Editing Kalajoki (section)

== Government ==

There were many attempts to reorganize Kalajoki as a city, which would confer additional authorities on the municipality.  The first attempt was in 1865, and there were several subsequent attempts throughout the 20th century.  Kalajoki was finally reorganized as a city in 2002.

Just like any [[municipality]] in [[Finland]], the city of Kalajoki is composed of several sub-units, called a [[kylä]].  The following compose the city of Kalajoki: Vasankari, Plassi, Mehtäkylä, Pohjankylä, Pitkäsenkylä, Etelänkylä, Kääntä, Tynkä, Rahja, Kurikkala, Kärkinen, Typpö, [[Rautio]].

Every four years, the voters of Kalajoki elect a city council of 35 members which meets monthly.  The Council then elects a governing council of nine members that meets more regularly to transact the business of the city.  As of the most recent municipal election in 2004, 19 members of the city council are from the Centre Party, 6 are from the local Pro Kalajoki Party, 4 are from the centre-right National Coalition Party, 3 are from the Left Alliance, 2 are from the centre-left Social Democratic Party, and one member is from the Christian Democrats Party.

The next municipal elections will be held throughout Finland in 2012.

The municipality of [[Rautio]] was consolidated with Kalajoki in 1973. The neighboring municipality of [[Himanka]] was consolidated with Kalajoki on January 1, 2010.<ref name="kaleva20080429">{{Cite news |first= Heikki |last= Uusitalo |title= Kalajoki ja Himanka virallistivat liittonsa |url= http://www.kaleva.fi/plus/juttu726019_page0.htm |agency= STT |work= Kaleva.plus |publisher= Kaleva Kustannus Oy |date= 29 April 2008 |access-date= 13 March 2009 |language= fi }}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>