The City of Hialeah is a full service city and, by population, is the fifth largest city in the State of Florida. Hialeah is a Strong Mayor / Council form of government. There is no city manager. The Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer of the city and is responsible for the day-to-day functions. Each department and division head reports directly to the Mayor. The Mayor is responsible for presenting the annual budget to the City Council for approval. The Mayor is not a voting member of the council and has veto power which may be overridden only by a 5/7ths vote of the Council.

The City Council is made up of seven individuals responsible for approving the budget and passing legislation necessary to govern the City. Both the Mayor and Council are elected by the people of Hialeah and serve a four-year term. All elections are city-wide, however, the council seats are by group. Registered voters may vote for a member in each group that is up for election.

City elections are held every two years due to the fact that no more than four seats of the Council are subject to election at any one time. All regular elections are held in November of the odd-numbered years. The next Council election is in November 2007. The next Mayoral election is in November 2009. Meetings of the Mayor and Council are open to the public. The regular meetings take place at 7:00pm at City Hall on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, unless otherwise posted.

There are various advisory boards that meet regularly to conduct business that will assist the Mayor and City Council in their duties. All board members are residents and registered voters of Hialeah. Some of the boards are: Planning and Zoning, Personnel, Historic, Veterans Affairs, and the Cultural Affairs Council.