11.3: California Cities

Urban Growth

The state of California creates counties. Cities, on the other hand, are created by residents of counties. They incorporate as a city (formally called a municipality) by petitioning the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) in their county. The LAFCo is responsible for approving the formation of cities and addressing many other jurisdictional issues within each county. Residents often want to form a city to have more control over local services and government decisions and thus gain some independence from county control. As with counties, a city may be incorporated as a general law city (most California cities) or create its own charter, which gives it relatively more authority over municipal affairs. For example, in 1987, the residents of the unincorporated towns of Valencia, Saugus, Newhall, and Canyon Country successfully petitioned Los Angeles County LAFCo to create the city of Santa Clarita as a general law municipality. It approved the petition; the issue was put to the local voters, and Santa Clarita was incorporated ("City Profile").

Cities are governed by city councils, a five-member body combining legislative and executive functions. Most cities have adopted a council-manager system in which the ceremonial job of the mayor rotates among the five members. A city manager, who is the city's chief administrator and is answerable to the council, is hired by the City Council. The manager administers departments that provide a variety of services to residents. City services may also be provided through contracts with county agencies (such as law enforcement) or private firms (such as garbage collection). A city council position is typically a part-time job providing a small financial stipend. Some cities have a mayor-council system under which the mayor is separately elected, has more administrative authority, and may veto proposed ordinances. In the mayor-council system, alternatively called a strong mayor system, city councils may override mayoral vetoes with a two-thirds majority.

Elections for city council members and mayors occur every four years and are nonpartisan. Most city council and mayoral races do not use primaries. Candidates with the most votes win, with no majority needed.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The Council-Manager Form of City Government (CC BY 4.0; Steven Reti)

San Francisco is an interesting exception to the general form of cities and counties. It is a consolidated city and county, with a mayor and a ten-member board of supervisors. The mayor functions as the chief executive and can veto legislation like in other cities with strong mayor systems.

Cities provide many services for their residents. Drawing on local property and sales taxes, user fees, and money from the county, state, and federal governments, they provide utilities such as water and electricity, transportation, and parks and engage in community development. City councils often create many boards and commissions to recommend new legislation. At regular city council meetings, the members pass ordinances or new laws for the city. Residents have a right to speak to the council for short periods of time ("City Fact Sheet"). City Council meetings must abide by the Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires "open meetings," meaning that they are announced in advance and open to the public, with some exceptions regarding confidential matters ("The Brown Act").