Mayors are basically the CEOs of the cities they represent. The general wellbeing of the city is usually in their hands. The responsibilities and duties of mayors vary significantly from one city to the other, the most common ones being legislative, administrative and operational duties. In a municipal government, the mayor is usually the political head. He is elected annually by the members of that corporation.
Duties of a mayor in a municipal government
• The mayor acts as the chairperson of the Municipal Corporation
• He chairs all the meetings of the corporation, carefully guiding its discussions
• He controls the way business is conducted in such meetings
• He mediates between the Commissioner and the state government, acting as the primary channel of communication for both sides.
Responsibilities of a mayor
The general welfare of a city is usually the main responsibility of a mayor. As the public face of the city, he should be seen at all times working and mobilizing people to work for a better city. In case of disasters, either natural or manmade for instance, mayors should be the ones giving updates and the way forward to the affected people.
To be able to perform his duties well, the head of a city should own the city’s vision. He should not only focus on the current affairs of the city but also on the long-term desired changes in the city. Everything he does and all the decisions he makes should be geared towards a better city in the future. This way, the city residents will feel secure enough to invest and work hard to earn a living to enjoy in a great city.
Mayors are also responsible for the budget of their cities. They are the supreme leaders; therefore they should be able to decide how funds collected by the city council should be allocated. With such a responsibility, the city boss needs to be a person of integrity. He should also be smart enough to make monetary decisions that are geared towards the welfare of the city, in the present and in the future.
Provision of resources needed by the city residents is something else the city boss should be responsible for. As their key responsibility, mayors should be able to create a balance in resource allocation. Quality of life is important in residential areas and this is mainly determined by the kinds of resources available to residents. For this reason, mayors should be able to manage the budget to allocate the required resources as fairly as possible.
A mayor is also responsible for the performance of the city. How well a city is doing compared to the rest of the country mainly depends on the duties and responsibilities allocated to the city employees by their boss and how efficient the leader is in ensuring that these tasks are done perfectly and on time. In that case, mayors should set the bar for the kind of performance they want in their cities to keep their subordinates working hard in the realization of the city’s goals.