WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - As the City of Wichita begins the process of selecting a new city manager following the announced retirement of Robert Layton , discussions are also taking place about what the city would look like if it didn’t fill Layton’s position, opting not to have a city manager and instead having a “strong mayor” form of government.

Most U.S. cities with at least 100,000 residents have a city manager. What’s the difference between having a city manager and a mayor with more power? The main difference is exactly how it sounds. Cities like Wichita and Oklahoma City that have a city manager give most of the city’s administrative duties to that person, appointed by the city council.

However, cities that don’t have a city manager, including major cities like New York and even smaller cities like Omaha and Tulsa, give that responsibility to the mayor. But is that a realistic possibility for Wichita? The city council will have a discussion on that on Tuesday. Wichita City Councilmember Dalton Glasscock said any changes discussed by the council wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

“There’s going to be a lot more community feedback about that in terms of getting community engagement of whether this is a possibility or not,” Glasscock said. “And no significant change is gonna happen until after next election. We may set policy, (but) new people will still be elected so the public knows that these individuals are walking in with these skillsets, which may change on the demands of this office.”

Glasscock said the city is still moving forward with the process of selecting a new city manager, which will be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.