Since the 1920s the city has had a council-manager government in which a city manager runs most of the day-to-day operations of the city. Unlike most cities of its size, by charter Kansas City has a "weak-mayor" system, in which most of the power is formally vested in the city council. However, the mayor is very influential in drafting and guiding public policy. The mayor presides over all city council meetings and has a vote on the council. Due to these combined factors the mayor, in fact, holds a significant amount of de facto power in the city government.
Since 1946, mayors of Kansas City have been elected by the voters of Kansas City to four-year terms and are limited to two terms under the city's charter. Mayors initially served one-year terms until 1890 when they began serving two-year terms. According to the City Charter, city elections are non-partisan, meaning that the mayor and city council run without nominal political affiliation. The mayor of Kansas City occupies an office on the 29th floor of the Kansas City City Hall, the building's highest floor. Eleven of Kansas City's mayors are interred in Elmwood Cemetery. The current mayor of Kansas City is Quinton Lucas, who was elected in 2019.
A.^ 45 people have served as mayor, three twice; the table includes these non-consecutive terms as well.
B.^ The fractional terms of some mayors are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple mayors served, due to resignations, deaths and the like.
C.^ Johnson resigned after only 35 days in office.
D.^ Per the new city charter, Holmes was the first mayor to serve a two-year term.
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