Mayor
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A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "larger","greater") is in modern times the title of the highest ranking municipal officer, who discharges certain judicial and administrative functions, in many systems an elected politician, who serves as chief executive and/or ceremonial official of many types of municipalities. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs as to the powers and responsibilities of a mayor, as well as the means of becoming mayor.
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Word history & Historical other Mayors
The word derives from Latin maior 'major, greater', which developedlike such terms as senior 'elder' to mean (in) chief.
In spite of its Latin etymology, "mayor" was not a Roman office, as Roman municipia were rather governed by collegial magistrates bearing various titles, such as consul or various terms expressing their numer (e.g. duumvir, two) or even titles of pre-Roman local origin.
Among the nations which arose on the ruins of the Roman empire of the West, and which made use of the Latin spoken by their "Roman" subjects as their official and legal language, maior and in some contexts the rarer Low Latin feminine maiorissa were found to be very convenient terms to describe important officials of both sexes who had the superintendence of others. Any female servant or slave in the household of a barbarian, whose business it was to overlook other female servants or slaves, would be quite naturally called a maiorissa.
So the male officer who governed the king's household would be the major domus. In the households of the Frankish kings of the Merovingian line, the major domus, who was also variously known as the gubernator ('helmsman'; the root of Governor), rector (also a gubernatorial title), moderator (idem) or praefectus palatii, was so great an officer that he ended by evicting his master. He was the "mayor of the palace".
It came into use in the large entourages that followed the barbarian leaders who succeeded to the power of the Emperor of the West. The male officer who governed a king or duke's peripatetic household was the major domus, the "major domo". In the households of the Merovingian Frankish kings, the major domus, or praefectus palatii ("prefect of the palace"), nominally a majordomo comparable to a British household's trusted Butler, became the de facto head of government and even tended to become semi-hereditary, gaining such power (compare an oriental Vizier) that, in the person of Pippin of Herstal, he ended by evicting his master. He was the "mayor of the palace".
Municipal Mayoral types and titles
Image:Hurricane Katrina President Bush with New Orleans Mayor.jpg
Anglosaxon mayors and counterparts
Image:Lord Mayor of London's coronation robes.JPG In England the major is the modern representative of the feudal lord's bailiff or reeve (see Borough). We find the chief magistrate of London bearing the title of portreeve for considerably more than a century after the Conquest. This official was elected by popular choice, a privilege secured from king John . By the beginning of the nth century the title of portreeve1 gave way to that of mayor as the designation of the chief officer of London, and the adoption of the title by other boroughs followed at various intervals.
A mayor is now in England and America the official head of a municipal government. In the United Kingdom the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, section 15, regulated the election of mayors. He is to be a fit person elected annually on 9 November by the council of the borough from among the aldermen or councillors or persons qualified to be such. His term of office is one year, but he is eligible for re-election. He may appoint a deputy to act during illness or absence, and such deputy must be either an alderman or councillor. A mayor who is absent from the borough for more than two months becomes disqualified and vacates his office. A mayor is cx officio during his year of office and the next year a justice of the peace for the borough. He receives such remuneration as the council thinks reasonable. The office of mayor in an English borough does not entail any important administrative duties. It is generally regarded as an honor conferred for past services. The mayor is expected to devote much of his time to ornamental functions and to preside over meetings which have for their object the advancement of the public welfare. His administrative duties are merely to act as returning officer at municipal elections, and as chairman of the meetings of the council.
The position and power of an English mayor contrast very strongly with those of the similar official in the United States. The latter is elected directly by the voters within the city, usually for several years; and he has extensive administrative powers.
In the United Kingdom, the office of Mayor has long been ceremonial. Directly-elected mayors were introduced in some areas from 2000. In London, the ceremonial Lord Mayor of London, representing the City of London, should be distinguished from the elected Mayor of London who is responsible for the whole of Greater London. Thirty cities in the United Kingdom have Lord Mayors (or Lord Provosts in Scotland).
In the United States, mayors are usually elected by the citizens of a locality for a fixed term. They generally share power with a local legislative body, such as a city council. Mayors may also function as the head of the city council, sometimes elected as mayor by the council rather than by the citizens, while day-to-day operations of the city can be delegated to a non-elective professional town - or city manager.
In Salt Lake County in the U.S. state of Utah there is a county mayor. In Orleans Parish, LA the mayor of New Orleans also serves as Parish President. Additionally, the chief executives of all counties in Tennessee and Hawaii are referred to as "mayors". However, these persons are elected, not appointed, to that office.
