Muscatine

The poster "republican" continues to try to make the candidates for mayor look like they are not fit to lead our town. By his own admission, we have had a city administrator since the '60s and it would appear by his post that he wants to know which of the current candidates could be full-time working mayors - his way of saying they are worthless. As I stated earlier, unless and until we change to a working mayor format, his question about who would be the one to do that is highly irrelevant. He writes on this site about how awful our city gov't is and how inept the school board is, yet wrote some time back "I'm already out, and I'm waiting until these people decide you are next." So what are we to believe about this poster? Why is he so concerned about what goes on in Muscatine if he no longer lives here?

I personally am against the city alleviating the city manager job because I don't think anyone in town would be qualified to take the position.  I had lunch with A.J. once who said he actually went to school specifically to study to be a city administator.  The position is so technical now a days, having to be knowledgeable in grants, state codes, city codes, ordinances, public works operations, budgets, I personally feel better having an administrator in that position who has studied and is knowledgeable about some of this stuff rather than having a novice come in every two or four years and have to learn it all over again as on the job training.  I think the position is there for consistency during different administrations.  I think it is the best way to run a city. 

Yes our mayor is only a figurehead, an ambassador, a cheerleader for our community.  That is who we are electing.  The person who we want to be the face of this community. 

The office of mayor has more power than some give it credit for. Because a person is mayor, they can call any of the council members into the office and lobby them on what is important. A council member only gets one vote, but if the mayor lobbies well enough, he can get seven votes. That is power, how many of you can even get your council member on the phone?  Because of the title “Mayor”, he can pick up the phone and call the Governor of this State and will probably have his phone call taken and then discuss matters affecting our community. That is power.  As Mayor he can pick up the phone and call any state legislator at the Statehouse and will be able to lobby on behalf of you, the citizens of Muscatine. How many of you can talk to your state legislator?  The Mayor has the ability to call corporate heads, business people, community activists and bring them together into a room and say, “We have a challenge here; how do we resolve it?” Many things have gotten accomplished that way, and that is another way there is power in the office of the mayor.  The Mayor of our community is a cheerleader, an ambassador, a lobbyist to help shape and better our community. I think it is a very integral part of our city government. The next person we elect needs to be someone who can be that cheerleader, an ambassador and a lobbyist.

But we also need the consistency and professionalism a city administrator can provide.

Great post opie. We certainly are not going to change it this election and if that is what "republican" thinks will happen he is even more misguided than I thought. That would be a HUGE change in local gov't and those wheels turn very s-l-o-w-l-y and your input should enlighten many who might even think that is the way to go.