Two guys talk about Charters and Municipal Government. These Guys are Good. Really !

They are also in  Minnesota and talk about  different communities in a different state. The basics however are very similar however. They talk about the City Charter and the power it gives a City, and the lack of Checks and Balances. Most of the communities discussed have elect at large commissioners where elected officials can come from any area of the city including if it so happened all on the same street. The other system mentioned is a ward system with Representative are elected from specific geographical areas. They also discuss the weak Mayor  system in which the Mayor is in reality another commissioner with one vote who is elected by the commissioners. The day to day functions of the City are handled by a City Manger. That is how our city is governed.

"So we have  to pay both a City Manager and a Mayor," one of the gentleman on the video grouses. That is true here as well. Our Mayor and the other four commissioners are paid $5 a month. the City Manager of Bloomfield Hills has  salary which is in the high five or low six figure range.Still the City Manager serves at the pleasure of City Commission.

This also indicative of the inexpensive community programming  our residents or our City Commission can do and put on the City's own You Tube Channel., as suggested by one of the candidates  in this year's commission race.

A simple starting point would be taking a tapes of the City Commission meetings which run ninety minutes or longer and editing in to small 5 to10 minute sections by topic or vote. Editing video tape or digital movies is relatively easy on a home computer.

You Tube is a great repository of "How To" programs on a variety of topics including understanding your City Government.
Those interested in local government should also consider reading "Rules of Order.Running Local Meetings"  by Lisa Brody which appears on page 21 of the current issue of  Downtown Birmingham Bloomfield Hills Magazine. It is also available on line by clicking here