Trends in Forms of Government in Washington Cities

(From: Municipal Research News, MRSC, December 1991)

Historically there have been three basic forms of municipal government found in Washington cities: the mayor-council form, the council-manager form, and the commission form. Each alternative form represents a different approach to the political and administrative organization of municipal government. At one time or another, citizens of every city and town in Washington have taken up the question of which form of government would be best for their community. In our most recent state election, competing ballot propositions representing proposals for each of the three basic forms of government were debated and voted on in at least two cities.

Table 1

Washington Cities by Population and Form of Government 1991

Current Picture

Table 1 shows the distribution of Washington cities by population and form of government. Currently, of Washington's 268 cities and towns, 228 (85%) operate under the mayor-council form, 37 (14%) have adopted the council-manager form, and three (1%) operate under the commission form.

The great majority of Washington's 268 municipalities are small mayor-council cities and towns.Of the 228 mayor-council municipalities in the state, 196 have populations of under 5,000, including 100 small mayor-council municipalities that have fewer than 1,000 residents. Some of the state's largest cities, having populations greater than 25,000, also operate under the mayor-council form, including the city of Seattle, with over 500,000 residents.

Most council-manager cities, 30 out of 37, fall within the 5,000 to 100,000 population range. In fact, mayor-council and council-manager cities in this population group are just about evenly split, with 31 cities operating under the mayor-council form and 30 cities under the council-manager form.

The three cities operating under the commission form of government are Wenatchee (22,080 population), Shelton (7,310 population), and Raymond (2,890 population).

Historical Trends

Mayor-Council. The mayor-council form is the oldest form of government found in Washington cities and was the only practical choice available to most cities from statehood in 1889 until 1910 when the commission form was introduced.

This form consists of an elected mayor (elected at-large) who serves as the city's chief administrative officer and a council (elected either at-large or from districts) which is responsible for formulating and adopting city policies. The mayor-council form is characterized by a separation of executive and legislative powers and a system of checks and balances patterned after our traditional national and state governments.

Mayor-council governments have generally been classified as either a "strong-mayor" or "weak-mayor" type depending upon the degree of executive authority that is concentrated in the office of mayor.

Under the "weak-mayor" form, the mayor has relatively limited authority, lacks the veto power, and must share control over administrative departments with several other elected officials. The designers of this form sought to decentralize the exercise of executive and policy making authority in order to avoid concentrating too much authority into any one office or body. The "weak-mayor" form was the dominant form of municipal government from the earliest part of the country's history at a time when most of the tasks of local government were still relatively simple. But as the functions of local governments gradually increased in their number and complexity, this early mayor-council form proved to be too cumbersome and inefficient to meet the needs of many growing cities.

To overcome some of the inadequacies of the "weak-mayor" form, from the mid-to-late 1800s, government reformers pushed for a more centralized system of administrative control leading to the development of the "strong-mayor" form of mayor-council government. Under this form an independently-elected mayor had greater powers of appointment and removal of subordinates, a higher degree of administrative control over departments, and the power to veto council legislation. The resulting government structure limits the council's role to policy making and oversight, and reserves administrative power and responsibility for the mayor.

In Washington the legislature basically provided for the "strong-mayor" type of government. Except in towns of the fourth class, the mayor was given the veto power.

By the time of statehood in 1889, there were 32 cities in Washington operating under the mayor-council form of government. From that time the number of cities operating under this form steadily increased, to 190 in 1920 and 208 by 1940, becoming the most popular form among Washington cities, particularly among those cities and towns under 5,000 population.

Progressive Reform Movement. On the national scene, the progressive reform movement of the early 1900s resulted in the development of two new forms of government, the commission form and the council-manager form. Concerned with the excesses of "political machines" operating in many of the country's cities and dissatisfied with the poor quality of many municipal services, government reformers of this period sought to induce positive change by introducing the values of efficiency and professionalism borrowed from the model of America's successful business organizations.

Commission Form. Initially introduced at Galveston, Texas in 1901, the commission form was the first major alternative to the mayor-council form and was widely adopted in the United States during the early 1900s. The commission form featured a small council whose members functioned collectively as the city legislative body and individually as city department heads. In theory, combining executive and legislative responsibility in one small elected body was supposed to result in increased political accountability and a more efficient and responsive city government.

Tacoma and Spokane were the first cities to adopt the commission form in Washington, both in 1910. As first class cities, Tacoma and Spokane were able to adopt the commission form through their charter authority. For other classes of cities, enabling legislation authorizing adoption of the commission form was enacted in 1911. Other cities adopting this form included Yakima, Walla Walla, and Chehalis in 1911, and Centralia in 1912.

Council-Manager Form. Sumter, South Carolina has been credited as the first city to adopt the council-manager form of government in 1912. The council-manager form consists of an elected city council, which is responsible for policy making, and a professional city manager, appointed by the council, who is responsible for administration. The city manager is directly accountable to, and can be removed by the council.

