Leading Your Community: A Guide for Elected Officials

A quick and easy-to-understand introduction to the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of local elected officials.

Key Facts about Professional Managers

Here are some quick facts about the professionals known by various titles—city manager, county administrator, town manager, chief administrative officer (CAO)—who work in partnership with you to make your community better.

Professional Local Government Management: The Benefits to Your Municipality

This brochure, developed by ICMA, explains what it means to have a professional local government manager and highlights the benefits of appointing such an individual.

Hiring a Professional Manager

Elected officials can better fulfill their legislative or policy-making roles by delegating the management of the municipality to an appointed professional administrator.

Recruitment Guidelines for Selecting a Local Government Administrator

This handbook presents guidelines to help council members conduct a successful recruitment process selecting a local government manager or administrator.

Determining the Value of Professional Administrator or Manager

This checklist is invaluable to any local government in determining whether a professional city or town manager should be employed.

Sample: Chief Administrator Job Descriptions

This document contains three sample job descriptions for the job function of chief administrative officer.

Model Employment Agreement

This document serves as a model employment agreement template for administrators of municipal governments.

ICMA Manager Evaluations Handbook

This complimentary handbook is intended to highlight the value of a formal manager evaluation process and to assist local elected officials in the design of an effective evaluation tool.