TODAYS CITY-MANAGERS - A LEGACY OF SUCCESS-BECOMING-FAILURE

What are the challenges facing city manaegment today? What are the con sequences of not addressing them immediately? Robert T. Golembiewski a nd Gerald T. Gabris explore six problem themes in city management incl uding: conceptual issues that increasingly lag realities, attides that have growing costs, and skill deficits that increasingly undercut wha t needs doing. They then pose working answers. The authors present con vincing evidence to support the view that success can become failure, and this article (the first of two companion pieces) proposes that thi s holds true in city management as well. Fortunately, according to the authors, past success also can energize future coping, but only befor e the fateful corner is turned beyonmd which success generates net mom entum toward its own negation.