What is the Council-Manager Plan or form of government?
The Council-Manager Plan (C-M Plan) is a form of local government developed in the United States to help cities cope more effectively, efficiently and economically with increasingly complex local problems. It provides for a professional executive appointed by and continuously responsible to a popularly elected council. In 1908, Staunton, Virginia instituted the first position legally defining, by ordinance, the broad authority and responsibility associated with today’s professional local government manager. Sumter, South Carolina was the first city to adopt a charter incorporating the basic principles of council-manager government in 1912. Since its inception, it has become the predominant form of local government in the United States and is widely regarded as a major American contribution to the improvement of municipal government, particularly in overcoming local structural weaknesses. The C-M Plan provides a direct political link between the voters and their elected Mayor and City C
