The City of South Haven is a City Council and City Manager form of government. The city is divided into three wards.

City Council consists of the Mayor and two Council Members from each ward.

To be eligible for City Council, the candidate must have resided in the city for at least one year and is a registered voter of the city.

At each regular city election (held in odd years), the Mayor is elected for a two-year term and one Council Member from each ward is elected for a four-year term.

City Council meetings are held the first and third Mondays of every month at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. Meetings are open to the public. Workshop Sessions are held at 6:30 p.m. prior to the Council meetings. If further discussion of workshop items is needed, the workshop session is continued after the Council meeting. Workshop Sessions are also open to the public.