Activities of N.I. Bulanov as City Head of the Stavropol City Duma

In 1873, the City Duma was established in Stavropol (now Tolyatti) as the highest body of local government. It was in charge of various issues: the formation of the external appearance of the city, the organization of cultural events, the development of education and healthcare. The functioning of the local government system remains one of the main issues today. Having studied this problem, it can be noted that, based on the accumulated experience, there is a transformation of the relationship between the government and the heads of local government. The authors made an attempt to address the history of the Stavropol City Duma of the 19th century and analyze one of the key figures in the system of self-government – the city Mayor, who occupied a fairly high status due to the concentration of both legislative and executive power in his hands. The focus of the study is on the activities of the City Head of the Stavropol Duma, Nikolai Ivanovich Bulanov, who was born into a merchant family and was able to receive a higher education, which made him very different from his fellow officers. Nikolai Bulanov worked for more than 30 years in the Stavropol city government and during this time made a significant contribution to the development of city infrastructure. The source base is includes materials from the Tolyatti archive: journals of City Duma meetings on issues of city improvement, formal lists, ballot papers for city mayor election, reports of city councils.