Our June public meeting, the last in a series of six, featured another guest speaker and a wrap-up summary of the prior five months of topics and speakers.
Dan Clark, Director of the MSU Local Government Center was the guest speaker. A former mayor of Choteau, MT, he provided an overview of the forms of government that Montana permits for its cities and towns.
He first outlined Article XI of the state Constitution which provide local government with its authority. Two possibilities exist and it is up to the voters to decide between general powers or self-governing powers. General governing powers provide local government with general legislative and administrative powers defined by the state. Alternatively, voters may adopt self-governing powers for its local government which provides for the broader exercise of any power not prohibited by the state Constitution or laws. Examples of these expanded powers include the provision of services not allowed by statute, the ability to own and operate utilities, greater authority to dispose of public lands, and implementation of local development fees.
The state outlines six possible forms of local government. The most common is the commission-executive form, which is also variously known as the council-mayor, council-executive, or the mayor-commission form. This form calls for the election of at least three commission members and one elected executive or mayor for four year terms. Most Montana cities and towns conduct their local elections on a non-partisan basis. State law defines the duties of the executive to enforce state law and local ordinances, appoint department heads and local board members, and to prepare the budget. The commission create ordinances, policies, and resolutions, consents to the executive's appointments, and adopts the budget. The result is a system of checks and balances between the two. While the most common form of local government, Clark emphasized that it requires a "team mentality" and relies heavily on cooperation between the two bodies to avoid inefficiency. Role clarity and formalized procedures help.
Alternatively, the commission-presiding officer form skips voter election of an executive, and instead the elected commissioners choose a presiding chair to serve in the executive role. Bozeman, until recently, has used this form for its city commission.
Clark pointed out that both of these structures rely on volunteer elected officials who may not have the time to devote to the issues that arise as a municipality grows. For that reason, some Montana cities, especially it's largest, have adopted the commission-manager form of government. The commission hires a professional manager to serve as its executive and delgates all day-to-day administrative responsibilities to this salaried position.
The last form that Clark described is the town meeting type of government, available only to communities with less than 2,000 residents. This form of direct democracy relies on the citizens to represent themselves in at least one annual meeting to make policy decisions. Currently only one Montana town operates under this structure.
Clark answered questions and closed with the suggestion that community decision-making should strive for transparency of information, diversity of opinion, and inclusivity of all interested community members.
We then reviewed the series of meetings that have been held once monthly since January. Click here to see this slide presentation.
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