The Effective Local Government Manager, 3rd Edition

N. Joseph Cayer · Raymond W. Cox III · Charldean Newell

Apr 2014 · ICMA Publishing

About this ebook

The Effective Local Government Manager, 3rd Edition, reflects the rich history and modern reinvention of a profession that sprang up at the beginning of the twentieth century. What does it mean to be a local government manager in today’s world? What can a manager accomplish? What internal as well as external resources must the manager harness? What motivates the manager’s employers, colleagues, and employees? For the student contemplating a career as a manager in public service, The Effective Local Government Manager is almost obligatory reading. Many instructors have built introductory courses on local government management around The Effective Local Government Manager. For the young assistant in a city or county, or for the mid-career manager assessing new challenges, The Effective Local Government Manager offers insights on your role and how you can best serve your community. It explores the manager’s many roles and responsibilities—interacting with the community, the governing body, local government employees, and other governments. It offers the most up-to-date theory and practice of local government as well as tools of management. This book is used as a text in ICMA University's Emerging Leaders Development Program.

About the author

N. Joseph Cayer is a professor of public affairs at Arizona State University. He has published books and articles on various aspects of public administration, with an emphasis on public personnel and human resource management. He taught previously at the University of Maine and has served as director of the Center for Public Service at Texas Tech University and director of the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Massachusetts and a master of public administration degree and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.

Raymond W. Cox III is chair of the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies at the University of Akron. He is the author of approximately 30 academic and professional publications, including two books. His recent work has focused on issues of management theory and discretion in decision making and has included publications addressing personnel systems and police ethics. He is a “pracademic” with more than 16 years of government service, including four as chief of staff to the lieutenant governor of New Mexico and five at the National Science Foundation, complementing 14 years as a faculty member. He received his Ph.D. in public administration and policy from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Charldean Newell is Regents Professor Emerita of Public Administration, University of North Texas. An honorary member of ICMA, she served on the ICMA University Board of Regents and the Credentialing Advisory Board. She is also an honorary member of the Texas Municipal Clerks Association. She chaired the public utilities commission, civil service commission, and a major charter revision commission for her community. A member of the National Academy of Public Administration, she received the Staats Career Public Service Award from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. Coauthor of four books, she has also authored numerous articles and reports.