the administrative branch and the Bench the judicial branch. A new Council was chosen by the old one whose term had expired. The Council was responsible for administration, law, privileges, security, finances, guild oversight, and the like. The Council chose the Mayor, and its members' decision was final—even the Starosta or Voivode could only listen to the Mayor's swearing-in and could not refuse to give him his seal. The Council met daily in the larger cities, less often in smaller ones. The Mayor headed the Council and controlled the executive branch. He was responsible for conciliation, the care of the poor, and maintaining order by suppressing alcohol abuse and games of chance. Second to the Mayor was the Council Clerk, who ran the City Chancellery. The City Clerk (Syndyk Miejski) collected city taxes and supervised the tax collectors. Security and order in the city were the responsibility of the Hutman. He also supervised the city jail and the keyman who unlocked and locked the city gates at dawn and dusk. The Lonar was the city treasurer, who oversaw its finances. He supervised the officials who controlled marketplace scales to ensure fair trade. Large cities also had scores of less common officials, such as Pipemasters, responsible for pipes and wells; Fire Chiefs; and City Translators, who assisted foreigners and looked out for spies. The Bench was chaired by a wójt. He and the other Bench members were chosen by the Council for a year's term from among lesser city officials (writers, clerks, etc.). City Chief Executioners executed not only criminals sentenced by the Bench, but often criminals sentenced by other non-military courts in Poland. They were well paid, sometimes functioned as physicians, but were also often considered social outcasts and lived outside the city walls. A village mayor was called the sołtys and was the administrative, executive and judicial chief for the village, responsible only to the village's owner. List of town and village offices Burmistrz – City Mayor; Wójt – Advocate-Mayor; Pisarz rady – Council Clerk; Syndyk miejski – City Clerk; Hutman – Constable; Lonar – City Treasurer. Other Starosta grodowy, Starosta sądowy – City Starosta, Judicial Starosta; Starosta generalny wielkopolski – General Starosta of Wielkopolska; Starosta generalny małopolski – General Starosta of Małopolska; Burgrabia zamku krakowskiego – Burgrave of Kraków Castle; Surrogat – Surrogate. Fictional offices Fictional or fictitious offices were a specific kind of offices, as they referred