How City Councils Work

Aldermen, or councilors, generally act as the legislative branch of the city government, as well as its policy-making body. The council also looks to the city's goals, major projects and infrastructure improvements ranging from community growth to land use to finances and strategic planning.

The city charter is the driving document behind what the aldermen can and can't do. This document outlines the scope of what the government does as a whole, including its rules and responsibilities to the citizens, and what powers and checks guide and define the council. These duties and responsibilities can be summed up as "Do the very best to represent your constituents only after you've seen to the needs of the city as a whole."

Manchester deputy city clerk Kathie Gardner says seeing the city as a whole is never far from an alderman's mind. "Even if they focus only on their ward they understand what happens to the city happens to them. This is local government and local politics and there isn't a lot of space to forget that," she said.

Consider, for instance, if one part of the city suffers a flood and another part stays high and dry. When money comes in from state and local authorities, the aldermen have a say in where it goes. The alderman of the ward with the most flooding will push for as much relief as possible. The other aldermen may see his plight and agree or try to get some of the money themselves. If aldermen grab a slide of the pie without considering long-term needs, the city could wind up facing a loss of tax revenue, increased crime and other problems in the flooded area. These problems could then spill into other wards. So, to run a city successfully, a council has to weigh the needs of a ward with the needs of the whole community.

Yet, those issues are often sticky, especially around budget season, when needs and wants often collide. But the councilors have a failsafe when it comes to numbers -- the mayor. A city mayor generally acts as the head of the council and enforces its decrees. He or she also acts as the budget officer and the city's chief executive officer. He has the power to pass or veto any legislation the councilors put through, though those mayoral powers often come with strings attached. With all of this in mind, politics within any government can be dicey, even when the councilors have the best interests at heart.

Given that, what does it take to run for a council seat? Read on to find out.

Running for a council seat is relatively simple, but in the way chess is simple -- there are a few straightforward rules but an endless variety of strategies, challenges, and twists and turns.

The basic part is to meet the city charter's guidelines for eligible candidates. In Manchester, N.H., for example, the rules are simple:

The complex part is building on those rules to campaign for the office. In 2008, Manchester's Jim Roy, a retired firefighter and lifelong resident, decided to stop watching city meetings on television and run for the open Ward 4 seat. In June, he filed his intent to run and started gearing up for the run to the primary, slated for September. There were three people running for the same seat, and two had already served as the ward's representative in past years.

"The biggest thing for me was to get out there, go door-to-door, and get some name recognition," he says.

His strategy is similar to that for representatives in local governments: Knock on doors, introduce yourself, and say why you're running. While it is said all politics are local politics, larger cities mean bigger campaigns. And bigger campaigns mean more money. Larger city campaigns, like in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollar and require managers and strategists. For Roy, the whole campaign cost about $2,000.

He says he didn't run for the money, but to help his constituents and bring some transparency to city hall focusing on what he said were either inefficient or ineffectual city departments or programs. This same motivation leads average people to brave politics and run for local government as well.

If you want to try your hand at local government the best way is check your city or town's charter, file for office, and start pounding the pavement. Local politics can be brutal, so be prepared, but they can be rewarding as well by giving a deeper insight into government.