Encyklopedia Administracji Publicznej MW Pivot Skin

PRESIDENT OF THE CITY – a name of the executive body in the largest Polish cities. It applies to cities that meet one of the following three conditions: the city has more than 100,000 inhabitants (e.g., Warsaw, Łódź, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, Kielce, Toruń, Płock, Rzeszów); the city was the capital of the voivodship until 1998 (e.g., Siedlce, Ciechanów, Ostrołęka, Suwałki, Leszno, and Konin); the president was at the head of the city at the time of recreation of local government in May 1990 (e.g., Otwock, Pruszków, Legionowo, Pabianice, Zgierz, Sopot, Kołobrzeg, and Świnoujście). In a city with county rights p.o.c.: acts as a starost; chairs the security and order committee. Moreover, in these cities a joint administration is subject to his/her supervision, which comprises: a town hall; county labour office which is the organisational unit of the city; organisational units constituting an auxiliary apparatus for the heads of municipal services, inspections and guards. In years 1990-2002 p.o.c. came from indirect elections, he/she was elected by city councillors (→ executive body of local government; city with county rights) [ J. Wojnicki ].