Washington law

Mayor-council is a government. Council-manager is a board of directors.

Washington cities use two statutory forms. The names sound similar. The chain of command is not. The whole fight in Camas is whether the person who runs the city answers to the voters or to the council.

Current Camas

Mayor / Council / Administrator

Who is the city’s CEO?
Elected mayor

Who the public can fire
The mayor, on election day

Day-to-day operations
City administrator under the mayor

The word “mayor”
Chief executive

Balance of power
Separate executive and legislature

Proposed

Council / Manager / Ceremonial mayor

Who is the city’s CEO?
Appointed city manager

Who the public can replace
Only the council — not the manager

Day-to-day operations
City manager under the council

The word “mayor”
Ceremonial council chair

Balance of power
Council hires and directs the executive

Mayor-council

Separation of powers, with a political executive

Voters elect a mayor at-large as chief administrative officer and a council as the legislature. The mayor carries out policy, appoints department heads, and in cities (not towns) has a veto the council can override. MRSC’s principles: separation of powers, political leadership, a strong central executive.

Council-manager

A board that hires the CEO

Voters elect a council. The council hires a manager to run the government. The “mayor” is a council member with ceremonial duties and no administrative authority. MRSC is explicit: the model is a business board appointing a chief executive, like a school board and superintendent.

Camas is already a hybrid

Like many mayor-council cities, Camas created a city administrator under the mayor — Municipal Code Chapter 2.06. That is how you get professional management without abolishing the executive the public elected. MRSC describes this hybrid as elected leadership plus professional day-to-day operations.

The proposal on the table is not “add a professional.” Camas has one. The proposal is to move hiring and firing of that professional from the mayor to the council, and to make the mayor a gavel, not a CEO.

As of 2020, 227 of 281 Washington cities used mayor-council — 81 percent of cities, 58 percent of incorporated population.

MRSC: City and Town Forms of Government · Cities that switched, and switched back