharon.

Commissioners also teamed up to interview many present-day and former elected officials and department heads.

To capture more information, the commission formulated three surveys.

A separate survey was designed for city department employees, including leaders of the departments, one for current and former elected officials, and a third was sent out to the public.

The commission recognized that there was no way to make their public survey scientific, Marty said.

“The most value was derived from the narrative portions of the studies, which allowed people to express their views more broadly,” he said.

Answers on the surveys were anonymous, and results were made public.

“It was not particularly surprising that many of those taking the surveys said they were concerned about the city’s financial direction,” Marty said. “But, especially from employees, there were also clear concerns cited about the impact of the electoral cycle on continuity of services.”

Heading to the polls Nov. 6, there is no need for voters to be confused, Marty said.

The commission drafted an “interpretive statement,” which is a concise explanation of what voting “yes” to the question means. The statement will be available on paper at city polling stations but not on the ballot.

A “yes” vote would allow the city, “through its elected council, to hire a city manager on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications, to include education, training and experience.”

The recommendation is a modern operating solution that is accountable to taxpayers through their elected representatives, Marty said.

It is working in other cities across the state and the commission believes it also can work in the city.

“Further, it mitigates the need for steep, costly learning curves and the negative effects of the electoral calendar on city operations,” Marty said.

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