City of Missoula
Missoula's system of government has changed four times since 1883 when an aldermanic form of government was approved with the town charter. The city adopted a commission-council form of government in 1911 with the opening of new City Hall and a council–manager government in 1954 before returning to an aldermanic form of government in 1959. Since January 1, 1997, Missoula has been governed in accordance with the Missoula City Charter, which calls for a mayor-council system of government.
The current system comprises a mayor and city treasurer elected in a citywide vote and twelve city council members who must reside in and are elected from one of six wards with each ward having two council members. All positions are nominally nonpartisan. Council members and the mayor are elected to four-year terms with council-member elections being staggered to allow only one member from each ward to up for re-election. There are no term limits for either position.
Missoula's state legislative delegation is the second largest in the Montana Legislature and is represented by districts 91–100 in the Montana House of Representatives and districts 46–50 in the Montana Senate. Having thirteen Democrats and two Republicans in its state legislative delegation, Missoula is known as a more liberal area than the rest of the state.
Though Missoula's political leanings may not be unique for a college town, its initiative to make marijuana possession the lowest priority of law enforcement in 2006, and symbolic resolutions calling on Congress to withdraw from Iraq in 2007, and to amend the U.S. Constitution to declare that "corporations are not human beings" in 2011, often put it at odds with the rest of the state. In 2011, the Montana legislature, with a Republican House majority, attempted to overturn Missoula's marijuana law and revoke its ability to have an anti-discrimination ordinance that included the LGBT community. The marijuana repeal was vetoed by then–Governor Brian Schweitzer nd the attempt to repeal the other died in the Senate.
Missoula's system of government has changed four times since 1883 when an aldermanic form of government was approved with the town charter. The city adopted a commission-council form of government in 1911 with the opening of new City Hall and a council–manager government in 1954 before returning to an aldermanic form of government in 1959. Since January 1, 1997, Missoula has been governed in accordance with the Missoula City Charter, which calls for a mayor-council system of government.
The current system comprises a mayor and city treasurer elected in a citywide vote and twelve city council members who must reside in and are elected from one of six wards with each ward having two council members. All positions are nominally nonpartisan. Council members and the mayor are elected to four-year terms with council-member elections being staggered to allow only one member from each ward to up for re-election. There are no term limits for either position.
Missoula's state legislative delegation is the second largest in the Montana Legislature and is represented by districts 91–100 in the Montana House of Representatives and districts 46–50 in the Montana Senate. Having thirteen Democrats and two Republicans in its state legislative delegation, Missoula is known as a more liberal area than the rest of the state.
Though Missoula's political leanings may not be unique for a college town, its initiative to make marijuana possession the lowest priority of law enforcement in 2006, and symbolic resolutions calling on Congress to withdraw from Iraq in 2007, and to amend the U.S. Constitution to declare that "corporations are not human beings" in 2011, often put it at odds with the rest of the state. In 2011, the Montana legislature, with a Republican House majority, attempted to overturn Missoula's marijuana law and revoke its ability to have an anti-discrimination ordinance that included the LGBT community. The marijuana repeal was vetoed by then–Governor Brian Schweitzer nd the attempt to repeal the other died in the Senate.