Local Government Structural Issues
Quick Links in this article:
- Overlapping and duplication of services
- History
- City government. How is it working for us?
- County government.
- What do the experts say?
- Other Communities
- Differences in leadership styles
- Composition and Size of the Commission
- What kind of government do we want?
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Overlapping and duplication of services
Within the City of Albuquerque boundaries, county districts overlap with those of the city. County commissioners represent the entire County. (See map); however, for many services, City government has jurisdiction within municipal limits.
The County assesses property and collects and distributes property taxes for the entire County, including those areas within the municipal limits. A portion of those taxes are distributed to the City of Albuquerque and other taxing districts such as the Metropolitan Area Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) and the Bernalillo County Medical Center (BCMC).
The Sheriff has law enforcement responsibilities for areas outside the municipal limits; the Chief of Police appointed by the Albuquerque mayor, has responsibility for areas within the municipal limits. The City of Albuquerque has jurisdiction over planning, zoning and platting within the municipal limits. Recent amendments to state statute enacted by the legislative in 2003 gave the BCC exclusive planning, platting and zoning authority over the unincorporated areas outside the city limits.
These amendments also set up a water utility with 3 members of the County Commission , 3 members of the City Council and the Albuquerque Mayor. The water utility makes decisions on the extension of water lines, considered to be a primary tool in managing growth.
Differing responsibilities of the two governments within and without the incorporated areas have led to a need for two planning departments, two road and public works departments, two law enforcement agencies, two legal departments, two housing departments, etc. creating what many see as duplication of services and excessive administrative costs.
Voters in the city of Albuquerque are familiar with the Mayor/ Council form of government, which sets up a "separation of powers." Its major feature is that the legislative body, the city council, operates separately from the executive branch administered by an elected mayor. Voters in the unincorporated areas of Bernalillo County are familiar with the traditional Commission/Manager or "unified" form, in which a five-member districted County Commission serves as the governing body and hires a county manager to perform executive functions. Under this system, the manager is accountable to the commission.
From 1917 to 1974, both the city and county had Commission/Manager systems. The City Commission had only five members, elected at-large by voters in the entire city. Former Mayor David Rusk in a report to the recent Unification Exploratory Group looking at unifying city and county governments, describes the reform movements of the early 1970's. At that time, new city and county charters were adopted. The city charter created a full-time mayor directly elected by the voters and increased the size of the city council to nine members elected by district. These were much-needed changes. They provided the leadership of an elected mayor and increased citizens' sense of direct representation.
Yet the systems created thirty years ago may again need to change to better address the issues and problems of our fast-growing metropolitan area in the 21st century.
City government. How is it working for us?
Rusk's report describes issues that have arisen under the Mayor/Council system.
- The revolving door to the mayor's office every four years has created “great instability” and loss of institutional memory in the executive branch.
- Turnover of department heads every four years when a new mayor is elected has impacted the quality and continuity of city services. The political impacts have increased since 1989 when the city charter was amended to give the mayor rather than the chief administrative officer the authority to appoint and fire department heads.
- In recent years with run-offs ruled unconstitutional, mayors have lacked breadth of support and true mandate, with the last two mayors elected by only 9% and 12% of registered voters, respectively.
- Many Albuquerque mayors, frustrated with council involvement in "executive" matters have called for stronger barriers and clearer separation of legislative and executive roles.
- It is difficult for the mayor and council to agree on policy. The mayor and city council often have different approaches to solving problems, and conflict typically occurs.
- Regarding the 9-member districted city council, Rusk describes "neighborhood-based gridlock" noting that it is increasingly difficult to gain council approval for new initiatives that would benefit the city as a whole but face strong local opposition. Over 300 neighborhood associations have become strong players in the development process and this affects city-wide planning and zoning policy and results in costly lawsuits.
- Both the mayor and council staffs have increased over the years. This creates duplication and waste of government resources.
Rusk notes the “level of effectiveness and stability” under the long-term tenure of the current County Manager . The partisan election system, with commissioners representing the Democratic or Republican political parties, has increased the political power of the County with other levels of government—the State and Federal levels.
There are only five districts for the entire county. This means that each commissioner represents over 100,000 people. Five districts for the entire county may not give enough voice to communities of interest, as citizens from unincorporated areas voice dissatisfaction with urbanization and development decisions that threaten their rural lifestyle
Another concern with this form of government is that too much power can be concentrated in the appointed manager. According to UNM political science professor Timothy Krebs, a pure Commission/ Manager system without a separately elected mayor can create a “crisis of leadership” and “stagnation in policy-making” in dealing with important societal issues.
