As a municipal legislative body, the city council is a powerful institution that has a lot of authority and carries out many important functions. The council sets local policy and oversees a broad array of services and departments, including zoning, parks, libraries, planning and public safety. The council can even create special boards or commissions to solve specific problems.
Council members are elected for four-year terms that begin in January, and they may be reelected indefinitely. The Model suggests staggered, four-year terms, rather than concurrent terms, to avoid dramatic changes in the composition of councils at each election. But many cities do not restrict reelection, and advocates of unlimited terms argue that voters should be able to keep council members in office who represent their views.
In addition, the charter prohibits a council member from holding other elective offices or employment in the city during his or her term and for one year after leaving office. This provision was enacted to avoid conflicts of interest.
The council has a number of committees to help with the work, including the land use and finance committees. The chair of each committee manages the panel and selects subcommittees, including the committee on rules, privileges and elections, which is overseen by the speaker.
The city’s political landscape has changed a lot in recent years, and the city council is now mostly made up of Democrats. The council has just three Republicans — Steven Matteo, Joseph Borelli and Eric Ulrich. But the council does not operate as a partisan house like Congress or the state legislature, and party affiliation isn’t that significant.