By Michael Howell
In the 2014 primary election, the voters for the City of Hamilton voted in favor of establishing a local study commission. Melvin Monson, Lynette Helgeland, and Robert Smaus were elected to serve on the commission in the 2014 general election. Dennis Stranger, City Planner/Special Projects Director, was appointed as the ex-officio and non-voting member by the City Council. The purpose of the study commission is to study the existing form and powers of the local government and compare them with other forms available under the laws of the state.
The study commission has been holding public meetings to gather public comment concerning the form of government in the city. They have recently completed interviewing the current mayor, city judge, city treasurer, city department heads and the city council members. A survey has been placed on the city’s web site (www.cityofhamilton.net) that can be filled out and submitted electronically by anyone interested, whether you live in the city limits or not. A public hearing on the final report of the study commission is scheduled for September 2, 2015 and the final report is due to be adopted by October 7. The report must be presented to the registered electors for a vote no later than the 2016 general election, but may appear on the June primary ballot.
According to Stranger, the current form of government in the city is the mayor/council form of government with a part time mayor and council, sometimes referred to as the “weak mayor” system. The current form of government does, however, include a few ‘exceptions’ to the structure described in the law. One is that the treasurer is elected instead of appointed and the council must approve the hiring and firing of employees rather than the mayor simply doing it. One complication of the current arrangement is that the same council that handles the hiring and firing is also the body that hears any grievance related to the firing.
Stranger said that, so far, one thing that has come up repeatedly from public input is the possibility of changing to a manager/council form of government. This form of government could include a mayor or not in its structure. Under the current form of government the mayor is allowed to hire an administrative assistant if he/she needs one. It would also be possible to change the current form of government to require the mayor to hire an administrative assistant.
Another form of government that is repeatedly mentioned is the charter form of government which, unlike the other forms discussed, has self-governing powers and is not limited to the powers vested by the legislature.
At a public hearing on the issue, former mayor Jessica Randazzo was critical of the current system, saying that too much power was placed in the hands of the council. She said that having the full council handle human resource issues was extremely cumbersome, making it difficult for the mayor to step in and handle personnel problems. She said a charter form of government could provide needed flexibility to the system. She also expressed the need for review and changes in the local government more often than every ten years. She also endorsed changing to the manager/council form of government as the next best option and warned that the sitting mayor and council would probably resist such a change because it could jeopardize the current pay structure for the mayor and council positions.
Although it was generally agreed that hiring a city manager would be expensive, it was also recognized that the increased cost could be offset to a large degree by reducing the mayor’s pay or eliminating the mayor position and reducing the council member’s pay. Right now the annual expense for the council members ($60,000 total) and the mayor ($25,000) comes close to a combined cost of about $100,000 annually.
Questions about the process or comments on the issue can be sent to: studycomm@cityofhamilton.net or to the City Clerk, Rose Allen, at cityclerk@cityofhamilton.net; (406) 363-2101 ext. 30; 223 S. 2nd Street, Hamilton MT 59840.