Objectives – I CAN:

• Describe the typical Tennessee city, its governmental structure, and functions.

• Explain the process of how Tennessee cities were formed.

• Contrast the major forms of city government.• Compare and contrast how city government is

different from state and federal government• Explain how each individual city makes a

difference in a citizen’s everyday life.

Key Terms• incorporation: the process by which the state

establishes a city as a legal body• charter: a city’s constitution• mayor-council government: city government with an

elected mayor as chief executive and an elected council as the legislative body

• strong-mayor government: city government where a mayor heads the city administration and has considerable authority

• weak-mayor government: city government where the mayor shares executive power and has less influence

Key Terms Continued• commission government: city government where

elected officials both run individual departments and act together as the city council

• council-manager government: city system where the city council hires a professional manager to be the city’s chief administrator

• zoning: practice of setting aside areas of a city for specific uses, such as residential, commercial, or industrial

• metropolitan government: cities and counties are combined into one governmental unit

Local Governments

• In 2007 the U.S. Census counted 89,247 local governments.

• Local governments include counties, cities, towns, townships, school districts, and other special districts.

• The U.S. Constitution says nothing about local governments.

• The states have the sole right to create and abolish local governments within their borders.

• Local governments have only the authority granted to them by the state government.

Incorporation & Charters

• Incorporation is the process by which a state establishes a city as a legal body.

• A charter is the city’s basic law, its constitution.

City government in Tennessee is a political subdivision of state government. As apolitical subdivision, city government has only that authority which is delegated to it by the state. In Tennessee, the process of delegation of power from state government to city government is accomplished through legislative action of the general assembly, either through a general (public) act or private act. In the case of the general act, the general assembly grants certain powers which have general application to all or a large number of cities across the state. These general acts are assembled and codified in the Tennessee Code Annotated which is revised and published on an annual basis and is widely available.

The following is a list of the forms of city government in Tennessee:Mayor-Alderman - 67 Cities

Manager-Commission - 47 CitiesModified Manager-Council - 2 Cities

Home Rule - 14 CitiesMetropolitan Government - 3 Cities

Private Act - 212 Cities

Tennessee - Each City is Unique

Find your city’s form of government at the link below:

http://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/web2012.nsf/Web/Charter+Form

Each state constitution sets out its own rules of incorporation.

This usually requires that a minimum number of people live within a given area and that they request to become a city.

Each city creates a charter that names the city, sets its boundaries, creates its legal identity, and describes its powers and the structure of its government.

Mayor-Council/Aldermen Form• The “mayor-council” government is the most common

form of city government.

• It features a mayor as the chief executive and an elected council as the legislative body.

• Its disadvantages are that it requires a strong mayor, can be stalled by a mayor-council dispute, and can be hard for citizens to understand.

• The city council usually has about five to nine members, each elected from a city district to a four-year term.

Mayor-Council/Aldermen Form of City Government – 67 Cities in TN

Graphic Source: Presentation Pro: Magruder’s American Government; Prentice Hall, Inc., 2001

Manager/Commission Form of City Government – 47 Cities in TN

A “commission government” is a rare form of local government that has between three and nine popularly elected commissioners, each heading a different department of city government. One commissioner is chosen as mayor.

Graphic Source: Presentation Pro: Magruder’s American Government; Prentice Hall, Inc., 2001

Modified Manager-Council Form of City Government – 2 Cities in TN • The “council manager” form of city government has a weak mayor chosen by

voters, a strong elected council, and a professional manager named by the council.

• The city council makes the policies that are then carried out by the manager.• The manager can be dismissed by the council at any time.• This system is widely used. • It is simple, fairly transparent in operation, and relies on trained experts.

Graphic Source: Presentation Pro: Magruder’s American Government; Prentice Hall, Inc., 2001

Other Forms of City Government in Tennessee

• Home Rule - 14 Cities - In Tennessee, “home rule” is a term provided for in Article XI, Section 9, of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, in which a city writes or prepares its own charter that is approved by the city’s voters in a referendum.

• Metropolitan Government - 3 Cities - In Tennessee, state laws allow cities and counties to form a metropolitan government comprised of the county government, the county’s principal city, and other cities in the county, should they elect to participate.

• Private Act - 212 Cities - This body of private legislation is with each “private act” applying to only one city. These acts affect each city on an individual basis.

Municipal Functions

• Cities provide many different public services for their residents.

– They offer police and fire protection.

– They build and maintain streets, side-walks, libraries, bridges, hospitals, libraries, parks, schools, public housing projects, and so forth.

– They also operate water, gas, electrical, sanitation, sewer, garbage collection, public health, and transportation systems.

Municipal Functions

Public utilities Parks andrecreation

Sanitation

Public housing Building codes Police and fireprotection

Auditoriums and sportsarenas

School and correctionalinstitutions

Infrastructure building andmaintenance

Public health facilities

Graphic Source: Presentation Pro: Magruder’s American Government; Prentice Hall, Inc., 2001

Current events and issues in my city/town:

List 2 things that my city/town does well:

List 2 things I think my city/town could do better:

“All politics is local!”

Quote from Washington AP Bureau Chief Byron Price in 1932. Quote was used by former Speaker of the US House of Representatives - Tip O’Neil in 1935, when he entered politics.