Question: What are the different types of city government?

Sources: Images of local government officials with role titles; headlines, news articles, images of local government officials carrying out responsibilities of their roles (e.g. council meeting, ribbon cutting, examining construction, speaking with citizens, attending community events, etc.); excerpts from city charters/constitutions.

Task: Annotate the city government infographic comparing the similarities and differences in terms of governing/power.

Vocabulary: city manager, “at the pleasure of,” administrator, clerk, mayor, legislative, executive, commissioner, veto, government, local, official, city, city council, council member

EXPLANATION: To teach students about the roles of mayors and city officials and how they function. Kentucky cities have three types of governing structures: (1) a mayor/council form of government, (2) a commission form of government, and (3) a city manager form of government.

• The mayor/council plan is the most common. In this plan, the residents of the city elect a legislative body of six to 12 members, called a council. There is a strong separation of executive (mayor) and legislative (council) authority, and the mayor has the executive power. The mayor may not vote on issues before the legislative body, except to break a tie vote. The mayor does have veto power, which may be overridden by the council. The mayor may also delegate administrative duties to a city administrative officer. Louisville (26 council members) and Lexington (15) are consolidated/merged counties, but they are similar to the mayor/council plan.
• The commissioner plan places executive, legislative, and administrative powers with the city commission, which consists of a mayor and four commissioners. The commission may choose to delegate administrative duties to a city administrative officer.
• The city manager plan is the same as the commission plan, except that a majority of the members of the city commission must appoint a city manager and delegate administrative powers to the city manager. All cities have a city clerk who assists the council or commission.