1. City Governments What makes your city tick?

2. What’s a city?  It must have at least 200 residents  It must be located at least 3 miles from the boundaries of nearest city  It must have 60% of its land divided into tracts to be used for residential, commercial, industrial or government purposes

3. City services  Police protection  License businesses  Maintain streets/sidewalks  Control traffic  Provide water/sewage

4. 3 types of city government  Mayor-Council form – elected council makes laws, elected mayor acts as executive officer and oversees that laws are carried out  Council-Manager form – elected council establishes laws and policies, elected/appointed mayor, hired manager runs city day-to-day  Constitution form – elected commissioners, run different departments

5. Conyers  Council-Manager - Under this structure, the city manager serves similar functions as a CEO, the Mayor serves as the chairman of the board and the council as the board of directors.  The council-manager form of government seeks to enhance the effectiveness of local policy-making and municipal operations by bringing together skilled lawmakers, community representatives, and experts in municipal administration and management.

6. Conyers  The City of Conyers operates under the direction of Mayor Randal S. Mills. The Conyers City Council Members are:  Councilman Chris Bowen (District 2, Post 1) Councilman Vince Evans (District 2, Post 2) Councilman John Fountain (District 4) Councilman Gerald Hinesley (District 3) Councilman Cleveland Stroud (District 1)

7. Cities  Areas outside the city get water and sanitation from a city commission form of local gov’t  Special purpose district – created for a single job or group of tasks  Example – school systems: their purpose is to teach y’all  Example in ATL – MARTA (Metro-Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority)

8. Cities  Most of the money that local governments spend comes from local property taxes  Types of property that can be taxed: real property (lands, homes, businesses) and personal property (vehicles, boats, trailers, airplanes, mobile homes)  SPLOST – special purpose local option sales tax – pay a tax over a 5-year-period to fund certain projects

9. County services  Bldg & Plan: zoning, bldg permits, flood plain monitoring  Child/Family: deals with activities of children and families  Emergency: fire and police, EMTs  Health dept: helps sick folks  Road dept: monitors roads & bridges  Sheriff: jail, legal services, courts  Tax Comm: collects taxes  Waste: waste facility, solid waste landfills

10. Conyers Chart

11. Local Gov’t – Weak Mayor Form  Mayor’s Powers  limited executive authority  presides over council meetings  Council’s Powers  Has executive and legislative powers  Makes laws/policies  Enforces laws/policies  Example: Smyrna

12. Local Gov’t - Strong Mayor Form  Mayor’s Powers  Executive and legislative powers  Proposes budget  Has power to veto  Council’s Powers  Determines government policy  Responsible for raising revenue ($$)  Example: Atlanta

13. Atlanta  Atlanta is governed by a mayor and the Atlanta city council. The city council consists of 15 representatives— one from each of the city's twelve districts and three at- large positions. The mayor may veto a bill passed by the council, but the council can override the veto with a two- thirds majority. The mayor of Atlanta is Kasim Reed.

14. Local Gov’t – Council-Manager Council’s Power:  Legislative powers, policies, ordinances, appropriations  Elected by the public Manager’s Power:  Selected by the council  Manages the day-to-day activity of the city (like a CEO)