What Type of Government Does Phoenix Have?
Phoenix has a form of government called the council-manager plan. The
council-manager plan has three main positions - mayor, council member
and city manager.
 |
The Phoenix City Council is made up of the mayor and eight council members. Each council member is elected by the people from
an area of the city called a council district, to represent the people of that district. The mayor is elected at-large, which
means that the mayor is elected by people all over the city. The mayor is in charge of council meetings and is looked to as
the leader of the whole city. |
The mayor and council members have the job of setting
policy for the city. Setting policy means making decisions about what is
allowed and what is not allowed in Phoenix, about what
new services need to be provided to the people and about
how to solve problems that concern citizens. The mayor and
council are able to set policy because they listen carefully to what the citizens
of Phoenix say is important. As elected officials, their expertise comes from having been active in their community or
neighborhoods through Block Watch,
neighborhood associations and other
civic involvement, or because they are interested in government.
The city manager is hired by the mayor and council to manage the day-to-day operations of the city and to advise them about these
operations when they set policy. The city manager and his/her staff oversee all of the city departments, helping them do their
jobs efficiently and effectively. In Phoenix, the city manager is in charge of more than 13,000 city employees.
The Phoenix Municipal Court is a separate
branch of city government and part of the statewide court system that is overseen
by the Arizona Supreme Court. The court is responsible for providing quick
and fair justice to people charged with misdemeanor crimes ranging from minor
traffic violations to Class 1 misdemeanors. Class 1 misdemeanors carry a maximum
penalty of six months in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. The presiding judge, who
oversees the courts, judges and prosecutors, reports directly to the City
Council.
The council-manager form of government may have sounded unfamiliar when you first started reading this page, but it’s just another
way to organize a democratic government. Do you remember the three branches of the federal government? City government also has
three branches - mayor and council are the legislative branch, the city manager is the executive branch, and the municipal court
is the judicial branch.
