The City Council is a governing body in terms of legislation that ensures the implementation of law in a city and is one of the respected jobs in the United States. With the reputation, a city council member has a salary in the range of $16,950 to $91,960 because it highly depends on the city assigned and plays a much important role when it comes to the salary of the city council member. Therefore, it is one of the highest-paid government jobs for the city zone and is a good job profile.
City Council Member Job Description
The citizens of that particular zone elect city council members to improve the legislation and aid the working of the municipal government. City council members under some special cases may be promoted to a seat on the council. Powers like passing ordinances, policies on land use and approval of different building projects are some of the city council members’ decisions. They are expected to work for approximately 10 hours a month for $250.
RESPONSIBILITIES
There are certain sets of responsibilities that city council members should abide by and work upon under the jurisdictions of the government. They are:
- A city council member should without fail read the council agenda at the starting of every council agenda.
- Is expected to attend all the financial budget meetings and should make it a point to apply them in their particular city and zones.
- They are responsible for ordinances of municipality and budgets.
- A City Council member has the power to hire or fire any city employee.
- Is a mandatory act to attend closed session meetings and strict involvement in the decision-making and policies discussion when it comes to the matter of the city.
- Must attend public meetings twice per month to meet with the public business.
QUALIFICATIONS
The basic qualification to be a city council member is to be a citizen of the United States and be above 18. In addition, an applicant to the post of city council member post should be a resident of that particular city. Any act of the felony in terms of providing information or the failure to meet any of the above-mentioned criteria shall be barred on the spot for the application.
Process of Election of City Council Members
City council members are a group of city elected officials who acts as a representative legislative body for the city. To get elected, to meet the basic requirements is the priority when applying for the same. The minimum age, citizenship, and locality of that particular city are a must. Members of the council are elected by the votes of the citizens of the city. Generally, they are elected for a single particular city, but they are elected for two cities under certain circumstances. This assignment of a single member to a city and a specific voting system makes it easier to detect the people’s issues and increases transparency with the government. Also, the parts of the city that are more vulnerable to getting ignored get proper attention. Members are elected in two methods, from a district, and another process is to elect at large. Another rule imposed on the will of the legislature is that in some cities, a specific age limit is imposed on terms being served. After a certain number of terms, a particular candidate is not allowed to run in the elections of the city council members. The region’s population is a key factor that concerns the management of the voting or to be broader, in everything from legislation, enforcement of the laws to even discussions and views of the population—the less the population, the more the easiness to work. But here, let us not misunderstand the easiness of the work with the efficiency of the management and the law enforcement by the council members.
How City Council Members Legislate
City council members of all the cities follow a basic structure to enact legislation. However, they may have a different approach to do the same. It all starts with the city council members calling for a committee meeting where laws are discussed, and amendments are done before passing them. This meeting is followed by the meeting with the Mayor, where all the discussed laws are put up for further considerations as to whether enforce them or not. With the end of the deliberations of the Mayor, now comes the meetings with the constituents, after which the council decides the laws and bills that are going to be imposed and will get improved over the laws that will be scrapped. Finally, with the decision on a law being made by everyone, the Mayor gets the bills for the final sign, and if, in any case, any future objections are left, then it can override the final sign of the Mayor. The moment all the parties are satisfied, signs are being done and are sent to the clerk for publication, and the particular law comes into effect.
Salary of the City Council Member
On average, a city council member in the US makes around $37,200, in which the area or that particular city of that council member plays an important role which affects the salary with a great impact on it. The salary range starts at approximately $17000, being the lowest, and for some cities, it also rises to around $91600, which sets the average of around $37200 for the city council members. Furthermore, out of the salary paid to them, the city council members are expected to pay 12% percent of federal tax, making the average salary of a city council member around $32000. This contrast in the pay scale of cities and how just the city can affect a lot on the pay scale can be made simpler to understand because there is not much to do in some cities. In these cities, the workload on the city council members is way less than any other metropolitan city, and thus, meetings are few, so the laws discussed and imposed are done without any load. This makes the prime reason for the presence of such a change in city council members’ salaries.
With such a pay scale, the job of a city council member is one of the sought-after jobs for those who want to work with the government by being in the home city as this job requires a good way of expression and a good hold in public speaking, where the elected member has to conduct meetings and other works of interest, this job also gives a chance to improve the personality. Another factor that lies in the high applicants for this job is that it gives job security if no term limit is imposed. If one works properly and improves the legislation and enforcement of the laws in the city, job security is ensured by the government, and with all this comes reputation. After all, it is an honor to work for the people of our own country, and with this, it gives the opportunity even to serve the people of the place where one has spent so many years growing up and now sets it up to pay back in many ways. All the best!!
