There's more than one way that cities have their council members and mayor defined. Some have five members and some have four or seven. Some have elections for mayors, clerks and treasurers, and others appoint those positions. Some have the majority elections on presidential election years and others on the mid-terms. Even with that variety, though, we can quantify the different models and those models, and the cities that use them, are shown below.
| Model | Members | Term | Majority Election | Mayor | Term | Clerk | Treasurer | Cities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 5 | 4 yrs | Presidential years | Appointed | 1 yr | Appointed | Appointed | Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa |
| B | 5 | 4 yrs | Midterm years | Appointed | 1 yr | Appointed | Appointed | Brea, Buena Park, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley |
| C | 4 | 4 yrs | Midterm years | Elected | 4yrs | Appointed | Appointed | Anaheim |