From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcity fathersˌcity ˈfathers noun [plural] PGOthe group of people who govern a city
Examples from the Corpus
city fathers• Pettitt sees urban services in particular offering vast scope for expansion as city fathers wake up to the dangers from the car population explosion.• And that means it also had authentic city fathers other than New World Homes and their ilk.• Juan Bautista de Anza inhabited these parts back when the Old Pueblo was still in the hands of indigenous city fathers.• How had the new city fathers acquired the wealth and prestige to embark on these schemes?• The Reverend Mr Enders had assaulted the city fathers with his pleas and cries to spare her life.• As the drought intensified, Mulholland begged the city fathers to end their abject deification of growth.• He kept his servants and slaves under such loose supervision that the city fathers complained.• The city fathers had decided to improve the site since I last encountered it. 