Ch. 13 s. 1 # 25

Chapter 13, Section City Government I.Created by the State A. incorporated place—a locality with an officially organized government that provides services to the residents. A city is a municipal government. B. Urban communities can create a city by incorporating. They apply to the state legislature for a city charter that grants power to a local government.

C. More recently home rule, allows cities to write their own charters and make most decisions. D. Urban community may be called a city, town, or village depending on size, all provide the same basic services.

3 Types of City Government The Mayor-Council Form The Council-Manager Form The Commission Form

The Mayor-Council Form A. Power is divided between legislative and executive branches. Voters elect a mayor and the members of the city council. B. The mayor is the chief executive C. The council acts as the city’s legislature. It approves the budget and passes city laws called ordinances. D. Some cities are divided into voting districts called wards. Each ward elects a council member. Other councils consist of members-at-large elected by the entire city. E. strong-mayor system- mayor has more power than the council F. weak-mayor system- mayor’s power is limited. The council appoints department heads and makes most decisions.

The Council-Manager Form A. Usually for medium-sized cities. The chief executive is a professionally trained city manager who is not connected to any political party or interest group. B. The council appoints and can remove the manager. C. Council members are usually elected in citywide at- large elections. D. Advantage: City managers are not elected and are therefore free from political pressures. They have more knowledge than the part-timers in council E. Disadvantage: Citizens may not see manager as a unifying leader because he/she was not elected.

The Commission Form A. A few cities use a commission form of government. They elect usually five commissioners in citywide elections. Each commissioner heads a department. B. commissioners are both legislators and executives. C. The commissioners pick one member to act as mayor, whose role is largely ceremonial. D. Disadvantage: No one person is in charge, making responsibility hard to pinpoint. - New commissioners may know little about their departments. -When commissioners disagree, it may be difficult to make decisions.

Special Districts A.A special districts deal with a specific function, such as education, water supply, or transportation. B. A board or commission runs the special district. It has the power to collect taxes or charge user fees for the services.

Metropolitan Areas A.A metropolitan area is a central city and its surrounding suburbs. B. Some large metropolitan areas have a council of governments, in which the central city joins with its suburbs to make area wide decisions about growth.