City Governments What makes your city tick?

What’s a city?  It must have at least 200 residents  It must be located at least 3 miles from the boundaries of nearest city  It must have 60% of its land divided into tracts to be used for residential, commercial, industrial or government purposes

City services  Police protection  License businesses  Maintain streets/sidewalks  Control traffic  Provide water/sewage

3 types of city government  Mayor-Council form – elected council makes laws, elected mayor acts as executive officer and oversees that laws are carried out  Council-Manager form – elected council establishes laws and policies, elected/appointed mayor, hired manager runs city day-to-day  Constitution form – elected commissioners, run different departments

Conyers  Council-Manager - Under this structure, the city manager serves similar functions as a CEO, the Mayor serves as the chairman of the board and the council as the board of directors.  The council-manager form of government seeks to enhance the effectiveness of local policy-making and municipal operations by bringing together skilled lawmakers, community representatives, and experts in municipal administration and management.

Conyers  The City of Conyers operates under the direction of Mayor Randal S. Mills. The Conyers City Council Members are:  Councilman Chris Bowen (District 2, Post 1) Councilman Vince Evans (District 2, Post 2) Councilman John Fountain (District 4) Councilman Gerald Hinesley (District 3) Councilman Cleveland Stroud (District 1)

Cities  Areas outside the city get water and sanitation from a city commission form of local gov’t  Special purpose district – created for a single job or group of tasks  Example – school systems: their purpose is to teach y’all  Example in ATL – MARTA (Metro-Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority)

Cities  Most of the money that local governments spend comes from local property taxes  Types of property that can be taxed: real property (lands, homes, businesses) and personal property (vehicles, boats, trailers, airplanes, mobile homes)  SPLOST – special purpose local option sales tax – pay a tax over a 5-year-period to fund certain projects

County services  Bldg & Plan: zoning, bldg permits, flood plain monitoring  Child/Family: deals with activities of children and families  Emergency: fire and police, EMTs  Health dept: helps sick folks  Road dept: monitors roads & bridges  Sheriff: jail, legal services, courts  Tax Comm: collects taxes  Waste: waste facility, solid waste landfills

Conyers Chart

Local Gov’t – Weak Mayor Form  Mayor’s Powers  limited executive authority  presides over council meetings  Council’s Powers  Has executive and legislative powers  Makes laws/policies  Enforces laws/policies  Example: Smyrna

Local Gov’t - Strong Mayor Form  Mayor’s Powers  Executive and legislative powers  Proposes budget  Has power to veto  Council’s Powers  Determines government policy  Responsible for raising revenue ($$)  Example: Atlanta

Atlanta  Atlanta is governed by a mayor and the Atlanta city council. The city council consists of 15 representatives— one from each of the city's twelve districts and three at- large positions. The mayor may veto a bill passed by the council, but the council can override the veto with a two- thirds majority. The mayor of Atlanta is Kasim Reed.

Local Gov’t – Council-Manager Council’s Power:  Legislative powers, policies, ordinances, appropriations  Elected by the public Manager’s Power:  Selected by the council  Manages the day-to-day activity of the city (like a CEO)