The City Council consists of five members elected at large for four-year, overlapping terms. The mayor is selected by the council from among its members for a one-year term. The mayor and City Council provide community leadership, develop policies to guide the city in delivering services and achieving community goals, and encourage citizen understanding and involvement. The council members also serve as the governing body of the El Cerrito Redevelopment Agency. The city manager is appointed by the City Council and is responsible for administration of municipal affairs.
All municipal departments operate under the supervision of the city manager.
Through the city manager, the policies of the council are carried out by city staff, using the resources appropriated by the council in the budget to achieve desired service results in the community. The City Council also appoints the city attorney to advise them and the city staff on legal affairs, to see that all laws are effectively enforced and, when necessary, to defend the city in litigation. In addition to the help the council receives from these direct appointees and city staff, the Council is advised and assisted by ongoing boards, commissions and committees. More than 80 citizens are appointed by the City Council to these advisory bodies and make a tremendously valuable contribution to the effective provision of responsive services to the community. In recent years the City Council also has created a number of project-specific citizen task forces to study particular issues of importance to the community and to make policy recommendations to the Council.