What are the major characteristics of the mayor-council form of government?
The mayor-council form consists of an elected mayor (elected at-large), who serves as the city’s chief administrative officer, and a council (elected either at-large or from districts), which serves as the municipality’s legislative body. The council has the authority to formulate and adopt city policies and the mayor is responsible for carrying them out. The mayor attends and presides over council meetings but does not vote, except in the case of a tie. In code cities, the mayor may veto ordinances; although the veto may be overridden by a majority plus one of the entire council membership. In second class cities, the mayor may veto an ordinance, but the mayor’s veto can be overriden by five members of the council. In first class cities the mayor’s veto power is specified in the charter. Town mayor’s have no veto power. A growing number of mayor-council cities have added a professional position of city administrator or chief administrative officer (CAO) in the mayor’s office. CAO’s se
