Town Voices – While elected officials in Portland and other municipal and state governments are generally thought of as the policy leaders. City Managers and other civil service heads exert inordinate influence on policy in the realms of area expertise, policy direction and implementation, administrative discretion, executive orders, internal policies, hiring of consultants, bureaucratic procedure, and police enforcement. As a result, those elected to public office can find themselves beholden to the person they appoint as the City Manager.
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