The City Charter provides that the Mayor shall "appoint, with approval of a majority of members of the Council, members of all boards except as otherwise provided in this Charter or by applicable State law." In practice the Mayor appoints, or nominates for appointment, members not only of Charter-created boards and commissions but also of a variety of bodies created by state law, quasi-governmental organizations, and public-private corporate partnerships.

The records comprise individual file folders (in several instances, more than one folder) arranged alphabetically by name of board or commission. Folders generally contain background on the agency and the qualifications for membership, resumes, and correspondence (including letters of nomination/appointment and acceptance/resignation). For some bodies there are also documents dealing with agency activities. Issues of non-attendance at meetings, conflicts of interest, etc. are also addressed in some of the files.

In addition to providing the only complete record of mayoral appointments to the various boards and commissions, these files are also useful in documenting the duties and responsibilities--and in some cases, the activities--of those bodies. They are also a good source for biographical information for the local leadership class. Filed at the end of the alphabetically arranged (by name of board, commission, etc.) series are two boxes of additional documents relating to boards and commissions. These materials were filed elsewhere in the Morial papers, but appear to have been part of the same processes documented in the main body of the Boards and Commission records, and thus were refiled with that series. Included are letters of recommendation, other correspondence, resumes, rosters, and mailing lists.