I normally try to keep things local. Very local. I don’t like it when people from outside try to tell people inside how to run things. Such as Maryland people who visit DC for work or worship vocally complaining about bike lanes or speed cameras, which are for the people who live here. So I know it isn’t none of my business, but, University Park, MD you don’t need a city manager.
I probably have hinted several times that we are looking to move out of the District for career reasons. Yes, I could commute from DC but I swore never to do that commute again. So we are researching the College Park-Hyattsville-Riverdale area. Part of that was looking at University Park, which is west of College Park.
University Park has a newsletter. I don’t remember which newsletter I originally looked at, but the current one is still talking about hiring a city manager. Neighboring College Park has a city manager, and rightly so. College Park is a town/city of over 30,000, University Park, on the other hand, is a village of about 2,600. It already has a paid mayor.
I think my high school was about that size. There are residents who are fighting back against the idea of a city manager because of the extra taxes it would cost each household, and there are less than 1,000 households in UP. I think the taxes in UP are high compared to College Park and Hyattsville (two places I have lived). On the other hand, the high taxes do kinda make the neighborhood exclusive, which could be seen as a perk, in addition to the resident only shuttle bus service. Keeps the rowdy students out.