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Subjects › Governance › Newly Elected City Officials Information
Reviewed 12/2011

Newly Elected City Officials Information

Contents

Introduction

Congratulations! You have been elected to one of the offices in city government. This webpage is designed to provide information that will help you understand your role in office and perform your duties more effectively. The first part of the page contains a brief overview of city government history and organization. Then, since one of the most difficult and important challenges you will face is connecting with the citizens in your jurisdiction, a section is included on effective communication. This section focuses on informing and involving citizens in governmental functions. There are a number of legal doctrines that apply to you in your role as a city elective official and a few of the more important ones are reviewed under "Legal Issues." The role of legislator or policy-maker will be significant, particularly for councilmembers. A section on the legislative process focuses on roles and responsibilities, effective public participation, and procedures for adopting legislation. Finally, information on additional resources and organizations serving city officials is provided, including selected MRSC publications and MRSC library materials.

City Government Organization

These MRSC pages provide a brief overview of city government history and organization. They cover both forms of city government, the council-manager plan and the mayor-council plan, as well as information on classifying cities as first class, second class, town, or code city.

Roles and Responsibilities of Elected City Officials

These documents provide an overview of the role and responsibilities of mayors and councilmembers and some helpful advice to avoid conflict as a city official.

Legal Issues

The following MRSC pages and documents contain information on some of the central legal doctrines that elected officials should be familiar with, including recent information on topics such as open public meetings and the Public Records Act.

Financial Issues

These publications and webpages provide detailed information on required contracting and bidding procedures, budget preparation and sale of public property.

Legislative Process/Policy-Making

The following section consists of MRSC webpages that provide information on the roles and responsibilities of local government officials in creating policy and how to make the policy-making process more productive and efficient.

Leadership/Teamwork

This section focuses on the leadership role played by city elected officials and also their role as a member of an effective team of city officials.

Trust in Government and Citizen Engagement

These pages present ideas and examples of successful communication tools that may be used by local government officials to inform citizens about what local government is doing and to receive feedback on what local government should do.

City Codes of Ethics

MRSC has collected, in our Sample Codes of Ethics page, a list of code chapters on ethical standards of conduct that govern the performance of city officials in the conduct of city business as well as rules on preventing potential conflicts of interest.

Organizations Serving Elected City Officials

These websites provide more detailed information about some of the other significant organizations that can help you in your role as an elective official in the state of Washington.

MRSC Publications

MRSC produces comprehensive publications about a broad range of local subjects. These publications include educational guidebooks designed to assist local officials in carrying out their duties and practical publications about emerging issues. Most publications may be viewed and downloaded from the MRSC website, and paper copies may be purchased at a discount by government officials. View our entire list of MRSC Publications here.