Political Structure Of Atlanta
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city government A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
of
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia, United States, is composed of a
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
and a body of one councilman from each of 12 districts, a
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
President, and 3 other at-large councilmen: *Post 1 representing districts 1–4 *Post 2 representing districts 5–8 *Post 3 representing districts 9–12 The entire slate is elected for four-year terms in off-year elections (2001, 2005, 2009, etc.).


History

In 1954, Atlanta’s ward system was changed from a bicameral body of councilmen representing Wards and three citywide (at-large) aldermen to a system of six citywide aldermen with a Vice-Mayor who served as the president of the Board of Aldermen. This eliminated the strength of the wards. In 1973 a new charter was passed which shifted the city to a district system and took effect at the start of 1974. The chief architect of that charter was
Grace Towns Hamilton Grace Towns Hamilton (February 10, 1907 – June 17, 1992) was an American politician who was the first African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly. As executive director of the Atlanta Urban League from 1943 to 1960, Hamilto ...
with the purpose to more equitably represent the changing racial composure of the city and coincided with the city's first Black mayor,
Maynard Jackson Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 52nd mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 1974 to 1982, and again as the city's 54th mayor from 1990 to 1994. A member of the ...
, taking office. In this reformulation, the Vice-Mayor (and Board of Aldermen president) was changed to the President of the City Council (elected citywide) and 12 districts were drawn represented by one Council member each; in addition there were 6 at-large posts giving a 19-member body. In 1996, the current makeup was enacted which reduced the number of Council members to 16 by reducing the number of at-large posts from six to three.


See also

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Capital Terminus Collective The Capital Terminus Collective (CTC) was an anarchist group based in Atlanta, Georgia with sympathetic or contributing members throughout that state. It was affiliated with NEFAC and shared some members with the Atlanta group of the Industrial ...
*
Government of Georgia (U.S. state) The state government of Georgia is the State governments of the United States, U.S. state governmental body established by the Constitution of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia State Constitution. It is a republican form of government with Branches o ...
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Invest Atlanta Invest Atlanta is the City of Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the co ...
(formerly Atlanta Development Authority) *
Atlanta Housing Authority The Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) is an agency that provides affordable housing for low-income families in Atlanta. Today, the AHA is the largest housing agency in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and one of the largest in the United States, servi ...


References

*Stone, Clarence N., ''Regime Politics Governing Atlanta: 1946–1988'', 1989, University Press of Kansas
Lamar Willis's history


External links

* {{Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...