What is a City Commissioner Anyway?

An actual conversation with my brother John when I told him I was running for office a couple of years ago.

John: What are you running for again?

Me: City Commissioner.

John: Commissioner, you mean like Commissioner Gordon?

Me: (Pause) Yeah, pretty much like that.

Both: (Laughter)

That exchange, which I have had with a number of people over the years, sums up the popular understanding of a commissioner; the image of Police Commissioner Jim Gordon sending out the Bat Signal and hanging out with the Dark Knight on a rooftop.

Commissioner Gordon and Friend (DC Comics)

 


Which is about a cool as you can get, you have to admit.

The reality is not nearly as dramatic, but it has it's interesting points.  First, a little history from Wikipedia:

This form of government originated in Galveston, Texas as a response to the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, mainly for the reason that extra support was needed in certain areas. After its constitutionality was tested and confirmed, this form of government quickly became popular across the state of Texas and spread to other parts of the United States.

Also from Wikipedia, about the structure of a Commission form of government.

City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically, from five to seven members, on a plurality-at-large voting basis.
These commissioners constitute the legislative body of the city and, as a group, are responsible for taxation, appropriations, ordinances, and other general functions. Individual commissioners are also assigned executive responsibility for a specific aspect of municipal affairs, such as public works, finance, or public safety. As such, this form of government blends legislative and executive branch functions in the same body.
One commissioner may be designated to function as chairman or mayor, but this largely is a procedural, honorific, or ceremonial designation and typically, does not involve additional powers beyond that exercised by the other commissioners. Chairing meetings is the principal role. Such a "mayor" is in many ways similar to the "weak mayor" form of mayor–council government, but without any direct election for the office. However, some cities with this form of government, such as Portland, Oregon, have an elected mayor.

The full article is available here: City Commission Government

Five years ago, when I announced my candidacy for Commissioner the first time, Frank Flammini, then the incumbent Commissioner of Public Works, met with me and gave me some background on what he had learned in his time in the office.

First, there isn't an instruction manual for being a commissioner.  If we look at the definition above we can see that it says the "individual commissioners are also assigned executive responsibility for a specific aspect of municipal affairs", that's all, the commissioners have direct control of their departments. A fact which if a person is elected who doesn't have the skills to effectively manage the department, can create a lot of chaos.

The only things you do get after being sworn in are; a key to city hall, some business cards, and a badge. The badge is pretty cool though.

After I was elected in April of this year Mayor Hill and I met and discussed what was going on with the city government and what my role would be as commissioner. Because I had spent the last four years on the Board of the Lake County Public Water District I suggested Public Works would be a good fit for me, which is what ended up happening.  Another thing that came out of that conversation was in regards to that potential for chaos that I mentioned previously, the Mayor asked all the Commissioners to refrain from getting involved in the day-to-day operations of their departments, and instead focus on policy matters.  I happen to agree with him on this issue and so far I have been able to abide by that request.  

Winning an election and getting handed a title, a key, and a badge is just the beginning. Here in Zion, the Commissioner also fills a second lesser known role as Township Trustee.  Which we will explore in a future post.

I almost forgot, I did get one other thing when I took office, a city issued cellphone.  I call it the Bat Phone.

Thanks, Commissioner Gordon.