Who Does What? Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships in Local Government

Local government relies on strong relationships and a clear division of labor: elected officials set direction, the manager runs operations, and staff carry it out. Breakdowns happen when the people in local government lose sight of who does what, who answers to whom, and where one role ends and another begins, and the result can be stalled decisions, staff turnover, and eroded public trust. This course gives board members, managers, and staff a shared, practical understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and relationships that make North Carolina's board-manager form of government work. You will learn about the council-manager form, including its origin and history, what the law actually requires of governing boards, mayors, and managers, and how the most effective boards and managers define expectations, communicate, and head off dysfunction before it takes hold. Participants are encouraged to bring their board's rules of procedure, code of ethics, or any written statement of board-manager expectations for use in the class.

Topics covered in this course include:

• The "policy versus administration" distinction, and why it functions as a division of labor within a shared enterprise rather than a rigid wall

• The "non-interference" principle and how to set workable ground rules for communication between board members and staff

• The options available to a board for changing its form of government through local charter amendment(s)

• Best practices for defining roles, setting goals, and evaluating performance, so that accountability runs both ways without the board managing operations or the manager setting policy