Revisiting The Question Of The County Executive Position

A couple of weeks ago, Lee Holloway made a suggestion about doing away with the position of Milwaukee County Executive, and replacing it with a position of county administrator.

At that time, I was opposed to the idea, and I still am.

However, I am a fair man, and wanted to share this snippet a friend had emailed to me. The passage is from Frank Zeidler:

This is a short quote from “A Liberal In City Government, My Experience as Mayor of Milwaukee” by Frank Zeidler

The continual scheming of many people in their own interest, coupled with a resentment toward being forced to pay for anything, especially government services for other people, is often an ingrained habit so that it becomes difficult to see the larger interrelationship of things

However under the American system the drive for ones own self interest is the primary motive of the social order, and this drive must now be modified by a system of taxation that takes care of the welfare problems created by the system and by the natural hardships of life itself as life matures.

I have described some of the strains and duties placed on the mayor in a city of some 750,000 people. Multiply these strains many times and one has some idea of the pressure of forces focused on the President of the United States. Is it possible that one person can fulfill this task and do it justice? I have often wondered.

What is needed for the top administrative job in the larger cities is a division of the work. The Mayor is a ceremonial officer, a political officer and administrative officer. It might be better for the American system to adopt some of the British municipal practices. The mayor may be a ceremonial officer and political leader. The administrative officer should be a full time civil service assistant. In every larger city the mayor should be reinforced by a manager to reduce the burden of the job.