Power of the Mayor

A mayor is a political leader of a municipal corporation, either appointed for a term or directly elected. The position’s powers include the ability to administer budgets, manage administrative functions, make appointments, and veto legislation. 1 In the United States, mayors govern in two ways, council manager government or mayor-council government. In a council manager government, the mayor is equal to the other councilmen working on city government. The mayor serves as chair of the council but does not have any unique legislative powers. In the second major form of government, mayor-council government, the mayor and the city council work in separate offices. Within mayor-council government, there are two forms. In a strong mayor system the mayor acts as an elected executive, possessing legislative powers and working with the city council, with the ability to select chief administrative officers for various departments. The other form of mayor-council government, the weak mayor or ceremonial mayor system, the mayor must share executive and legislative duties with the council but may appoint department heads. Overall, in this system the mayor has more limited appointment, veto, and removal. 2

In Chicago, the mayor serves as the chief executive officer of the city. Each mayor is elected for a four-year term, with the election held the year before each presidential election. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election is held. The mayor presides over City Council meeting, voting if there is a tie, with the power to approve or to veto all of the ordinances passed by the City Council. The mayor also gives the budget to City Council, which needs approval from the council by the end of every calendar year. Lastly, with the consent of the City Council, the mayor appoints department heads and members of city commissions and boards, including the Board of Education and the Chicago Housing Authority3 .

Examples of Mayor Daley Exercising his Powers:

1. Decided to demolish Meigs Field (a small airport next to Lake Michigan) on March 30, 2005, without notifying City Council or Federal Aviation Administration. Afterwards, the city was fined $33,000, the maximum amount for failure to notify the federal agency of the plan within 30 days 4
2. Hired private trucks to do city work in the Hired Truck Program, although some companies received pay for little or no work, or had connections to the mob. In 2006 a federal jury convicted Mayor Daley’s patronage chief, Robert Sorich, of rewarding those with political connections with city jobs, in this program or in other areas. 5
3. Created a $1.8 billion deal in 2006 to allow a private consortium to run the Chicago Skyway toll road, allowing the toll to double over the upcoming decade with the potential to increase in the future. This marked the first time a U.S. toll road was privatized. 6
4. In 2008, Mayor Daley leased Chicago’s parking meter system to Morgan Stanley for $1.16 billion, the first time a U.S. city has privatized its meter system. Additionally, Daley has leased Midway Airport to private operators for $2.5 billion. The funds that have been created from leasing city infrastructure will go towards helping Chicago’s budget problems. 7