On June 15, the Iowa City City Council voted unanimously to promote Geoff Fruin to city manager. Fruin was interim city manager from March of this year and had previously been assistant city manager from 2011.
Fruin has support from various members of the community, including the Iowa City Downtown District, Johnson County Supervisor Pat Harney, Mayor Jim Throgmorton, and various community members (Gazette). There is no question Fruin is more than qualified to run the city’s day-to-day operations, overseeing 600 employees and a multimillion dollar budget.
Yet, the City Council’s 5-2 vote against conducting a national search to fill the position vacated by Tom Markus is troubling. The position of city manager has an enormous effect on the day-to-day lives of citizens, but residents ultimately have no direct input on who gets to fill that position. Rather, people elect the city councilors, who then decide whom to appoint as city manager. By not opening the position to nationwide applicants, the City Council opened the door for doubt about whether Fruin is truly the best person for the job. It also failed to provide equal opportunity for employment as laid out in Section 2.08 E of the City Charter (iowa-city.org).
Fruin’s supporters have pointed out that with $60 million worth of public-works projects underway, the need to appoint a new police chief after the retirement of Sam Hargadine, and the cost and time involved in a nationwide search, it seems only logical to choose Fruin, who has extensive experience working directly with the City Council and various community members. But should a democratic government only be beholden to logic?
Idealism must be tempered with pragmatism, but in an election year that has found the American electorate more polarized than any year before, making pragmatic choices has become distasteful to a growing number of voters, disillusioned with politics as usual. It also seems telling that the two city councilors who voted to open the position up to nationwide applicants are the only two who began their first terms this year. While both said that their vote to open the search shouldn’t be interpreted as a vote against Fruin’s appointment, it raises questions about the entrenchment of power in local affairs.
The city manager is chosen by the City Council to execute its vision for the city; the 2016-17 Strategic Plan laid out by the council has seven focus areas, among them promoting the local economy, enhancing community engagement, and advancing social justice and racial equity (iowa-city.org). This ultimately means that the city manager’s primary job is to be the administrative arm of the council, a belief that Fruin echoes in describing his job: “The [The City Council] … determines the policy direction for the community. It’s the city manager’s job to carry that out.”
Fruin is well-respected both inside City Hall and in the wider community, and his résumé speaks for itself. But in a city increasingly confronted by the realities of class and race in America, from Rose Oaks and beyond, questions linger about whether he will bring about meaningful change to the city, if any at all. Fruin’s appointment is the City Council’s way of committing to business as usual, but maybe it’s time for something more.
