The mayor is an important part of city government, but a city council is where the big decisions are made: what a new park will look like, where affordable housing gets built, whether or not your local gas station can add gaming machines. Your council determines city policy and oversees the administration of city departments, proposes an annual budget, and votes on legislation. The council’s responsibilities vary from place to place, but most city charters give the council significant power and oversight over the mayor and administration.

In New York, for example, the city council has set a course of social justice-focused legislation under its first female majority. It has released a mental health roadmap, passed a package of bills that aims to bring free doula services to neighborhoods with few options, and expanded reporting on maternal healthcare disparities. The council also convened a committee of the whole to take a sweeping look at the city’s response to the asylum-seeker crisis.

Council members are elected by districts and serve three-year terms. They are prohibited from holding other elective office or employment during their term in council and for one year after leaving office. But they can hold appointments to regional and intergovernmental agencies. If a councilmember is appointed to a governing board of another entity, the city charter prohibits the councilmember from taking a pay raise or compensation for working on behalf of the other entity. The charter also says that council members must recuse themselves from any matter in which they or a family member have a conflict of interest.