What's the Difference?

The first question we received when we began our initiative to change Freeport to a (City) Management Form of Government was, “Why does this form of government differ from what we have now?” That question was raised by Journal-Standard columnist, Cara Spoto in our initial interview on the subject. It was also the first question raised by Craig Jostens when we met with him and Mayor Gaulrapp later on.

The essential difference is this. In a managerial form of municipal government, the city manager has complete control over the administration of the government. This includes hiring and firing of personal, preparation of budgets and financial accountability, collective bargaining, literally everything associated with operating the municipality.

The city manager is hired by and is accountable to the mayor and city council. The hiring process and relationship operates in much the same way as in our school district where the professional superintendent is selected from a list of qualified applicants. Applicants for the position of city manager are career veterans. They have resumes which document their education and experience in the profession of city administration.

The mayor and city council remain the elected representatives of our citizens. They are responsible for the city manager’s performance as well as legislation and policy making. They are also responsible for gathering inputs from their constituents and the city manager to plan for the future of our city.

What we have now under Mayor Gaulrapp’s administration is something that resembles a managerial government but differs in these fundamental ways.

First, The Mayor’s Finance Director, Craig Joestens, does not have complete control over the administration of the city government. Mayor Gaulrapp is still in charge of the day-to-day operations, and he and the city council are still actively making decisions which effect directly the operation of the government.

Secondly, Mr. Joestens was not selected from a list of qualified applicants for the position he holds. We understand that he was appointed by Mayor Gaulrapp, and his position as Financial Director was created by the Mayor with, we assume, the approval of the council.

Finally, the position of Financial Director does not fundamentally alter the structure of city government. Mr. Jostens serves at the pleasure of the Mayor, and he does not operate independently of Mayor Gaulrapp’s political agenda as would a city manager.

Many of our citizens may believe that this present arrangement is working and doing good for our city. Considering the challenges of these economic times, our question to the Mayor, Mr. Joestens, and the City Council is this: Why can’t we do better?

We also question why Mayor Gaulrapp did not take the “next step” and indeed change the fundamental structure of the government to a managerial form when he clearly has the power to do so?

Why didn’t the Mayor seek the vote of the city council to change the form of government?

Why didn’t the Mayor form a search committee and solicit resumes from qualified applicants in the city manager profession?

Why did he not move to transfer complete administrative control of the government to a professional city manager?

We can only assume that Mayor Gaulrapp did not want to surrender his authority over the city’s operations. We also agree that he did not want to surrender his income which would have been reduced substantially by council resolution if the government changed from a “Mayoral” to a “Managerial” form.

A copy of that resolution is available for the review of your readers.

On Tuesday evening, the City Council will give confirmation to the Mayor’s salary for the coming four years. We are informed that once the Council sets his salary, it cannot be changed even if the referendum to change our city government to a “Managerial Form of Municipal Government” passes.

We understand that the City Council has the legal authority to confirm the Mayor’s salary. We hope, however, that the City Council will move to postpone this decision until after the voters decide at the polls in November whether to change Freeport to a “Managerial Form of Municipal Government.”