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Mayor has to decide, weak or strong?
Published Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Weak mayor, strong board” isn’t meant to describe personalities and performance.
The term refers to a form of government in which the board of aldermen has all the voting power and the mayor must simply direct from behind the scenes.
It’s easy to look at past mayoral personalities and see some strong-willed men, for sure.
But it seems city personnel code allows the mayor’s personality to creep into his management style.
The code doesn’t offer a clear chain of command when it comes to hiring and firing city employees, saying only “the City” is in charge.
Blame our forefathers for lack of detail if you’d like, but for years mayors have been applying their own interpretations to that code.
Some mayors have governed in such a way that they handled all hiring and firing; others let the aldermen do the dirty work. But it seems the issue has merely been the mayor’s choice.
Mayor Jake Middleton has plenty of city government experience. As a long time aldermen, he’s now played on both sides of the table. He’s smart enough to know that Natchez needs a city planner and a grant writer.
And he was elected by the populace of Natchez to lead, not follow. The whole of Natchez — not just one ward — trusts him to make sure city government runs well.
Yet Middleton seems content to simply say he is part of a weak mayor, strong board setup, letting six aldermen call the shots for an entire city he represents.
It’s true that Natchez has a weak mayor, strong board setup, mayor. But the adjectives should describe the system of government not the people running it.
Comments
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks DEB. Keep a saddle on 'em (local government).
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 11:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who wrote this editorial?
If a mayor decides that the way he wants to do it is let the Board decide on a hiring or firing matter, does that indicate a weakness of character, style or vision -- or a strength? Depends on if there is an assumption of conflict.
That's like saying the Democrat is a bad newspaper because you're not working in a town even big enough to have an interstate.
Neither one of those statements is accurate but I recognized it and you guys didn't.
Posted by mrmojorisin (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Once elected, the only accountability our BOA has is to the next election...and we seem to suffer from collective amnesia when voting time rolls around...we remember how weak the Mayor was, put the blame for the same old, same old on his shoulders, and as can be seen since Brown did his last 8 year stint, mayors only last one term, but the BOA remains mostly in tact...Jake was an alderman for what, 17 years?
It's like we suffer from a delusional insanity that allows us to ignore the substructure of our system of city government. We blame the mayor, and get rid of him while leaving the true culprits in place, and voting themselves raises.
--mojo
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 1:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Concerning the next election, hopefully a drastic reduction in the alderman salary will be made into a serious local issue and we'll have some people run on that platform. And I'm looking forward to some hard reporting by the Democrat where candidates are grilled about their plans and visions for the city. One would think that from now on the Democrat is gonna be real careful who they endorse.
:)
Posted by jammin1 (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As an individual I can see endorsing a candidate, but for a newspaper to retain its neutrality and be considered unbiased, it should NOT endorse any particular one.
Those that report the news should not BE the news!
As for the mayor, his is/was an alderman. He did not go into this job blind to the fact that he wouldn't be the leader.
Think about it. Wouldn't he of all people know that the BOA wields the real power? He sat on that board for 17 years didn't he?
If a group could get together and run on a platform of REFORM, there might be a chance for Natchez to pull out of the nose dive.
Posted by Doc_Fungo (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 3:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Joe Remondet in 2012!!!
Posted by beachgirl (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 9:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We made a mistake with Jake in 08! Can I start printing the bumper stickers?
Posted by sideline (anonymous) on October 26, 2009 at 10:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Got what you voted for.
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