After the results of a general municipal election are announced and new officials are sworn in, the city council must meet and select one member to be the mayor and another to serve as mayor pro tempore, which means a temporary or substitute mayor when needed.

This law states that the mayor leads the city council meetings. If the mayor can't be present or do the job, the mayor pro tempore takes over and has the same powers and responsibilities as the mayor until the mayor can return.

If the city clerk is not available, the deputy city clerk will take their place. If there isn't a deputy, the mayor will choose a city council member to temporarily serve as the city clerk.

The city council is required to have regular meetings at least once a month, scheduled by an official decision. They have the option to postpone a meeting to another date, and the rescheduled meeting is treated as a regular meeting.

This law states that during a special meeting, the city council can only discuss or make decisions on issues that were specifically mentioned in the meeting's notice or consent.

If a regular meeting is postponed but no new time is given for the rescheduled meeting, the meeting will start at the usual time for regular meetings.

This law says that more than half of the council members need to be present to make official decisions. If they don't have enough members for a meeting, they can postpone, and they have ways to make absent members attend, as set by their rules.

If no city council members show up for a regular meeting, the city clerk must officially postpone the meeting to a new date and time. The city clerk is responsible for personally notifying each council member about the new meeting at least three hours ahead of time.

Once a city is officially formed, the city council has the authority to decide if its members meet the necessary qualifications. They also handle any disputes about city election results and determine contested elections for city officers.

If someone files a written challenge against a city officer's election before the city council starts any related proceedings, the council's authority to begin these proceedings is paused temporarily. This pause lasts for a certain period mentioned in the Elections Code related to contesting elections.

When this period ends, the city council can proceed if no legal actions challenging the election have started or if those legal actions have ended without a court decision.

This law allows a city to provide legal defense for a person who has been elected to the city council, city clerk, or city treasurer positions if they face an election contest. This defense is specifically for cases that relate to certain reasons outlined under subdivisions (a), (d), or (e) of Section 16100 of the Elections Code.

This law allows the council to make its own rules for how meetings are run. It also gives the council the power to discipline anyone, including its members, who act inappropriately during a meeting.

This law requires the city council to ensure that the clerk accurately records what happens during council meetings. If a council member asks, the city clerk must also note who voted yes or no in the meeting record.

This law states that when terms like "councilman" or "councilmen" are used, they also refer to "councilwoman" or "councilwomen." Female city council members can call themselves "councilwoman." Any city council member can choose to be called "councilmember."