History
The very first City Council meeting was on September 6, 1773, when members of the Viamão Council met in the Vila de Nossa Senhora da Madre de Deus de Porto Alegre, former name of Porto Alegre, ordered by then-governor José Marcelino de Figueiredo. Members of the first Porto Alegre City Council were Domingos Moreira (Speaker), Manoel Velloso Tavares, Domingos Gomes Ribeiro, José Alves Velludo, and Ventura Pereira Maciel. In the early years, the City Council had both judicial and legislative powers.
In 1828, there had been a major change the way City Council was set up. Porto Alegre had 10,000 inhabitants, and 400 voters, who elected the new nine-member City Council. Under the rule of the Empire of Brazil, there was no mayor-like office, and activities of City Council were scrutinized by the Provincial Assembly. At that time, City Council had attributions that today are mayor's ones, like public works, police services, and tax collection. In 1864, it had begun the building of the first Council Hall in an open lot between Rua da Ponte (currently Riachuelo Street) and Pedro II Square (currently Marshall Deodoro Square). This building was destroyed by fire on November 19, 1949 and the lot is now the seat of Rio Grande do Sul Court of Justice. 1873 was the year of the centennial and the members of Council were João Carlos Augusto Bordini, Joaquim Francisco Dutra Júnior, João Rodrigues Fagundes, Antônio Manuel Fernandes, Luís da Silva Flores Filho, João Pinto da Fonseca Guimarães, José Martins de Lima, Manuel Soares Lisboa and, Firmínio Martins de Oliveira Prates.
By the deposition of monarchy, there were 8 councilmen: João Antunes da Cunha Neto (speaker), Felicíssimo Manoel de Azevedo, Bibiano Dias de Castro, João da Mata Coelho, José Domingos da Costa, Antônio da Azevedo Lima, Guilherme Shell and, Rafael Gonçalves Ventura. After enactment of the Brazilian Constitution of 1891, City Council was responsible of auditing municipal public accounts, analyzing budget bills and, tax-related matters. At this time, there had been no opposition within City Council, as the PRP dominated state's political scene. The first oppositionist ever elected was a member of defunct Federalist Party in 1916.When Getúlio Vargas took over the rule in 1930, all city councils in Brazil were closed. Only in 1934, the city councils were re-opened. During this time, City Council was made up of 11 councilmen with annual sessions no longer than two months. This structure lasted until 1937, when that City Council was replaced by a Technical Administration Council.
In 1947, a new State Constitution was signed into law and City Council was authorized to have 21 members; these members now started out receiving monthly income paid up by city treasury, this led to increase of middle class representation. Between 1947 to 1949, Council sessions are hosted in today's City Hall. In 1949, City Council moved into José Mountary Building. When the military staged a coup in 1964, multi-party system was abolished, being replaced by a two-party system.
In 1988, a new Brazilian Constitution was enacted, granting powers to cities but, creating a rigid form of government for cities; in this constitution cities are federative units, unlike former constitutions that granted states full rights to legislate over municipal forms of government.
Read more about this topic: Municipal Chamber Of Porto Alegre
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