Forget about fall festivals, the changing of the leaves and fall fashion trends, there's something far more exciting happening this season. It's the election.

And unless you live in a cave, you know that the 2008 Election is in full-swing and it's already demonstrated itself to be an exciting, white-knuckled, passionate and partisan event.

Obama versus McCain, Palin versus Biden, Republicans versus Democrats -- and somewhere in there Ralph Nader is screaming at the top of his lungs, begging to be heard, and the Dems are trying to figure if Karl Rove will switch teams long enough to deal with him.

But, in case you didn't know, there's another election happening this year. Several, in fact.

Richmond's next mayor, city council, the school board -- these are the elections that really matter, in terms of your daily life (the school your child goes to, the quality of the road you drive down to get to work, access to parking when you get there).

But let's face it, do we really know enough about these offices, much less its candidates, to make an informed decision?

Never fear, Richmond.com's Election Guide has you covered. From profiles of the mayoral candidates and those of city council and school board to fun, updated, features, Richmond.com's Election Guide has everything you need to know for Richmond's upcoming election.

Our mayoral candidate profiles are done and council and school board are just about wrapped up, so this week, we start getting down to basics with weekly Q&As about Richmond's various government bodies.

First up, City Council -- what is it, what do they do and why do they do it. We've got the answers. We would call it City Council for Dummies, but that's not politically correct (and it's probably copyright protected), so let's call it City Council for the Informationally-Challenged. And let's get to it.

Special thanks to Steve Skinner, public information manager in the office of the chief of staff for Richmond City Council, for helping us parse through the technical language and getting to the meat of what city council does.

What is City Council?

It's the voice of the people. The way in which we govern ourselves. The nine members represent the nine different areas of Richmond. Friends, neighbors and family say, this is how we want to run our government, our community. Council members are just people who live down the street. Sometimes I think that gets lost in translation.

Is it executive, legislative, judicial?

These nine representatives make up City Council, a legislative body separate from the city’s administration, the executive branch of the local government

What does City Council do?

Council represents Richmond citizens in deciding how to invest in the community. We’re all chipping in to pay for all of this, it comes out of our pockets but it’s for our community. Passing local laws and deciding how to invest our money. How we want to run the city. What kind of dog laws, what kind of streets we want to live on, how many trees are going to be in a neighborhood.

The City Council serves to represent the needs of its citizens. This means taking the initiative to discuss government policy, amend local laws if necessary and approve the city budget. Through doing such things, the City Council hopes to achieve its official vision, which reads, “Richmond City Council is committed to creating a vibrant community that is a great place to live, work, learn, play, visit and raise a family.”

How many councilpersons are there?

There are nine, one for each of Richmond’s nine council districts: West End, North Central, Northside, Southwest, Central, Gateway, East End, Southside and South Central.

What are they paid?

Probably not nearly enough, according to state law, around $25, 000 for members and $27,000 for the council president. The salary has been the same for quite a number of years. By comparison, a Chesterfield County Board of Supervisor members makes $32,500 and, in Henrico, it's $45,400 for members, $49,900 for the vice chair and $52,200 for the chair.

Is being on City Council their only job?

No.

What are their real jobs?

The council president is a lawyer with his own firm, the 3rd district representative works for the Virginia Housing Authority, Reva Trammell owns property, Doug Conner runs a paint and body shop, Jewell owns a home cleaning company and Kathy Graziano is former lobbyist.

How often do they meet?

They regularly meet the second and fourth Monday of every month at 6 p.m. in the Richmond City Council Chambers, plus committee meetings, plus special events, emergency event and policy/budget meetings. Sometimes meetings last past midnight.

Do they get perks (auto allowance, expense accounts)?

Each district funds, $15,000 per district to cover “business expenses” like mileage and printer paper re-imbursement.

What else should people know about City Council?

Until 2005 we had a Council-Manager form of government - Which, interestingly enough, was created in Staunton, Virginia in 1908 as the first of that type of government (and is used all over the country). So it celebrates 100 years this year in that form.

The nine Richmond Council members were elected (pre-2005) and they elected a Mayor from among/within the members of Council. For example, Tim Kaine was Mayor of Richmond (as elected by the rest of members of Council).

In the Council-Manager form the Council members did much the same as now and a professional City Manager managed the day to day operations of the City. Now, a Mayor is elected separately and the day-to-day City operations are run through a Chief Administrative Officer, currently Chris Beschler is Acting CAO. The mayor works directly through CAO and is not allowed (legally) to give orders to staff.

Additional reporting was done by Christine Stoddard for this piece.

So, Richmond, this is your council … and your election. What do YOU want to know about the office of City Council, the School Board or the Mayor? Add your question below and we'll do our best to get it answered.