The government of the City of Chicago, Illinois, United States is divided into executive and legislative branches. The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits. The mayor appoints commissioners and other officials who oversee the various departments. In addition to the mayor, Chicago's two other citywide elected officials are the City Clerk and the City Treasurer.
The City Council is the legislative branch and is made up of 50 alderpersons, one elected from each ward in the city. [1] The council takes official action through the passage of ordinances and resolutions and approves the city budget. [2] Government priorities and activities are established in a budget ordinance usually adopted each November.
Generally speaking, the mayor and city departments comprise the executive branch of the city government, and the city council comprises the legislative branch. [3] However, the mayor does have some formal legislative functions such as being the presiding officer of the council and being able to break tie votes, and informally has dominated legislative activity since the late 19th century. [4] [5] On the other hand, the council has oversight authority over city departments. [6] The city treasurer and city clerk are the only other directly elected positions in the city government, and are independent from the mayor's office and the council. [5]
The below city departments and agencies operate as part of the executive branch, under the Office of the Mayor: [7]
Other city-level government bodies include:
Chicago is a special charter municipality. [9] The Journal of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago is the official publication of the acts of the City Council. [10] The Municipal Code of Chicago is the codification of Chicago's local ordinances of a general and permanent nature. [10] [11]
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Chicago is also part of Cook County. The Government of Cook County is primarily composed of the Board of Commissioners, other elected officials such as the Sheriff, State's Attorney, Treasurer, Board of Review, Clerk, Assessor, Recorder, Circuit Court judges and Circuit Court Clerk, as well as numerous other officers and entities. Illinois State police also operate in Chicago.
Other agencies that operate in the city of Chicago include the Chicago Transit Authority and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, both of which were created by the state government of Illinois.
The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Chicago. The main Chicago Post Office is located at 433 West Harrison Street in the Near West Side community area. [12] [13] The post office is the only 24-hour post office in the United States. [14]
As of 2012 [update] most cabinet officers and constitutional officers of the Government of Illinois conduct a majority of their business in Chicago, with offices at the James R. Thompson Center. In 2012, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Pat Gauen argued that "in the reality of Illinois politics, [Springfield] shares de facto capital status with Chicago." [15] According to Gauen, "Everybody who's anybody in Illinois government has an office in Chicago." [15] University of Illinois researcher and former member of the Illinois legislature Jim Nowlan stated "It's almost like Chicago is becoming the shadow capital of Illinois" and that "Springfield is almost become a hinterland outpost." [16] A former director of the Southern Illinois University Paul Simon Institute for Public Affairs, Mike Lawrence, criticized state officials for spending so little time in Springfield since it estranged them from and devalued Illinois state employees in that city. [16]
Springfield is the capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the largest in central Illinois. Approximately 208,000 residents live in the Springfield metropolitan area.
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council member elected by voters.
The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and recommendations to the Chicago City Council, is active in the enforcement of the city's ordinances, submits the city's annual budget and appoints city officers, department commissioners or directors, and members of city boards and commissions.
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Honolulu City Council is the legislature of the City and County of Honolulu, the capital and largest city in Hawai'i, the fiftieth state in the United States. The City and County of Honolulu is a municipal corporation that manages government aspects traditionally exercised by both municipalities and counties in other states. Each of the nine members of its city council is elected to a four-year term and can serve no more than two consecutive terms. Council members are elected by voters in nine administrative districts that, since 1991, are reapportioned every ten years. Like the Honolulu mayor, members of the city council are elected via nonpartisan elections.
The City Hall-County Building, commonly known as City Hall, is a 12-story building in Chicago, Illinois that houses the seats of government of the City of Chicago and Cook County. The building's west side holds the offices of the mayor, city clerk, and city treasurer; some city departments; offices of alderpersons of Chicago's 50 wards; and the Chicago City Council's chambers. The building's east side houses offices of the Government of Cook County, including the Cook County Board of Commissioners' chambers.
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is called into session regularly, usually monthly, to consider ordinances, orders, and resolutions whose subject matter includes code changes, utilities, taxes, and many other issues. The Chicago City Council Chambers are located in Chicago City Hall, as are the downtown offices of the individual alderpersons and staff.
The Government of Illinois, under Illinois' Constitution, has three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The State's executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the Governor as chief executive and head of state, and has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions. Legislative functions are granted to the General Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of the 118-member House of Representatives and the 59-member Senate. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Illinois and lower courts.
The municipal government of Toronto is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the City of Toronto Act.
Miguel del Valle is an American politician and the former City Clerk of Chicago. He was an Illinois State Senator for two decades, representing the 2nd District of Chicago from 1987–2006. Del Valle lost his bid for mayor in Chicago's February 22, 2011 municipal elections, coming in third with 53,953 votes. He served as the president of the Chicago Board of Education from June 2019 through June 2023, having been appointed to that position by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Susana A. Mendoza is an American politician. She is the 10th comptroller of Illinois, serving since December 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, she formerly served as Chicago city clerk and as an Illinois State Representative, representing the 1st District of Illinois.
The government of Miami-Dade County is defined and authorized under the Constitution of Florida, Florida law, and the Home Rule Charter of Miami-Dade County.
The government of the City and County of San Francisco utilizes the "strong mayor" form of mayoral/council government, composed of the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, several elected officers, and numerous other entities. It is the only consolidated city-county in California, and one of only thirteen charter counties of California. The fiscal year 2019–20 city and county budget was approximately $12.3 billion.
Robert William Fioretti is an American attorney and politician who served as an alderman in the Chicago City Council for the 2nd Ward, which included portions of Bronzeville, East Garfield Park, Illinois Medical District, Little Italy, Loop, Near West Side, Prairie District, South Loop, University Village, Westhaven, and West Loop. Bob first ran for office because of inequities and disinvestments he saw throughout the City of Chicago and communities of the 2nd Ward. He first won election as alderman in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011. He also served as 2nd Ward Democratic Committeeman for two terms, which is a position in the Cook County Democratic Party.
The Government of Indianapolis—officially the Consolidated City of Indianapolis and Marion County—is a strong-mayor form of mayor-council government system. Local government is headquartered downtown at the City-County Building.
The government of Indiana is established and regulated by the Constitution of Indiana. The state-level government consists of three branches: the judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch. The three branches share power and jointly govern the state of Indiana. County and local governments are also constitutional bodies with limited authority to levy taxes, pass legislation, and create and maintain local public infrastructure.
The government of North Carolina is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. These consist of the Council of State, the bicameral legislature, and the state court system. The Constitution of North Carolina delineates the structure and function of the state government.
Roderick Terrance Sawyer is an American politician and the former alderman of the 6th ward located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Sawyer is also the former the Chairman of the Health and Human Relations Committee, a member of the Progressive Reform Caucus, and the former Chairman of the African American Caucus.
The 2023 Chicago elections took place in two rounds on February 28, 2023, and April 4, 2023. Elections were held for Mayor of Chicago, City Clerk of Chicago, City Treasurer of Chicago, all 50 members of the Chicago City Council, and 66 members of the newly-created police District Councils. The elections were administered by the Chicago Board of Elections.
The 2023 Chicago aldermanic election took place in two rounds on February 28 and April 4, 2023, to elect 50 alderpersons to the Chicago City Council. Each alderperson represents one of Chicago's 50 wards. The elections are non-partisan and use a two-round system where the top two finishers compete in a second-round runoff if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round. The elections are part of the 2023 Chicago elections, which include elections for Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer.
City of Chicago Organizational Chart