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How does a council-manager form of city government work?

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Dense crowd of people walking through the brightly lit Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, surrounded by colorful store signs and billboards in Japanese and English. — city Crowds of people in Tokyo's Shibuya shopping district.

The council-manager system is a form of local government designed to separate policy-making from administrative execution. In this structure, voters elect a city council, which serves as the legislative and policy-determining body. The council then appoints a professional city manager to oversee the daily administration of municipal affairs.123

Key features of this system include:

Administrative Authority: The city manager is responsible for preparing the budget, appointing and dismissing personnel, and directing municipal departments.1
Council Role: The council acts collectively to set policy. Individual members, including the mayor, typically have no administrative functions and serve primarily as the head of the council.13
Efficiency: Proponents argue the system reduces the number of elected officials, centralizes administrative responsibility, and minimizes patronage jobs.1

This model differs from the traditional mayor-council system, where an elected mayor acts as the chief executive with powers such as vetoing ordinances and appointing department heads. While the council-manager plan aims for bureaucratic efficiency, critics sometimes argue it may place excessive power in one person or lead to an administration that is less responsive to local needs.41