Best Practices for Promoting Good Relationships Between Your City Council and Staff

摘要

A good relationship between city council members and staff is fundamental to a well-run city. A city's success invari-ably turns on whether the city council and staff can communicate in an effective and respectful way. Perhaps even more important, this relationship has a significant impact on the city's ability to keep quality staff. Although city council members may believe that distancing themselves from the city's daily affairs might alienate the staff, deferential distance allows staff to do what they are trained to do — run the city's administrative affairs. Respect for their role within the city also encourages staff members to implement the policies council members feel passionately about. The following best practices offer examples and analyses of such predicaments. These examples are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to represent any actual situations.