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Curious Iowa: What does a city manager do?
How top city officials turn ideas into action to serve their communities
In many communities across Iowa, there’s a full-time executive in City Hall devoted to running daily municipal operations — making sure potholes are patched, the police respond to your calls and your water is safe to drink.
City managers or administrators are appointed by your elected officials — the mayor and city council — to manage city budgets and staff. In many cases, they are the highest paid employee in the city. But what do they actually do?
Curious Iowa is a series from The Gazette that seeks to answer your questions about the state, its culture and the people who live here. One curious Iowan wondered: What exactly do these top-ranking local officials do, and why are they often highly paid?
Alan Kemp, executive director of the Iowa League of Cities, said about 200 of Iowa’s 940 cities have established a city manager or administrator role. Their salaries can vary depending on their experience and the city’s population.
On the low end, the Lee County city of West Point, which has a population of 921, employs a city administrator/utility director, Randy Welding, who makes $32,000 a year, according to the Iowa City/County Management Association’s 2022 survey. Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz is Iowa’s highest paid city administrative officer, making $361,781 in the 2023 budget year that ended June 30. Other large cities such as Davenport, Cedar Falls and Des Moines have reported paying their city managers upward of $200,000.
“Our larger cities offer a range of services that require significant staff and infrastructure in order to provide the services that citizens in those communities desire or need,” Kemp said. “The leaders of larger and more complex organizations have the skills needed to oversee and lead, and assume the responsibility that accompanies it. Like any other position, the market can drive salary ranges.”
The Gazette spoke with several Iowa city managers and administrators to get a sense of what their roles entail. They said it’s important to be flexible, proactive, compassionate, honest, communicative and organized and have fortitude to keep up with the demands of the job.
City managers work with their staffs to manage disaster responses, spur development to grow their cities’ taxbases, create amenities that’ll attract residents and visitors, maintain roads and much more. But they say they are called to the work to carry out the visions of their citizens as articulated by elected officials.
What do city managers do?
City managers oversee personnel and the budget; represent the city when meeting with developers, state and federal officials and other community partners; attend city council meetings and implement the policy set by the elected officials; and ensure the city follows local, state and federal laws and regulations.
City charters — essentially a constitution — or other ordinances outline a city’s overall government structure, including the powers of city managers.
“My job is to ensure that we're apolitical so that we are making decisions based on data,” said Ryan Waller, who became Marion’s city manager in November 2021 after holding the same role in Indianola. Marion has a population of about 41,500 and a city staff of over 300. Indianola has a population of about 15,800 and Waller managed a staff of about 100.
“We're respecting the authority of the elected officials to make those decisions, but we're making sure that this is professionalized — that there's experience within the organization when doing projects and providing recommendations (to elected officials),” Waller said.
Pomeranz has worked as a city manager for 40 years and in Cedar Rapids since 2010 overseeing Iowa’s second-largest city with a population of about 138,000. He compared the role with being a chief executive officer of a private company reporting to a board of directors. In this case, that’s the city council, who determine the vision that guides the city. He manages a staff of more than 1,200.
“When success is achieved, it's the success of the team,” Pomeranz said. “When things go wrong, the city manager has the ultimate responsibility and reports to the mayor and city council on that success or potential failure.”
In Williamsburg, a city with a population of about 3,300 west of Iowa City in Iowa County, City Manager Aaron Sandersfeld — who also serves as Williamsburg’s public works director — said the job is like being a volunteer firefighter. Between calls, you’re working on maintenance projects at the station. The rest of the time, he said, “You just run and put out whatever fires you can.”
Williamsburg’s police chief and department report to the mayor, but the city clerk, who manages a deputy, and the public works staff of five report to Sandersfeld.
What does a typical day look like?
No day in the life of a city manager is quite the same, those who spoke with The Gazette said — morphing to meet the needs and priorities of council members, staff and citizens.
Solon City Administrator Cami Rasmussen, who manages the city with a population of over 3,000 and a city staff of about 30, said it’s common for city managers in smaller communities to wear multiple hats. Rasmussen also functions as the zoning administrator.
She said following city plans is key for someone in her role, because as council members change, “that's the core plan and vision for the community.”
On any given day, Sandersfeld said he might meet with a prospective homebuyer, address nuisance complaints, work with a contractor or handle the budget. He’ll plow snow or cut trees down, filling any gaps in staffing.
“The public dictates your day,” Sandersfeld said. “You’re here to serve.”
Pomeranz detailed his schedule from a recent day of work: A daily staff huddle, discussions with a current and prospective developer, lunch with a citizen, meetings with department heads to discuss matters ranging from crime levels to budget planning and multiple calls or meetings with council members to talk about the issues that arise.
Collaborating with other entities has become an increasingly important part of the job, city managers said, as they balance numerous priorities with limited financial resources.
Arriving after the devastating 2008 flood, Pomeranz was tasked with rebuilding the city. He has worked with state and federal officials to secure funding for the city’s approximately $750 million permanent flood control system.
“What matters to me is getting things done for and with the community,” Pomeranz said.
Kelly Hayworth — who has served for 35 years as the city administrator of Coralville, which has a population of over 22,300 and city staff of about 170 — has overseen the Iowa River Landing’s transformation from an underused industrial area into a hub for entertainment, hospitality and retail. The area has attracted high-profile events such as the high school girls’ state volleyball tournament at the Xtream Arena.
“In years past, you could get by with just concentrating on your own community, but that doesn't work anymore,” Hayworth said.
How can others get involved?
In their larger city organizations, Waller and Pomeranz said they have found strategies to engage staff in their work. All city managers who spoke to The Gazette were quick to credit their staffs with ensuring their cities run efficiently and in a way that’s fueled by citizens.
Waller said he emails staff on birthdays and work anniversaries and has coffee monthly with a different group of employees. Pomeranz hired an organizational health manager focused on employee engagement, has a monthly listening post with representatives from each department and “Hey Jeff” feedback boxes placed throughout city buildings where staff can share ideas with him.
“We're increasing our ability to more effectively translate that vision from a vision to reality in a manner that the customers are asking us to do,” Waller said.
Some city managers said their phones seem to ring constantly. They may field 100 or more phone calls on the busiest days, often outside of the usual business hours — making it a round-the-clock commitment.
“I love this community,” Rasmussen said. “I absolutely love coming to work every day. Solon is my home and I feel blessed that my work every day impacts not only the families that live here, but my family.”
Hayworth said Iowans should feel free to contact their own city managers: “There’s not one that wouldn’t welcome the opportunity to talk in person or on the phone with a person.”
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Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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