City Managers

Typically a city manager has an office and possibly a trained staff to assist him or her. But a city manager also spends many hours attending meetings. To provide information to citizens on current government operations or to advocate certain programs, the manager frequently appears at public meetings and other civic functions and often visits government departments and inspects work sites. A city manager often works overtime at night and on weekends reading and writing reports or finishing paperwork. The manager also needs to attend dinners and evening events and go out of town for conferences. Any extra days worked on weekends are usually compensated for in vacation time or additional pay. A city manager can be called at any hour of the day or night in times of crisis. Managers must be prepared for sometimes stressful interactions with coworkers and constituents, as well as the acclaim that comes to them for completing a job successfully or solving a particularly complex problem.