ITHACA, NY -- Big changes could be coming to the structure of Ithaca city government. At the April 28 City Administration Committee meeting, a subcommittee charged by the mayor at the beginning of the year, proposed moving from a mayor-council government to a council-manager government.
A mayor-council government, the closest to the way Ithaca operates, has a mayor elected separately from the council who is often full-time and paid with significant administrative and budgetary authority. The council is elected and maintains legislative powers, and some cities with this type of government appoint a professional manager who maintains limited administrative authority, which would be similar to Ithacaâs chief of staff Dan Cogan (who is stepping down this month). Itâs the second most common form of municipal government and is most commonly found in larger, older cities or in very small cities.