City Manager Duties

The Joint Finance Committee Comes to Platteville

Council President Eileen Nickels, Council President Pro-Tem Barb Daus and I had the opportunity to speak today before the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance. Legislative advocacy is one of the duties of a City Manager. Platteville residents were well represented at the hearing. Also in attendance were UW-P Chancellor Dennis Shields, Platteville School Superintendent Connie Valenza, Chamber of Commerce Director Kathy Kopp, Main Street Director Jack Luedkte, PAIDC Board President Pete Mumm, and Grant Count Board Chair Bob Keene as well as numerous other residents and faculty.

Last month I participated in a strategic planning session for the Platteville Area Industrial Development Corporation (PAIDC). PAIDC markets and manages the Platteville Industrial Park. As part of the strategic planning process, the facilitator had us divide into small groups to complete an “asset map”. We each had to answer questions related to the organizations we belonged to both personally and professionally, then share our responses with our group members.

Common Council vs. City Manager Role

On April 19th, we will swear in and begin the orientation process for new common council members. This year we are planning on a formal overview, in addition to having the new members meet department heads and tour city facilities.  

One of the key topics in the formal overview will be the role of the council versus the role of the City Manager. Here are the major responsibilities of the Common Council:

Following Action at the Capitol

One of the duties of the City Manager is stay abreast of legislation that may impact the City (and to occasionally coax elected representatives into introducing legislation that will address a problem we are trying to solve). In the 7 months that I have been here, things have been fast and furious on the legislative front.