If you want to get involved in politics and have an impact on how your city runs, you need to pay attention to your local council. City councils make decisions on all sorts of things that affect us – from passing zoning laws (like if developers can build tall apartment buildings in your neighborhood) to creating boards and commissions to solve problems that nobody else knows how to address. They also decide what to spend tax dollars on, and can create and change rules that determine how city services are delivered – like trash collection or the cost of an ambulance ride.
The council acts as a check on the mayor in places with a mayor-council government model, and can approve or veto any city budget. It’s also the body that votes on laws passed by other city agencies, and can appoint people to fill public roles. Council members — who may be called aldermen, selectmen, freeholders or commissioners — are limited to two four-year terms in office.
In New York, city council members serve on a variety of committees that do deep dives into city practices and programs across the spectrum of issues. They can also issue subpoenas to force the administration to hand over information. Councilmembers sometimes organize into caucuses, groups of colleagues who share a common interest, to ensure that the needs of their districts are well represented. Observers say that under Speaker Adrienne Adams, the council has become more willing to criticize the mayor’s policies publicly — from overriding a mayoral veto of a package of bills expanding eligibility for housing rental vouchers to reviving a commission to close Rikers Island.