Suchergebnisse

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a number of cities along Mississippi's Gulf Coast were forced to rebuild their communities. This article examines the disaster response efforts of these cities, led by the State of Mississippi. To address both short- and long-term recovery efforts, Mississippi leaders focused on coordinating with a renewed vision for gaming and tourism that economically supports the economy of south Mississippi. This strategy employed by Mississippi provides a useful framework that points out the importance of public leadership and vision, public input, infrastructure and economic recovery, and an intergovernmental regional recovery plan. As a result of the coordinated response, Mississippi communities have created an articulated vision for the future of their respective communities.

For more than a decade, the City of Auburn, Alabama, has employed university students as part-time firefighters, police aides, and 911 communicators. The most fully developed program allows students to be trained and work as state-certified firefighters. Newly constructed fire stations have separate dormitory-style rooms for the students. Tuition is paid by the city as long as the students earn at least a 2.5 grade point average. This program has been cost effective for the city and the source of tuition assistance for hundreds of college students. Furthermore, it has created a talented pool of candidates for regular city employment.

What are the typical career paths of city managers serving in the nation's largest cities? This article examines the career paths of 113 city managers in council‐manager cities with populations over 100,000. The authors identify four distinct career paths for city managers—long servers, lateral movers, ladder climbers, and‐single city careerists—and find that city managers in the largest council‐manager cities are commonly ladder climbers or single‐city careerists. This research shows the stereotypical description of the ladder climber as the only career path is incomplete. Many large cities are providing opportunities for career development, making it unnecessary for city councils to select outsiders to fill top positions. While other research has shown that nearly four‐fifths of city managers are hired from outside, only 54 percent of the city managers in the largest cities were outsiders at the time they were hired.

The literature on council–manager government often mentions the political difficulties that city managers face with their elected officials and constituent groups. In addition, the generally accepted route to success for city managers is to move to larger and better–paying cities. As a result of these push–and–pull factors, the average tenure of city managers is short. There are, however, a relatively small number of city managers who enjoy long tenure in single cities. The authors identified the 146 city managers who are serving and have served for at least 20 years the same city and sought to determine the factors leading to their long service. The survey indicates that long–serving city managers are more likely to be found in smaller cities that are homogeneous and politically stable. The majority of these city managers are white males with above–average educational levels, strong support from elected officials, and personal commitments to the cities they serve.

The City of Auburn, Alabama, a university city of 45,000, privatized its wastewater treatment facilities in the early 1980s. At the time, the city was faced with outdated wastewater facilities that were built in the 1950s. Overflows from the many pump stations into local creeks were common occurrences. Federal financial assistance was several years away because of Auburn's lower priority on the funding list, and interest rates were very high for municipal bond issues. Federal tax law favored private investment in public facilities so the city choose a private company to build, own, and operate two new treatment plants. In 2001, the city purchased the treatment facilities from the private owner because it needed to expand treatment capacity and build a major new sewer line. This article presents the case study of the privatization and subsequent return to public ownership of a capital-intensive privatization project of the early 1980s.