ABSTRACT
Textbook descriptions of the role of the mayor in the council-manager form of municipal government invariably describe the mayor’s role in a titular and restrictive fashion. One widely adopted text states: “There is often . . . a mayor, who performs ceremonial functions as head of the local government. He may preside at meetings of the council, represent the city on public occasions, and sign legal documents for the city.”1 Another notes: “The mayor or president of the city or village normally performs only ceremonial functions and presides over the council. He has no administrative powers except in the case of an emergency, and no vote.”2 In a similar appraisal, a third text states: “There is often a presiding officer for the city council who is given the title of mayor. He is a regular voting member of the council but usually possesses no more administrative authority than any other council member; he simply presides at meetings. The only other functions of the mayor are ceremonial.”3 These descriptions of the mayor’s role are in accordance with the role recommended for the mayor by the National Municipal League, the most forceful advocate of the council-manager plan, in its Model City Charter: “The mayor shall preside at meetings of the council, shall be recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for purposes of military law but shall have no administrative duties.”4
