kunnanhallitus

Noun

 * 1) municipal board, municipal executive committee

Usage notes

 * The Finnish term is used for both towns and cities, which constitute the main elements of local government in Finland. Municipalities that consider themselves sufficiently urban can call themselves, but this does not change their legal situation in any way. Every four years, the inhabitants of a municipality elect a  as the legislative branch of the municipal government, which then appoints a  to manage the current affairs of the municipality, i.e. acts as the town government's executive branch. The council also appoints a number of municipal committees called . The committees have limited decision-making powers in their area of responsibility. The memberships in these bodies are trustee positions. The corresponding bodies in cities are  and.
 * The members of municipal and city councils are called and  respectively. The council members are usually grouped into, which are normally formed along the national political party lines. If there are any councilmen who are independent of political parties, they tend to form an "independent" . The members of other municipal bodies are called simply  of that body.
 * The council appoints a mayor to run the day-to-day business of the municipality, serving as its "general manager". The mayor may have the status of public official, in which case the office is called or  or it may be considered a political position, in which case it is called . One of the most visible manifestations of this difference is that a  chairs the meetings of the city board whereas a  and a  do not.