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Outtakes
NOT QUITE RIGHT Pensacola has a unitarian form of government, meaning the power, in theory, is vested in one elected body. There is an administrative staff, but its role is to implement the directives, programs and policies of the council.
In other words, the council passes it, the staff gets it done. If the staff fails to do so, it is removed. If the council fails to follow the wishes of the voters, its members aren't re-elected. It's very straight-forward.
Pensacola city government doesn't quite operate in such a straight-forward manner. There are several barriers. Some are actually good, others are not.
NO MEASUREMENTS The city manager is selected by City Council to hire and manage the administrative staff. By law, council members are not to interfere with the city administration.
This law does buffer the department heads and city workers from politics. The staff, in theory, can operate solely on the basis of how it can best implement the directives from the entire council.
However, there is no objective performance evaluation system for the city manager, city attorney or any of the department heads. The City Council has no system to judge how effectively the administration is implementing its directives. If a department head has an agenda different than the council, there is little the council can do.
FIRING MYTH If the majority of the council so votes, the city manager and city attorney can be fired at anytime. The reality is they aren't fired. They hold the positions as long as they wish.
Removing a city manager or city attorney is nearly impossible because there is no evaluation system in place that would help the council determine if any change is warranted. Also a council member has no way of knowing if he has five votes to replace the city manager or attorney. The city manager and city attorney can lobby individual council members for their jobs, but the council member can't do the same without violating the Sunshine Laws.
SIZE MATTERS Pensacola's ten-member council is by far the largest council of any Florida city with similar population size.
In a five-member council, a member doesn't have to share the mic with nine other people. He has time to express his ideas and ask questions. He only has to convince two other people, not five, to win a vote. One council member speaking out from a five-member board has to be taken seriously. One from a ten-member board speaking out can be dismissed as disgruntled.
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE MYTH The City Council rarely initiates policies and programs. It may direct staff to study an issue and come back with a recommendation, but the council can't talk with the staff members about what they will recommend.
Nearly all recommendations come from the city manager and his staff. The council is rarely given more than one option on an issue. Substantial amendments are also rare. And the size of the council makes discussions of alternatives difficult. City Manager and staff can lobby individual council members for their recommendations, but the alternatives suggested by the council can only be discussed in open meetings.
LITTLE AGENDA CONTROL Individual council members can't put items on the agenda. If they are on the appropriate committee, they can make a motion to add something, but must have the votes to add it. The city manager has significant control over all council agendas. The committee chairs can add items, but the individual council members can not without the votes.
This limited access to the council agendas is unique to Pensacola. In talking to other councils from other cities, individual members can have anything placed on the agenda for discussion.
In the end, one is left with a system that puts tremendous power in the hands of the administrative staff; which I'm not sure is what the citizens intended in 1931 when the original charter was approved.