It was not until 1943 that the enabling legislation for the council-manager form was enacted by the Washington legislature. First class cities had the authority to adopt this form under their charters, but none had successfully done so (reformers in Seattle made several early, but unsuccessful, attempts). The first city in Washington to successfully adopt the council-manager form was the city of Sunnyside in 1948.

Table 2

Forms of Government and Percentage of Incorporated Population of Washington Cities 1940 - 1990.

Modern Trends

Table 2 shows the number of Washington cities adopting the mayor-council, council-manager, and commission forms of government from 1940 to 1990. Also included in Table 2 is the percentage of incorporated population governed by the three basic forms of government over the same period.

Since statehood the number of mayor-council cities increased steadily until it peaked in 1962 at 238, and then declined slightly, reflecting a growing number of Washington cities that were beginning to adopt the council-manager plan. Since 1940, 40 cities have incorporated under the mayor-council form and four cities have changed from another form to the mayor-council form. In 1990, Washington's mayor-council cities accounted for 54 percent of the state's incorporated population.

Nationally, the mayor-council form is used in a majority of larger cities over 250,000 population and small cities under 10,000. This form accounts for roughly 53 percent of all U.S. cities over 2,500 population.

Although the commission form enjoyed an initial period of popularity in Washington, the number of adoptions peaked in the early 1940s at 15 cities. In 1944 Shelton was the last city to adopt the commission form. At the height of its popularity, 38 percent of the state's incorporated population lived in cities operating under the commission form. Since that time the number of commission cities has steadily decreased, until today only three cities, Wenatchee, Shelton, and Raymond, continue to operate under this form, accounting for less than one percent of city residents. Of the 12 cities that abandoned the commission form, 10 changed to the council-manager form and two to the mayor-council form. Nationally, the commission form is used in only one percent of U.S. cities over 2,500 population.

The number of adoptions of the council-manager form in Washington has increased steadily since the time of its introduction. After Sunnyside first blazed the trail in 1948, the city of Ellensburg followed quickly, adopting the plan in the following year. Other cities have followed over the years with 14 adoptions in the 1950s, seven in the 1960s, seven in the 1970s, and seven in the 1980s. Washington's two newest cities, SeaTac and Federal Way, both adopted the council-manager plan when they incorporated in 1990. Only two cities, Bonney Lake (1973) and Anacortes (1982), have abandoned the council-manager plan, both changing back to the mayor-council form.

Today the 37 Washington cities operating under the council-manager form of government range in population from 2,210 in Ocean Shores to 170,700 in Spokane. The total population in council-manager cities in 1990 was slightly over one million residents, accounting for approximately 45 percent of the state's incorporated population.

On the national level, the council-manager plan is found in roughly 37 percent of U.S. cities over 2,500 population. This form is used in a majority of medium- to large-sized municipalities between 10,000 and 250,000 population.

Merging Forms?

A growing number of mayor-council cities have begun adding a new professional position of city administrator or chief administrative officer (CAO) in the mayor's office. CAOs serve under the mayor and assist with the mayor's administrative and policy-related responsibilities. Typically, this position may be responsible for budget preparation, personnel administration, and the daily supervision of departments. In theory, the appointment of a CAO frees the mayor from the need to attend to administrative details and allows the mayor to focus greater attention on policy development and political leadership roles.

This form is really a hybrid of the council-manager and mayor-council forms, since it borrows some of the characteristics of each. There is a single elected executive to represent the community and provide political leadership--assisted by a professional manager. Some local government observers have suggested that this trend actually represents a converging of the two dominant forms of government.

In Washington, this variation on the mayor-council plan has been growing in popularity over the past 10 to 20 years, particularly among cities and towns under 10,000 population. In a 1985 survey, the Municipal Research Center identified 65 mayor-council cities and towns that had established a position of city or town administrator, or other similar position. The Officials of Washington Cities 1990-1991 currently lists 85 cities that have established some type of CAO position. In addition, each of the three commission cities have also created city administrator type positions.

While there continues to be a wide variation in levels of responsibility among CAOs, their numbers are significant and represent an important trend toward the further integration of professional management into Washington local government. It is interesting to note that mayor-appointed city administrators and supervisors today comprise more than half of all the members of the Washington City-County Management Association.

Conclusion

Reflecting national trends, the mayor-council form remains the most common form of government found in Washington cities and towns particularly among the smaller jurisdictions and in the very largest. The trend toward professional management in local government introduced through the council-manager plan during the 1940s has had a major influence on the structure of Washington local governments. The continuing popularity of professional management reflects not only the growth in the number and complexity of local government services, but also the growing demands placed on local governments, both large and small, in the form of federal and state mandates and reporting requirements. The growth in external demands, in particular, may be one reason that increasing numbers of smaller mayor-council cities have also hired professional managers.