BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Beverly Hills runs on a council-manager system. Residents elect five councilmembers, and those five hire a professional administrator to oversee daily operations.
The arrangement shapes nearly every local decision, from Rodeo Drive traffic to the water bill.
It also explains why the mayor cannot simply order a department to do something.
Five seats, one gavel, and a fast rotation
Voters elect the City Council at large. Members serve four-year terms, and the seats are staggered so the whole body never turns over at once.
Until 2017, Beverly Hills held its council elections in odd-numbered years. That year the council changed the cycle to match statewide elections, and the first such race landed in March 2020.
Each April, the five members meet and choose one of their own as mayor and another as vice mayor. Both posts last one year, then rotate.
There is no separate mayoral election and no mayoral veto. The mayor runs meetings and represents the city, but holds one vote of five.
| Government form | Council-manager |
| City Council | Five members, elected at large |
| Council term | Four years, staggered |
| Mayor | Craig A. Corman |
| Vice Mayor | Mary N. Wells |
| Mayor’s term | One year, chosen by the council |
| City manager | Hired by the council, runs daily operations |
| City treasurer | Elected office |
| City Hall | 455 North Rexford Drive, built 1932 |
| Population | 32,701 (2020 census) |
| Area | 5.71 square miles |
The current lineup took its seats after the July 2026 installation ceremony at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Sharona R. Nazarian and Lester J. Friedman won reelection, and Rebecca Pynoos joined for her first term. Craig A. Corman holds the gavel, with Mary N. Wells as vice mayor.
John A. Mirisch left the dais after a 17-year, 3-month run.
The gavel circulates over time. Sharona R. Nazarian served her first term as mayor in 2025. Lester J. Friedman held the post in 2020 and again in 2024.
The council sets policy. The manager runs the building.
The city manager is the city’s chief executive, hired by the council and answerable to the whole body rather than to the mayor alone.
The manager carries out council policy, oversees department directors, and prepares the budget that the council then adopts. The council can replace the manager by majority vote at any time.
That single line is the clearest dividing line in city government. Councilmembers decide what should happen. The manager and staff decide how.
Police, fire, public works, and development services all sit under the manager’s authority. Department heads report up to the manager, not to individual councilmembers. A resident who calls about a sidewalk or a permit reaches that administrative side of the house.
Nationally, this structure is the norm. The International City/County Management Association reported that the council-manager form governed 52.7 percent of U.S. cities with populations over 10,000 as of 2019.
All governmental authority rests with the council. Certain administrative duties are assigned to the manager, who serves at the council’s pleasure.
That division keeps a single elected official from controlling contracts, hiring, or spending alone.
Where the real work starts: committees and commissions
Council business often begins in standing committees and among appointed commissioners before it reaches the dais.
The Finance and Audit Committee draws two councilmembers and reviews the city’s financial reporting, internal controls, and outside auditors.
Other panels take up the city’s legislative positions at the state and federal level. Separate committees cover planning for the 2028 Olympics and ties to the Beverly Hills Unified School District.
Commissioners are residents, not staff, and they are appointed to fixed seats. When a seat opens, the city posts the vacancy and the council fills it.
Citizen bodies carry weight too. The Rodeo Drive Committee includes roughly 70 retailers, hotels, and property owners. A Small Business Assistance Task Force focuses on filling vacant storefronts.
The city also contracts some tourism marketing and economic development work to the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.
What the council controls, and who keeps the books
Beverly Hills voters elect a city treasurer as well as councilmembers. Howard S. Fisher was sworn in for his third and final term in July 2026.
The council, meanwhile, adopts the annual operating budget and the capital improvement budget. Those documents decide how tax dollars get spent across departments and projects.
The municipal code holds the written rules behind both processes, and it is public.
The council passes ordinances, which are the city’s local laws. It sets fees and approves major contracts.
It also votes on the appropriations that fund every department. Land-use calls, from zoning to development approvals, tend to draw the biggest crowds.
When the mayor is absent, the vice mayor runs the meeting. For a single session, the council can name a mayor pro tem.
The one-year mayoral rotation dates to 1922. Before that, early mayors such as William Todd Gould and Pierce E. Benedict served multi-year stretches.
What this means for a resident
If a pothole is missed or a permit stalls, that is administrative, which points to the city manager’s staff.
If a rule should change, that is policy, which points to the council.
The council meets at City Hall, 455 North Rexford Drive. Residents can speak in person or watch the livestream.
Agendas post before each meeting, and the city takes public records requests for anything not online.
City Hall is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30AM to 5:30PM and Friday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM. The main line is 310-285-1000.
The June 2, 2026 municipal election filled three council seats and the city treasurer post. A general election followed on November 3, 2026.
Beverly Hills was incorporated in 1914 and covers 5.71 square miles. Its population was 32,701 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate of 31,027.
The short version: five residents set the direction, one hired manager executes it, and the mayor leads the meeting.
Sources: City of Beverly Hills (beverlyhills.org); Wikipedia, “Beverly Hills, California,” “List of mayors of Beverly Hills, California,” and “Council-manager government.”