Each one of us is part of a community. Our family is the smallest but most important community to which we belong. Neighborhoods are made up of families living in the same area, so the next largest community to which we belong is our neighborhood.
Those who attend schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System are also members of the school community. The smallest division in the school community is a classroom. Just as neighborhoods are made up of families, schools are made up of individual classrooms. All the schools - elementary, middle, and high schools - make up the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System, just as all the neighborhoods within certain boundaries make up the city of Charlotte.
On the previous page, there is a map that shows the boundaries of the city of Charlotte and the boundaries of Mecklenburg County. The map also shows where the towns in Mecklenburg County are located. Some of you live within the city limits of Charlotte, so you are residents of the city and the county. Some of you who live outside the boundaries of Charlotte live in a town, such as Davidson or Pineville. A town is a special geographic subdivision just as a city is, but towns are smaller than cities. Some of you may live near a town or city rather than in one, so although you are residents of Mecklenburg County, you are not residents of a city or a town.
Towns and cities are sometimes referred to as "incorporated areas," which means they are separate units or bodies within the county. The area outside a city or town is, therefore, sometimes called the "unincorporated " part of a county.
Towns, cities, and counties all have elected officials whose main job is to see that services are provided to the citizens who live within certain boundaries. Registered voters choose the officials for their town, city, or county. Residents of Huntersville elect their town officials, but they cannot elect officials for Pineville or Charlotte, but all registered voters in Mecklenburg County can vote for officials who are responsible for the whole county.
Elected officials have different titles and different specific responsibilities. The officials of the city of Charlotte are the mayor and the City Council. The officials of towns are mayors and town commissioners, and the officials for the whole county are the Board of County Commissioners.
A mayor's specific job is to be in charge of the meetings of the city council or the town commissioners. Mayors also represent their towns or city at important events. Together, the mayor and the council or commission members decide what rules or laws will be followed by their citizens, and they also appoint members of committees and approve budgets for services, such as parks, traffic lights, and garbage collection. If the mayor is away or ill, a person takes his or her place at meetings or events. This person is called "mayor pro tem." "Pro tem" is short for the Latin phrase "pro tempore," which means "for the time being," or temporary. In Charlotte, the mayor pro tem is usually the member of the City Council who got the most votes in the election.
A city may have other elected officials in addition to the mayor and city council, but usually towns do not because their small size means fewer people can handle all the necessary work.
