Member-only story
A number of people have suggested that I run for mayor in the upcoming election. Just kidding. Actually, no one has suggested that, which hurts my feelings a little bit. I’m still kidding, because honestly — I’ve been looking into what a mayor does… and I’m not really sure I can say what that is succinctly.
There are actually two types of mayors: a “weak” and a “strong.” The delineations between the two are somewhat vague, but the National League of Cities explains that “Most ‘strong’ mayors are in the mayor-council form of government, and are directly elected by citizens to that office. Most ‘weak’ mayors are mayors in a council-manager form, and are elected from within the city council.” So, in our region, we mostly have “strong” mayors.
I spoke to a few mayors in our area, and the answers as to what they do were varied. On two occasions, RCWs for the State of Washington were mentioned, so I checked those out. According to RCW 35A.12.100, “The mayor shall be the chief executive and administrative officer of the city, in charge of all departments and employees, with authority to designate assistants and department heads. … He or she shall see that all laws and ordinances are faithfully enforced and that law and order is maintained in the city, and shall have general supervision of the administration of city government and all city interests.” In addition, the mayor is responsible for signing contracts for the city, and for making sure those contracts are being adhered to. The code also…
