Editing Mayor (section)

===Poland===
{{see also|List of cities and towns in Poland#Cities}}
As of 30 April 2022, there are altogether 2477 municipalities ([[gmina]]) in Poland, including 1513 rural gminas, while the remaining 968 ones contain cities and towns. Among them, 666 towns are part of an urban-rural gmina while 302 cities and towns are standalone as an urban gmina. The latter group includes 107 cities (governed by a ''prezydent miasta''), including 66 [[city with powiat rights|cities with powiat rights]]. 37 cities among the latter group are over 100,000, including 18 cities serving as a seat for [[voivode]] or [[voivodeship sejmik]], informally called voivodeship cities.

All municipalities in Poland including cities and towns are governed under the mandatory [[mayor–council government]] system. Executive power is vested in an official called one of the following:
* a city mayor (''prezydent miasta'')
* a town mayor (''burmistrz'') 
* a ''[[wójt]]'' which is the equivalent office in a rural municipality (''[[gmina|gmina wiejska]]'')

They are elected by a [[two-round system|two-round]] [[direct election]] for a five-year term concurrently with the five-year term of the [[municipal council]] and cannot serve in the latter or in any higher-level deliberative bodies: a [[county council]], a [[voivodeship sejmik]], the [[Parliament of Poland]] or the [[European Parliament]]. Citizens with a criminal record cannot run for mayor, but only if sentenced for intentional criminal offence prosecuted [[ex officio]]. The [[municipal council|municipal/town/city council]] is the legislative, budget-making and oversight body. Mayor is obliged to appoint his deputy. A town or city mayor may be scrutinized or denied funding for his/her projects by the council, but is not politically responsible to it and does not require its confidence to remain in office; therefore, [[Cohabitation (government)|cohabitation]] is not uncommon. A [[Recall election|recall referendum]] may however be triggered through a petition supported by at least 1/10 of eligible voters, but the turnout in the recall referendum must be at least 3/5 of the number of people voting in the original election in order for the referendum to be valid and binding. A town/city mayor can also be dismissed by the [[prime minister]] in case of persistent transgression of the law.

Town/city mayors manage the municipal estate, issue administrative decisions and minor regulations, and incur [[liability (financial accounting)|liabilities]] within limits set by the municipal council. They prepare and present the planned budget to the municipal council, subject to its acceptation and amendments. After the municipal council votes to accept the budget, the town/city mayor is responsible for its realization. Town/city mayors are heads of the [[town hall|town/city hall (office)]], the [[register office]] (the town/city mayor may appoint deputies for these specific tasks), as well as the parent authority for all public [[kindergarten]]s and [[elementary school]]s in the municipality. They are also personally responsible for the [[emergency management]] and [[civil defense]] in a municipality. A municipality itself is responsible among others for [[public transport]], [[water supply]] and [[water treatment|treatment]], and [[waste management]]. A town/city mayor has the legal capacity to act as employer for all the officials of a town/city hall. Town/city mayors in Poland have wide administrative and staffing authority: the only municipal executive official that the town/city mayor cannot appoint or dismiss is a [[city treasurer]], who is appointed by the town/city council. Although they do not have in Poland power to veto city council resolutions, their position is relatively strong and should be classified as a [[mayor-council government]].In a [[city with powiat rights]], the city mayor also has the powers and duties of a powiat executive board and a [[starosta]].

In addition, an office of quarter mayor (''burmistrz dzielnicy'') exists in the [[Quarters and neighbourhoods of Warsaw|auxiliary units of the city of Warsaw, called quarters]]. In spite of remaining an integral part of the city as an entity, the quarters have a degree of autonomy legally guaranteed through a form of an own local self-government exercising some powers devolved by law from the city. Each of the 18 city quarters has an own council (''rada dzielnicy'') which elects an executive board (''zarząd dzielnicy'') headed by a quarter mayor (''burmistrz dzielnicy''), the latter elected by the council among several candidates nominated by the city mayor of Warsaw among the council's members, as opposed to a town or a city mayor, both elected under direct suffrage.