Essay On Texas State Government

The executive branch consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. Texas has a plural executive branch system, which limits the power of the Governor. Except for the Secretary of State, all executive officers are elected independently, making them directly answerable to the public but not the Governor. The executive branch also includes several boards and commissions that are made up of a mixture of elections and gubernatorial appointments confirmed by the Senate. In addition, there are many independent boards, commissions, and agencies that operate independently of the governor. Power is decentralized among many officials. Although the governor appoints over 3,000 individuals to 285-plus state boards and commissions, he has very limited removal authority and thus, has little control over the executive branch. Even with the Governor appointing several members of boards and commissions, the overall effect is a large network of administrative groups that neither the

In the State of Texas, the Council-Manager form of government is preferred by all of the major cities, except for Houston who prefer the Mayor-Council form of government. Under the Council-Manager form of government, the voters are at the top of the hierarchical structure. In this capacity, the voters elect a small City Council, including a mayor, who is the presiding officer over the City Council. Although the Mayor is symbolically the “Head of State”, he or she is not the head of government. The Mayor and City Council have the authority to appoint four of the city’s government officials: the City Manager, the City Attorney, the City Clerk and the Municipal Judge (some cities elect this position). Moreover, although weak in this form of government, the Mayor has a vote on many issues impacting the city; however, lacks any type of veto authority (except in a few cities), which means that laws are passed by on a majority-rule voting system of the total City Council Members, meaning all City Council Members must vote in order to pass a law. Most importantly, the Mayor and City Council primary role lies in the establishment of a strategic vision for the city. Once this is accomplished, the Mayor and the City Council are responsible for generating a strong mission statement that aligns with a set of clear goals, resulting in effective government policy guidance for execution by the City Manager to run the city. Collectively, the Mayor and City Council hire the City Manager who has full management authority, to execute the Mayor’s and City Council’s vision for the city. However, a City

Nothing ever remains the same, especially in Texas. We’ve developed a government and politics in order to keep our state steady. However, it does not always seem so easy. Without the government, the state would be in a, high likely, catastrophic state. It will lead to disasters caused by us, and nothing will function properly. This is why it is important to have a government and stick to it’s rules.

elected separately from the council, and is often a full-time and paid position with a significant administrative and budgetary authority. This form of government, the elected City Council sets policies for the operation of the City. The City Council enacts Ordinances, the laws of the City, adopts Resolutions authorizing actions on behalf of the City, reviews plan for development, and establishes the policies by which the City is governed. The City Council consists of seven members a Mayor and two Councilmember 's elected citywide and four additional Councilmember 's elected by individual districts. The administrative responsibility of the City rests with the City Manager, who is appointed by the City Council upon recommendation of the Mayor. Each Councilmember is

On Monday, April 13th, 2009, I visited the Culver City city council meeting, and found that they operate using a council-manager form of government. For a city with a population of about 38,000, this type of governmental structure is fairly common, and I was not surprised to see it in action in a community where the median household income is around $56,000 a year. Culver City is also a culturally rich community with a 60 percent Caucasian population, and a quarter of the residents are either of African American or Asian decent. The mayor, D. Scott Malsin, is one of five members on the council, and his term as mayor is on a rotating basis. Having been to a Hermosa Beach city council meeting with a similar council-manager structure, I knew

The City of Bend, Oregon Government consists of approximately 500 employees across thirteen different divisions. These divisions are Police, Fire, Community Development, Public Works, etc and are all coordinated under the City Manager’s office. Bend’s government style is called a “weak mayor” form of city government, in that the citizens elect a city council, which then elects a mayor from among the council members. The city council and mayor, then hire a City Manager to run the day to day operations of the city. In doing this form of government, the City Manager is not directly accountable to the citizens and can focus on the needs of the city and its employees. At the same time, the City Council can only provide direction to the city manager and is accountable to the citizens. The city employees in this case are led by the city manager as directed by city council. The community leadership environment in this case is established by council to provide direction to the city manager.

The Problems of Municipal Administration written by Jane Addams described the problems of public administration in targeted social publics that affected the community, specifically she mentioned the inequalities and injustices of municipal administration. The author stars by pointing out the failure of municipal administration to address the issues emerging in society. The social changes brought by the increased of industrialization in the 18th century failed to address the necessities of society. Addams emphasized, “…failure in municipal administration, the so-called “shame of American cities,” may be largely due to the inadequacy of those eighteen-century ideals, with the breakdown of the machinery which they provided, and further, to the weakness inherent in the historic and doctrinaire method when it attempts to deal with growing and human institutions” (p. 51). The lack of adjustment between democracy and the study of the external conditions affecting the communities was a problems that governmental officials failed to take into consideration.

Our government here in Texas has three major parts that play a significant part in our decision making process. These levels

In my analysis of the Texas Constitution I will assess the three branches of our State Government, the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally the Judicial Branch. Our State Government resembles our National Government in various ways but also in very different ways which we will review in this essay. I will identify a handful of criticisms and problems associated with the provisions in each of these branches of our State Government and identify suggested reforms that many feel are needed.

The city is administered by Sylvester Jones, Jr.  Mr. Jones was appointed by Mayor Karen Weaver in March of 2016.  The City Administrator is the most senior non-elected city official and is responsible for running the day to day operations of the city on behalf of the City Council.  All other department heads directly report to the Citiy Administrator.

The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively compare and contrast the implementation of two types of mayor-council government systems which are that of the weak-mayor type of the mayor council system and the strong-mayor type of the mayor council system. The premise of the analysis which has been conducted in this paper is based upon assessing the local governments of two cities within the United States – Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Minneapolis, Minnesota which follow the adoption of a strong-mayor system and weak-mayor system respectively.

There are numerous techniques the mayor can use to create effective teamwork among city employees one of which is an atmosphere of accountability and trust as a common goal. The American Management Association (2014) stated, “When people work together in a climate of trust and responsibility toward a common goal, they put aside turf issues and politics and focus on the tasks to be done. This

Last but not least is the Municipal government. The Municipal government has everything to do with cities, towns or districts (municipalities). Municipal government is responsible for parks, libraries, water systems, local police, roadways and parking. Municipal may be the lowest scale level of government but some things they are responsible have the potential to affect many citizens more

The City Commissioner, in a nutshell, is the "micro" manager of the city. This position is responsible for specific administrative, operational, and financial tasks concerning the city committee. More than anything, the City Commissioner is responsible for determining and overseeing policies and laws that are prioritized by the city, a decision-making process spearheaded by and shared with the city mayor. In conjunction with the implementation of specific regulations and policies at the city level, the City Commissioner is also held accountable for the financial management of the city's budget. That is, s/he is responsible for determining the city budget, and developing approaches and strategies in which the city can generate or earn this budget within the year. In effect, the City Commissioner is also one of the persons responsible for spending or optimally allocating the city budget as well.

Imagine a world ruled by mayors. Nation-states and federal governments become obsolete because cities are fully capable of running themselves. Benjamin Barber proposed that very idea in a Ted Talk he gave titled: “Why Mayors Should Rule the World”. However, his point of contention does not account for three potential dilemmas: It would be harder to solve global issues, ruralism would be eradicated, and laws would no longer be consistent. I disagree with the points made by Benjamin Barber in his TED Talk; mayors should not rule the world because it would lead to a plethora of conflicts and controversy.