What are the major characteristics of the council-manager form of government?
The council-manager form consists of an elected city council which is responsible for policy making, and a professional city manager, appointed by the council, who is responsible for administration. The city manager provides policy advice, directs the daily operations of city government, handles personnel functions (including the power to appoint and remove employees) and is responsible for preparation of a budget. Under the council-manager enabling law, the city council is prohibited from interfering with the manager’s administration. The city manager, however, is directly accountable to, and can be removed by the council at any time. The mayor in council-manager cities is selected by the city council from among its members. The charter of an optional municipal code city or first class city may provide for the mayor to be directly elected by the people. The mayor generally presides at council meetings and is recognized as the head of the city for ceremonial purposes, but has no regula
