To:Craig Steiner, Public Assistant

From: Nancy Kimani

Date: 1 July, 2016

Re: The Role of a Governor

A governor is one of the most important figures in the local government. Be as it may, he or she is the chief executive of the local state and performs different roles within the state and the national government. To achieve this, document explores the qualifications for a governor, duties performed, and the expectation of their position in ensuring public safety.

Background Information

The local government is led by different professionals such as city managers, administrators, elected officials, and emergency managers. Each party plays an important role to ensure the smooth running of the local government. The gubernatorial seat is one of the most important leadership positions in the local government. The governor is the chief executive of the local government and the people representative positioned in the office through voting. The Gubernatorial position has been there since 1835 where Steven T. Mason was elected the first Michigan governor at the age of 23 through Democratic Party. Since then, 48 other governors have to lead the state(Bowman & Kearney, 2015). The first female governor of Michigan State was Jennifer Granholm, who was elected to the office in the year 2003. The current governor of the Michigan State is Rick Snyder who was elected to office on January 1st, 2011 succeeding Jennifer Granholm.

Literature Review

Be as it may, a governor must be a citizen of the United States and must have resided in the Michigan state for not less than four years before an election. A person should be at least 30 years of age and should not have any criminal case or breach of public trust (Bowman & Kearney, 2015). Governors are elected for a term of four years in the office. According to the Michigan constitution, a governor can serve for a maximum of four-year terms. Elections are held after four years concurrently with state senate elections.  According to Elcock (2013), the governor is granted the power to organize the executive branch of the state. On the same note, the governor is responsible for appointing the head of departments to those positions that are not elected by the public (Bowman & Kearney, 2015). The governor,in this case, is the commander-in-chief of the Michigan State military establishment. Therefore, the governor has bestowed the power to grant commutations and pardons. The governor not only delivers a state of the State message to the legislature but also convene them in extraordinary session to discuss issues such as crisis and emergencies.