POLICY PERSPECTIVES 0F THE NORTHWEST CITY MANAGER, 1966-1974 Continuity or Change?

determine their views on their roles in policy making. With respect to general policy and budget matters there was a larger percentage in 1974 who were willing to initiate policy and leadership, but where a community was evenly divided on an issue, a larger percentage of managers in 1974 felt that neutrality was desirable. The findings suggest that increasingly city managers may be turning from political advocacy leadership to programmatic leadership, which maintains the manager’s image as an administrative expert even when making major contributions to policy directions. The role of the city manager came into being at the turn of the century in the wake of the scientific management movement. City and town policy makers, reformers, and civic influentials found appealing-as business had earlier-the notion that the management of a complex organization would be more efficient if placed in the hands of a skilled manager. The weaknesses of the &dquo;weak mayor-council&dquo; system and the general lament over municipal corruption all contributed to powerful support for the reform logic of separating management from policy making. That logic dictated that a city should elect councils to represent people [469