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City Government Firstly, the city government can be of several types. They are the following: Council-manager government Mayor-council government City Commission In the council-manager government the elected city council consists of five-eleven people who are responsible for for making policy, passing ordinances, voting appropriations, and having overall supervisory authority in the city government. (Dye 2004) The characteristic of such form is that mayor performs only ceremonial duties and / or acts as presiding officer of the city council. The responsibilities are different in different cities. The main roles of such government are urban planning and / or zoning; public works involving water supply system, streets, sewer, building and construction; maintaining parks and recreation (city parks, common areas, owned lands); police; fire; health services; emergency management; collecting taxes in the city; human resources; risk management (writing municipal bonds, checking the city in accordance with federal and state mandates, ); transportation; information technology (city websites and phones). All the power is concentrated in the hands of legislative branch. City manager is like CEO in the company. (Dye 2004) The next form is Mayor-council government commonly used in representative municipal governments in the USA.
There are two main forms: weak-mayor form and strong-mayor form. In the weak-mayor form the council is the possessor of executive and legislative authorities. It is known that the council is able to appoint officials and exercise primary control over the city budget. This form is used mostly in small towns. Strong-mayor form is characterized by the total administrative authority. The mayor is responsible for appointing and dismissing officials and department heads without listening to city council.
It is apparent that it is the mayor who prepare and administers the city budget approved by the city council. (Dye 2004) City Commission is municipal government commonly replaced by the Council-manager form. Some critics consider this form to be a predecessor of the Council form. In such government form city voter elect commission of five-seven members on the basis of plurality-at-large. The commissioners are the representatives of legislative branch in the city. They are totally responsible for tax collecting, ordinances, appropriations, etc.
Commissioner deals with public works, public safety and financial aspects. Single commissioner may be mayor or chairman, but this appointment is rather ceremonial and has practically no significant power. City Commission is the combination of executive and legislative branch in the same body. (Kehen 1996) Texas cities are mostly characterized by City Commission and City Council government forms. The City council consists of Mayor and five member of the Council. Positions are elected from the City at-large. Each member must be at least 21 years and must be the citizen of the US.
He / she has to be qualified voter of the Texas State. Texas has a large number of different Commissions and Boards. The main are: Planning Commission (5 members, 2 alternates; responsible to act as advisory board of the City council). Board of Adjustment (5 members, 4 alternates; deals with building codes and building regulation). Economic Development and Advisory Board (10 members, two alternate; coordinates and administers meetings of business communities) It is seen that Texas cities are provided with additional commissions and Boards in order to perform efficient policy and promote national welfare granted by the US Constitution. (Kehen 1996) Works cited Dye, Thomas, Gibson, Tucker & Robinson, Clay. Politics in America, Texas Brief Edition.
US: Prentice Hall, 2004. Judis, John. The Paradox of American Democracy. London: Routledge Press, 2001.
Kehen, William. United States Government: Part One. 1996. [Available at web
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Research essay sample on Legislative Branch City Council
