Basic Forms of WI City Government
Strong
Mayor
Weak Mayor
Weak Mayor
w/ or w/o
Mayor
Weak
Council
Strong
Council
Strong
Council
Strong
Council
City
Administrator
City Manager
Chief of
Staff or
Other
Milwaukee
Green Bay
Madison
La Crosse
Appleton
Kenosha
Racine
Waukesha
West Allis
Sheboygan
Wauwatosa
Eau Claire
Oshkosh
Janesville
Fond du Lac
National Research
Smarter, Faster Cheaper – An Operations Efficiency Benchmarking
Study of 100 American Cities - IBM White Paper
• The level of efficiency is within local control based on strategic
and operational choices
• The usual excuses (relative poverty, operational environment,
unions etc.) do not appear to be real obstacles to effiiciency
• Management Matters and it Matters a lot
• Cities with manager forms of government are nearly 10% more
efficient than cities with strong mayor forms of government
National Research
Cooperation and Conflict in Gov.Decision Making mid sized Cities
280 Cities: 40k – 250k population Dr. Nollenberger, UW-O
• Form of govt is the only significant factor to account for levels
of conflict and cooperation in decision making
• Cities w/ professional CAO more likely to have less conflict,
more cooperation than cities w/o
• Cooperation = Priorities, common long term goals, coordinated
efforts, evaluation of alternatives, focus on big picture
• Conflict = Incompatible goals, imposing preferences on others,
blocking behavior, focus on minutia
15 Largest Wisconsin Cities
Milwaukee
Madison
Green Bay
Kenosha
Racine
Appleton
Waukesha
Eau Claire
Oshkosh
Janesville
West Allis
La Crosse
Sheboygan
Wauwatosa
Fond du Lac
Population
580,500
228200
104000
96400
80100
72563
69100
66,149
66,080
63,600
60600
51,900
50,400
45800
43800
Elected
Strong Mayor
Strong Mayor
Strong Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Professional Position
Director of Administration
Four Assistants to the Mayor
Chief of Staff
City Administrator
City Administrator
City
City
City
City
City
Administrator
Manager
Manager
Manager
Administrator
Chief Administrative Officer
City Administrator
City Manager