According to Dr. Tanis Salant of the National Civic League, the " Separation of Powers form of government was created to “prevent bad things from happening" because under this system, no one branch of government has all the power. However, this form of government makes it difficult to get things done, because it creates conflict among officials, especially elected officials. It fosters competition among the different parts of government with each vying to accomplish their agendas.
There is little case law in New Mexico to help settle power struggles between mayors and councils.
On the other hand, Dr. Salant states that “Unification of Powers (under a Commission/ Manager system) was created to make good things happen. Strong political leadership can occur under both forms, but a mayor and council functioning as a cohesive team is a better form for creating a long-term vision with mutually agreed upon goals.”
Within the southwestern region, an overwhelming majority of comparable communities use the Commission/ Manager form of government that (1) combines executive and legislative branches in a council or commission and (2) elects a mayor community-wide. Among them are Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Tucson, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, San Jose, San Diego, and Colorado Springs. Out of 199 communities with populations numbering 100,000 or more, 112 of them, mostly newer communities in the west, use this form, whereas older large central cities in the east and mid-west tend to have the Mayor/ Council system. In addition to Albuquerque, others in our region with the Mayor/ Council system are El Paso, Tulsa, and Denver.
Differences in leadership styles
Inspirational and visionary mayors can emerge under any form, but they have different leadership styles. The “unified” form of government vests leadership in the governing body, with the mayor in a facilitative role. This type of facilitative mayor works with and through others and is a cohesive influence on the commission. The mayor is elected community-wide, presides over the governing body, is a voting member or tie-breaker, and proposes legislation. Under this system, the governing body, including the mayor, has the executive power to appoint and remove the CAO or manager, who in turn appoints department heads and controls the merit system.
Giving the mayor the power to propose legislation and the power of "first review" over the budget provides the tools and powers needed to be a broad community leader.
Or should leadership continue to be vested in a strong executive mayor with a top-down style, who runs a separate executive branch? Experts caution against creating a " partial-executive" mayor with both voting and veto power, as this creates ambiguity in the mayor's role and sets up conflict with the commission and manager.
Regardless of style, direct election gives any mayor visibility in the community and opportunity to build a coalition that supports his or her efforts to work as a guiding force.
Composition and Size of the Commission
Mayor/Council forms of government tend to have larger legislative bodies; for example, the cities of Chicago and New York have 50 members of the assembly, respectively, with 11-15 being typical in western Mayor/Council examples. The newer “unified” Mayor/Commission cities have commissions ranging from 5 to 14 members.
Advantages of a larger number of districts include greater focus on constituent services and communities of interest and less expensive campaigning. Disadvantages are:
• Smaller districts can lead to too much emphasis on "pot-hole" politics or parochial district needs.
• The interest of rural areas may be ignored by majorities representing the interests of urbanized areas.
Advantages of a smaller number of districts include better teamwork, functioning more like boards of directors with an incentive to find common interests and implement long-term community goals. Consolidating staffs could save resources and allow more efficient focus on constituent services. Disadvantages are:
• These larger districts would likely require more expensive campaigning.
• Each commissioner represents a larger number of people, making access more difficult for constituents.
Some communities in the region have a combination of districted and at-large seats. Rusk points out that Greater Albuquerque would be a municipal corporation with a $1 billion a year budget. At-large members have a broader constituency and a clearer obligation to weigh the entire community's interests, but may upset the balance of district representation. A facilitative mayor elected at-large in a unified government can moderate between service to districts and service to the community as a whole.
What kind of government do we want?
The commission writing a new charter for a combined city and county government decided on a combination of the two basic forms, in which a mayor is elected at-large but is also part of the governing body. The charter commission thought that making the mayor a co-policy maker on the governing body can change the dynamics from conflict to cooperation. They thought that cooperation was a better way to make and carry out community-wide policies. Having a mayor as part of a new governing body (commission or council) would be a dramatic departure from the current system.
However, this charter was defeated by the voters in November of 2003. Today another commission is considering the same issues of what kind of government would work best for our community.
Albuquerque Political Structure & History
• Albuquerque's
Government
• Albuquerque's Public Officers
• Laws That Govern Albuquerque
• History of Albuquerque's Neighborhoods
• Public Resources
Bernalillo County
Political Structure
• The
County's Government
• The County's Public Officers
• Laws That Govern Counties
• Public Resources
