Unfortunately, it's often regarded merely as an everyday fixture rather than something to be celebrated. In fact, municipal officials and employees regularly complain of being taken for granted by the everyday citizens for whom they work. If you've gone some time without giving your city's hard-working employees a second thought, this refresher course on the duties and responsibilities of city officials might renew your appreciation for their efforts.
Basic City Government Structure
A municipal government may take one of several forms, each of which comes with its own set of advantages and efficiencies: council-manager, mayor-council, and commission. Though the former two are far more common than the latter, there is little consensus as to which form is the “best”.
Like their state and national counterparts, most city governments are comprised of executive and legislative branches. City legislators – known as “council members”, “commissioners”, or “aldermen” – tend to be democratically elected. In larger cities, they represent well-defined geographical areas called “wards” or “districts” and can be quite numerous: For instance, Chicago has an elected or appointed alderman for each of its 50 wards. Whereas these legislators work to advance their constituents’ interests and debate city ordinances, the employees of the executive branch work under the mayor or city manager to ensure that these statutes are executed properly.
Mayor-Council Government
This form of government is characterized by clear boundaries between the executive and legislative branches. One key characteristic of a mayor-council government is a popularly-elected mayor that serves as the “face” of a city both to its citizens and to out-of-towners. Depending upon the language of the city charter, mayor-council governments may take one of two forms:
Weak mayor — Common in small, rural towns and growth-oriented suburbs, this system dramatically circumscribes the mayor's executive power. As the executive has little power over the activities of the city council or commission and cannot appoint or dismiss individual members, the executive and legislative branches can be said to exist co-equally under a weak mayor.
Strong mayor — Though it remains popular in big cities, this form of government has fallen out of favor in smaller towns following a series of high-profile abuses. Strong mayors maintain tight control over the departments that comprise the executive branch and require little day-to-day input from council members.
Council-Manager Government
Especially common in fast-growing Sunbelt cities, council-manager governments feature a popularly-elected city council that enacts statutes and an appointed executive who directs the activities of municipal departments. Unlike mayors, who are more likely to be career politicians, city managers often spend time in the business community before their appointment. In fact, this is a major selling point for the council-manager system: Formally-trained city managers tend to govern like business executives rather than politicians, prioritizing efficiency over patronage.
Commission Government
Although it’s far less common than the other two principal forms of municipal organization, government by commission remains a viable choice in medium-sized cities and areas in which tourism plays a major economic role. Most commission governments feature fewer than 10 popularly-elected commissioners who do not represent specific geographical areas and do not answer to a mayor. Since this form of government merges executive and legislative functions in a single body, it’s helpful to think of each commissioner as a “sub-mayor” with the power to enact ordinances.
The workings of municipal government have a way of remaining under the radar until they're exposed by circumstance or ineptitude. Don't take your hard-working city officials for granted. Now that you know something about the general ways in which city governments can be structured, take the time to learn more about how this plays out in your community. You might just be able to help along the way.
About the Author
Jes Nicholson writes for several higher ed blogs.