Office of the City Manager

Contact Information:

Michael Swanson, City Manager, 503-786-7501, swansonm@ci.milwaukie.or.us
 

The City of Milwaukie operates under the Council-Manager form of government. All Oregon cities over 2,500 population have the Council-Manager form except Portland, Beaverton, Burns, Lakeview and Junction City. The chief characteristic of this form is that the Council appoints a qualified person as City Manager or Administrator to take charge of the daily supervision of the City affairs. The Manager or Administrator serves at the pleasure of the Council.

The theory underlying the Council-Manager plan is that the Council sets policy and the Manager carries it out.

City Manager Mike Swanson served as Milwaukie’s interim City Manager for 10 months before agreeing to become the City’s full-time manager in June of 2001. Mike says his decision to sign a long-term contract had everything to do with the community’s active commitment to improving the City’s Neighborhoods, Riverfront and Downtown districts.

Mike has a breadth of local government experience that includes several years as a Clackamas County Administrator and a variety of consulting assignments with the Cities of West Linn, Canby and Deschutes County.

Mike’s contract was effective September 1, 2001 and has been negotiated for a 3-year term. Mike lives with his wife, Judith and daughter Rachel, in Lake Oswego.

In Mike’s tenure he has worked hard with the staff, citizens, and elected officials to support the community through a time of significant transition. During his Pro Tem status there has been a Council election, a significant amount of management-level staff turnover, a financial and information technology audit, a clarified budget process, and a movement among the Milwaukie Neighborhood Associations to take a proactive, unified position regarding the City's long term growth and transportation goals.

Duties and Responsibilities of the City Manager:

• Attends all meetings of the Council, unless excused therefrom by three councilors or by   the mayor.
• Keeps the council advised at all times of the affairs and needs of the city and prepares annual reports.  These reports may occur more frequently if requested by Council.
• Sees that all ordinances are enforced and that the provisions of all franchises, leases, contracts, permits, and privileges granted by the city are fully observed.
• Appoints all city officers and employees and removes them, except as otherwise provided by the City Charter.
• Has general supervision and control over city offices and employees and their work with power to transfer an employee from one department to another and exercises supervision and control over the departments to the end of obtaining the utmost efficiency in each of the city’s departments.
• Acts as purchasing agent for all departments of the city.
• Prepares and submits general budget estimates and other budget reports to the budget committee.
• Controls all public utilities owned and operated by the city and has general supervision over all city property.