Sandpoint needs both strong mayor, manager

David Keyes' opinion piece regarding favoring a city manager and a "weak mayor" sets too low a bar. Sandpoint certainly needs a strong manager as well as a mayor who is a leader.

Look at a city manager as a chief of operations, who implements the policy and the departments of the city. The mayor is the leader, or CEO, and directs policy, subject to the council, or legislature.

I lived in a town not that much larger than Sandpoint where the manager served for a couple of decades before moving on, under a mayor who was elected six times (25 years.) Council members came and went but the city solved problems which the manager managed. His job was full-time and he was appropriately compensated. The mayor's job was part-time, like ours is supposed to be and Bernie was a CEO in his day job.

JOHN CORN

Sandpoint