City manager needs to be professional

By Del Block

Lately it seems that some Cedar Rapids City Council members want to be more involved in the day-to-day running of the city and revert to the commission form of government. They have toyed with the city manager job description.

Councils are shortsighted when thinking about today and often miss opportunities that a city manager can provide.

It takes patience to change city government. It was residents, not the council, who voted in 2005 to change from the 97-year-old commission form to the more common city manager/council form. Voters decided that a mayor and part-time council would provide public policy direction while the city manager would run daily operations, direct city departments and execute the council's policies.

The city manager is often relied on by the community and council for continuity in reaching for a long-term vision, sound fiscal projections/management and overall stewardship of community resource. A good city manager divests from politics and places service to community above making money and professional recognition. Jim Prosser, our first city manager, is that type of individual.

I may have been the first from Cedar Rapids to speak to Prosser. He approached my son-in-law, a city administrator in Minnesota, to find someone to speak with about Cedar Rapids. Even then, Prosser was more interested in making Cedar Rapids a better community than in the salary. After becoming our city manager in 2006, he refused salary increases.

Perhaps less-than-strong leadership of the previous mayor and council led Prosser to make decisions for which the council normally would have authority. Council members seem to have forgotten that they sanctioned Prosser's advice to hire flood recovery consultants, among other now less-than-popular matters.

Facing monumental challenges of establishing a new city government while dealing with the flood of 2008, Prosser wasn't given the opportunity to show that his vision had the city on the right track. The new council didn't give him a full review before he apparently was pressured to leave in April.

The council squandered the opportunity to retain an outstanding, devoted community leader who would have guided us to a better future.

It is vital that our city not lose sight of the need for professionalism while searching for its next city manager. An effective candidate must understand economic development, public safety, recreation, infrastructure and all aspects of day-to-day governance. Prosser did.

Del Block of Cedar Rapids is a retired general commercial manager with Alliant Energy who also served as liaison to the Iowa Legislature.