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The City Manager serves as the city’s chief executive officer and is responsible for providing professional leadership in the administration and implementation of all city operations and the policies, goals and vision set forth by the Mayor and City Council.
Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr. was appointed the City Manager of Topeka in March 2006 and oversees the day to day operations of the City’s 1,400 employees and $224 million budget. He brings over 20 years of City Manager experience. Prior to Topeka, Bonaparte served as the city administrator of Plainfield, New Jersey, the city business administrator of the City of Camden, New Jersey, the township manager of Willingboro, New Jersey, and the city manager of Glenarden, Maryland.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Masters in Public Administration from Cornell University’s Graduate School of Business. He has been elected a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), a prestigious organization chartered by the U. S. Congress that elects a limited number of individuals with distinguished records of performance as either a practitioner or a scholar in public administration and management.
Bonaparte is a member of the International City/County Management Association and has earned its Credentialed Manager designation. He is a member of its “Managers who Teach” committee and currently serves as a principal instructor for the University of Kansas’ Emerging Leaders Academy. Bonaparte is also a member of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, and the Kansas Association of City/County Management. He has been elected president of both the New Jersey Municipal Management Association and the Maryland City/County Management Association.
At the community level, he is involved in various organizations including the United Way of Greater Topeka, the Kansas Capital Area Red Cross Board of Directors, Stormont-Vail Hospital’s Community Advisory Council, Downtown Topeka Rotary Club and Heartland Visioning.
