The term mayor has three broad meanings, according to what the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) reports in its dictionary. This may be the role of the mayor, the region over which he has responsibilities and powers, or the building where he carries out his work.
For example: “In my city hall we managed to reduce the unemployment rate to 3%, one of the lowest in the province”, “We need to have a higher budget: our city hall is very extensive and has more and more inhabitants”, ” The award ceremony will take place tomorrow at 9 am in the mayor’s office ”.
As is evident, to understand what a city hall is, it is essential to know what the concept of mayor refers to. The mayor is the public official who holds the highest authority in a town hall or municipality. In the administrative structure of one of these political divisions, therefore, the mayor is in the upper sector.
City council and municipality, on the other hand, are synonyms of city hall in the sense of the jurisdiction governed by the mayor. It is a region that is part of a larger political entity, such as a province, a department or a state, which in turn make up the territory of a country. The mayor is in charge of the government of this local administration, which may be known as the mayor’s office.
Let’s see below some functions of the mayor’s office:
* produce guidelines that lead to the execution of the proposed government plan for the community;
* help strengthen the internal control systems that are responsible for regulating the operation of its units and processes;
* attend and guide citizens as appropriate to help them carry out any formality or process they need as efficiently as possible;
* guaranteeing inhabitants access to services that improve their quality of life and promoting their participation and integration in community activities;
* direct a strategy that provides the people with public spaces appropriate to their development and leisure needs;
* Create as many communication channels as possible so that neighbors can express their concerns and receive satisfactory responses. Likewise, keep them informed about the municipal administration, so that they, too, can participate in solving problems;
* provide residents with comprehensive care aimed at safeguarding their rights and constant development;
* promote research and development, opening training spaces that seek to improve project management and durability;
* money is always at the center of controversies over corruption by the government, and for this reason the mayor’s office, whose fundamental mission is to guarantee the well-being of the people, should be in charge of verifying that the different taxes are used in the best possible way, so that taxpayers are satisfied and have quality services.
In the Animal Crossing: New Leaf video game, developed by Monolith Soft and Nintendo Entertainment Analysis, the player must play the role of mayor in a small town, in which he also resides. Since this is a fun experience and not a simulator, the town hall of this title does not work exactly like the real world one, although it does focus on improving the quality of life of the inhabitants and the appearance of the town. Among the tasks that can be carried out are the adjustment of the opening hours of the stores, the construction of bridges, mills and reservoirs, in addition to constant monitoring of the satisfaction of the neighbors, something decisive for those who wish to access status of “perfect people”.
It is important not to confuse the mayor with alcaidía, which refers to the role, jurisdiction or the building of a warden (the highest authority of prison).
