My opinions on the Pasadena Texas City Charter Review

This was posted in a local Pasadena forum.

Summary - I dislike strong-mayor city government as the most local representatives of the people have no real power and the strong mayor attracts corruption and has a lack of professionalism and experience. Critics of my view have told me that giving council members more power just spreads the corruption around more. I support balance-of-powers government which the present strong mayor form in Pasadena clearly doesn't have. I make other suggestions. If they offer the voters a chance to go to city-manager government, recommended in Model City Charter at the National Civic League, how much will they reduce the pay and influence of the mayor or will they abolish the position? The city council - manager form of government is the most rapidly growing - PDF.

Note - I recognize these sources are not entirely unbiased, having connections to schools teaching public administration or professional organizations and promoting programs that offer job opportunities for graduates with public administration degrees. On the other hand, is professionalism a bad thing in government?

Tags: Pasadena, Texas, City Charter, government, local