Issue 15 on the November ballot presents voters with a set of revisions to the Harrison City Charter. The city’s charter is seldom talked about and not terribly well understood. This series is my attempt to shed some light on the charter, the review process, and the proposed revisions to help voters make an informed decision. In the interest of full disclosure, I chaired the 2026 charter review after having served as secretary for the 2021 review. That said, these are my words and my thoughts alone. I’d like to think the other members of the 2026 charter review commission share my opinion since we voted unanimously on the recommendation presented to city council in July but it would be inconceivably arrogant for me to try to speak for them.

Fourth in a series: The City Administrator

Article 5 – City Administrator

This is a newly added article causing existing Article numbers 5-11 to all increase by 1. This new Article 5 is the most significant change in this charter amendment but it is hardly new. The role was originally proposed by the 2021 review but council at the time chose not to act upon it. Despite this, the mayor has always had the ability under the current charter to create such a position and Mayor Grubbs did exactly that last year by appointing Kim Downey as our first city administrator.

Harrison has grown significantly over the last 20+ years, so much so that it has become nearly impossible for a part time mayor can effectively oversee city operations. Rather than pivot to a city manager style of government where the mayor is a figurehead, the charter commission’s recommendation is to keep the strong mayor government familiar to voters but augmented with a professional administrator capable of overseeing day to day operations at the mayor’s direction.

The city administrator is appointed by the mayor with the consent of a super-majority of council and is solely accountable to the mayor. A qualified city administrator ensures day to day city operations run smoothly but the proverbial buck still stops with the mayor and the mayor is still ultimately accountable to the voters of the city. The city administrator role created last year has worked out exactly as the 2021 charter review had envisioned. For that reason the 2026 charter review has recommended this role be enshrined in the charter alongside department heads and other essential executive functions.

Up next: The Remaining Recommended Changes