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Encyclopedia > Strong mayor

A mayor (from the Latin maīor, meaning "larger","greater") is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some 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. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics. ... A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ...


The French form of the word is maire. In Germany and the Low Countries the chief town magistrate is called "burgomaster" (G. Bürgermeister, Du. burgemeester; French-speaking parts of Belgium use bourgmestre), in Italy sindaco, in Bohemia starosta and in Spain alcalde, a term derived from a Moorish post. The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries (see Country) on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse (Maas) rivers. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... Dutch ( â–¶) is a West Germanic, Low German language spoken by around 24 million people, mostly in the Netherlands and Belgium. ... Bohemia This article is about the historical region in central Europe; for other uses, see Bohemia (disambiguation). ... The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including the present day Spain and Portugal) and the Maghreb, whose culture is often called Moorish. // Origins of the name The name derives from the old tribe of the Mauri and their kingdom, Mauretania. ...


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 the citizens, while day-to-day operations of the city are delegated to a professional city manager. In Salt Lake County in the U.S. state of Utah there is a county mayor. 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. A city council is the most common style of legislative government in a city or town. ... The council-manager government is one of 2 main variations of representative municipal government (for contrast, also see Mayor-Council government). ... Salt Lake County is a county located in the state of Utah. ... A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia and Palmyra Atoll (an uninhabited incorporated unorganized territory), form the United States of America. ... Utah is one of the Four Corners states, and is bordered by: Idaho (at 42°N) and Wyoming (at 41°N and 111°W) in the north, by Colorado (at 109°W) in the east, at a single point by New Mexico to the southeast (at the Four Corners Monument... State nickname: Volunteer State Other U.S. States Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Governor Phil Bredesen (D) Senators Bill Frist (R) Lamar Alexander (R) Official language(s) English Area 109,247 km² (36th)  - Land 106,846 km²  - Water 2,400 km² (2. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Official languages Hawaiian and English Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Governor Linda Lingle (R) Senators Daniel Inouye (D) Daniel Akaka (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 43rd 28,337 km² 41. ...


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.


In several other countries, mayors are often appointed by some branch of the federal or regional government. In some cities, subdivisions such as arrondissements or boroughs may have their own mayors; this is the case, for example, with Paris and Mexico City. An arrondissement is an administrative division in some francophone or Dutch-speaking countries: // France Municipal arrondissement Main article: Municipal arrondissement in France Paris Main article: Arrondissements of Paris The city of Paris, in France is divided into 20 arrondissements. ... A borough is a local government administrative subdivision used in the Canadian province of Quebec, in some states of the United States, and formerly in New Zealand. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México) is the name of a megacity located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus (altiplano) at the center of Mexico, about 2,240 metres (7,349 feet) above sea-level, surrounded on most sides...


In the United Kingdom, the office of Mayor has long been ceremonial. Directly-elected mayors with executive powers 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 Kingdom, the office of Mayor or Lord Mayor had long been a ceremonial post, with little or no duties attached to it. ... Michael Berry Savory. ... The eastern side of the City of London viewed from St. ... The current Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. ... Greater London is the top level administrative subdivision covering London, England. ... Councillor Patrick (Pat) John Stannard, Lord Mayor of Oxford (2004). ... A Lord Provost is the Scottish equivalent of a Lord Mayor. ...


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. Location within Finland Tampere (Swedish name Tammerfors) is a city in southern Finland located between two lakes: Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. ...


History

In spite of its etymology, "mayor" was not a Roman office. 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"), gained such power that, in the person of Pippin of Herstal, he ended by evicting his master. He was the "mayor of the palace". The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent during the reign of Hadrian, ca. ... Barbarian was originally a Greek term applied to any foreigner, one not sharing a recognized culture or language with the speaker or writer employing the term. ... Roman Emperor is the title historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... The word king has many meanings: For the head of state, see Monarch. ... The term duke is a title of nobility which refers to the sovereign male ruler of a Continental European duchy, to a nobleman of the highest grade of the British peerage, or to the highest rank of nobility in various other European countries, including Portugal, Spain and France (in Italy... A majordomo is the head (major) person of a domestic staff (domo), one who acts on behalf of a usually absent owner of a typically large residence. ... For other uses of the term Merovingian, see Merovingian (disambiguation). ... The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia... Pippin of Herstal ( Pépin), also known as Pippin the Middle, (b. ...


Related articles and lists


  Results from FactBites:
 
Strong Mayor Is Sworn In (518 words)
Perez, 46, the city's first Latino mayor, was first elected in November 2001 to a two-year term as a mayor with few statutory powers.
One of the new council's first acts was to unanimously confirm Perez's first appointment as strong mayor: Lee C. Erdmann, the last city manager, was named chief operating officer, the mayor's chief administrative aide.
Despite the mayor's oratory about the start of a new political era, Perez in fact has been the city's dominant politician for two years, overseeing the shrinking of the city work force and adoption of two austerity budgets.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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