How the Vacaville City Council decides, and who answers for it

Vacaville is a general law city with a seven-member council: a mayor elected citywide and six members elected by district. The council sets policy, adopts the budget and votes on ordinances, contracts and land use.

It doesn’t run the city day to day. The council appoints a city manager to carry out its decisions and a city attorney to advise it, and resident commissions hear many items before the council does. The city clerk and city treasurer are elected separately to four-year terms.

That structure is why this section keeps asking the same question: who has authority over this? A single council member can raise an issue and ask for a staff report, but decisions take a majority vote in a noticed public meeting. Council members also work under California’s conflict rules, filing a Form 700 each year and recusing when an item touches their own finances.

Coming up: how to get started following the council, and what first-time watchers usually miss.