The City Council is called the body responsible for the functions of government and administration of a municipality. It is the usual designation of the local administrative entity in countries such as Spain or Mexico. In this sense, it must be written with an initial capital letter.
As such, the City Council is composed of the figure of a mayor or municipal president, who is responsible for executive functions, and a group of councilors, who make up the municipal plenary, and who manage the legislative affairs of the municipality.
The City Council, in this sense, is the administrative body with the lowest territorial rank, and, as such, the closest to the citizens: the one in charge of solving their immediate problems and ensuring their interests in the locality where they live.
Depending on the country, the City Council may receive different denominations, such as mayor’s office, local corporation, local government or municipal government. However, in Latin American countries it is more common to call the City Council as mayor, municipality or, simply, municipality.
City Hall, by extension, is the name by which the building where the administrative headquarters of the institution is located, and where the councilors come to hold their meetings. As such, depending on the country or region, it receives different denominations: municipal palace, municipality, commune, city hall or town hall.
A town hall, on the other hand, can also be the board where a group of people gather to discuss a topic or issue: “Imagine my face when I enter my house and I realize that a town hall was held in the hall”.
Likewise, as a city council we can refer to the carnal relationship between two people: “They were married six months ago, but the town hall still did not take place”.
The word city council derives from the disused verb to help, which means ‘to join’, ‘to unite’. Hence, the city council also designates the action or effect of helping or helping.