In Canada mayors are usually elected at large by the citizens of a municipality for a fixed term. In most provinces, the Mayor operates under a weak-mayor system in which the Mayor sits as a member of the municipal council. In such systems, the Mayor has one vote, in common with all other members of Council and no executive powers. In rural municipalities, the head of Council may have the title reeve as opposed to mayor.
Other European counterparts
In Germany and the Low Countries the chief town magistrate is called burgomaster 'Chief of the Bürger, i.e. Burgesses, citizens' (see that article G. Bürgermeister, Dutch burgemeester; French-speaking parts of Belgium use bourgmestre).
The equivalent in Italy is sindaco (historical titles include podestà), in France Maire, in Bohemia starosta, in Portugal Presidente da Câmara Municipal 'President of the Municipal Chamber', and in Spain alcalde, a term derived from a Moorish post's Arabic name.
In the early 20th century, and for the most stil, the English method of selecting a mayor by the council was followed for the corresponding functionaries in France (except Paris), the more important cities of Italy, and in Germany, where, however, the central government must confirm the choice of the council. Direct appointment by the central government exists in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the smaller towns of Italy and Spain. As a rule, too, the term of office is longer in other countries than in the United Kingdom. In France election is for four years, in Holland for six, in Belgium for an indefinite period, and in Germany usually for twelve years, but in some cases for life. In Germany the post may be said to be a professional one, the burgomaster being the head of the city magistracy, and requiring, in order to be eligible, a training in administration. German burgomasters were most frequently elected by promotion from another city. In France the maire, and a number of experienced members termed adjoint du maire 'mayoral adjunct', who assist him as an executive committee, are elected directly by the municipal council from among their own number. Most of the administrative work is left in the hands of the maire and his adjuncts, the full council meeting comparatively seldom. The maire and the adjuncts receive no salary.
In Finland, there are no mayors, although plans have been floated to institute the office in Tampere. The highest executive official is not democratically elected, but appointed to a public office by the city council, and is called simply kaupunginjohtaja "city manager" or kunnanjohtaja "municipal manager", depending on whether the municipality feels like calling itself a city. The term pormestari "mayor", from Swedish borgmästare "master of the castle" confusingly refers to the highest official in the registry office, not the city manager. In addition, pormestari is also a title, which may be given for distinguished service in the post of the city manager. The city manager of Helsinki is called ylipormestari, which translates to "Chief Mayor", for historical reasons. Furthermore, the term "city manager" may be seen translated as "mayor".
Multi-tier local government
In several countries, mayors are often appointed by some branch of the federal or regional government. In some cities, subdivisions such as boroughs, may have their own mayors; this is the case, for example, with the arrondissements of Paris and in Mexico City. In Belgium, only Brussels, the capital, administratively is one of the federation's three regions, subdivided -without the other regions' provincial level- into 19 rather small municipalities, which each have an elected -formally appointed- Burgomaster (i.e. Mayor, responsible to their elected councils); while Antwerp, the other major metropolitan area, has one large city (where the buroughs, former municipalities merged into it, elect a lower level, albeit with very limited comptence) and several smaller surrounding municipalities, each under a normal Burgomaster as in Brussels.
In the People's Republic of China, the Mayor (市長) may be the administrative head of any municipality, be it provincial-, prefectural, or county-level. The Mayor is usually the most recognized official in cities, although the position is the second highest ranking official in charge after the local Communist Party Secretary . In principle, the Mayor (who also serves as the Deputy Communist Party Secretary of the city) is responsible for managing the city administration while the Communist Party Secretary is responsible for general policy and managing the party bureaucacy, but in practice the roles blur frequently causing conflict. In the Republic of China in Taiwan the mayor is the head of a city's government and is completely distinct from the associated city's council which is in charge of legislative affairs. The mayor and city council are elected separately by the city's residents.
Sources and references
(incomplete)
- A. Shaw, Municipal Government in Continental Europe
- J - A. Fairlie, Municipal Administration
- S. and B. Webb, English Local Government
- Redlich and Hirst, Local Government in England
- A. L. Lowell, The Government of England.
See also
- Lists of mayors by country
- Council-manager government
- Mayor-council government
- World Mayorast:Alcalde
bg:Кмет cs:Starosta da:Borgmester de:Bürgermeister es:Alcalde eo:Urbestro fr:Maire fy:Boargemaster id:Walikota it:Sindaco he:ראש עירייה lt:Meras hu:Polgármester nl:Burgemeester ja:首長 no:Ordfører nn:Ordførar pl:Burmistrz pt:Prefeito ru:Бургомистр sk:Starosta sl:Župan fi:Pormestari sv:Borgmästare tr:Belediye başkanı uk:Міський голова yi:בירגערמייסטער zh:市长