1. City Senate Period (1946 – 1951)
In accordance with the regulations of “Organization Act of City Senates” and the “Election Act of City Senators” promulgated by the government, the City Representative Council elected 31 senate members and the Kaohsiung City Senate was established on April 13, 1946. The senate members were composed of mostly local Kaohsiung city residents and elected Peng, Ching-Kao as the speaker and Lin, Chien-Lun as the deputy speaker. To be respectful, all senate members wore suits to the council. It was said that many senate members wore suits for the first time and some even borrowed tuxedoes from others for this rare grand occasion. The senate members included professional representatives and adopted an alternate system. The original 2-year tenure was extended under the order of the central government. The senate was temporarily housed in the Kaohsiung City Hall and relocated to No. 114, Dajhih Road in 1947 while the senate sessions were still held at the city hall auditorium.
After the inauguration, the senate members began the election for Taiwan Province Senate member. Guo, Guo-Ji was elected with 16 votes and Chen, Ci-Chuan was elected as alternate with 13 votes. On March 6, 1947, three senate members, Syu, Ciou-Zong, Wang, Shih-Ding, and Huang, Tzu, were killed for involving in the Kaohsiung City 228 Incident Settlement Committee. Wang, Cing-Zuo, Jiang, Jin-Cong, and Guo, Wan-Jhih were absent during the senate session and therefore were considered resigned. In addition, Guo, Guo-Ji took office as a member of Taiwan Province Senate. Chen, Ci-Cing assumed the post as a member of Provincial Government Committee. Fang, Si-Ci resigned during tenure. The above 9 seats were filled by alternate senate members.
2. Provincial City Council Period (1951 – 1979)
On December 17, 1950, 28 city councilors were elected under the “Regulations for Implementation of Autonomy in Every City and County” and “Election and Recall Regulations for City and County Councilors” promulgated by the Taiwan Provincial Government. On January 11, 1951, the Kaohsiung City Council was established. On April 14, the council was relocated to No. 191, Jhongjheng 4th Road. All sessions were held at the council from that point on. During this 28-year provincial city council period, the council had 9 election terms. The councilor tenure was increased from 2 to 4 years, and council seats were expanded from 28 to 53. Professional representatives were excluded and the alternate system was abolished, but certain seats were reserved for female candidates, as mandated by law.
3. Provisional City Council Period (1979 – 1981)
On July 1, 1979, the city was reorganized into a municipality, and the council was reorganized into the Provisional Kaohsiung City Council. The provisional city council consisted of the original provincial city councilors retained by the Ministry of the Interior and 3 Kaohsiung County councilors elected for Siaogang Township, which was merged into the city, for a total of 56 councilors. The original speaker and deputy speaker served as the speaker and deputy speaker of the provisional city council. The tenure began on the date of reorganization and ended on the date of establishment of the first-term Kaohsiung City Council, lasting for roughly 2.5 years. In 1970, councilors Syu, Jia-Sheng and Tang, A-Gen were elected to National Assembly; councilors Jhang, Rong-Sian, Yu, Shu-Jie, and Fang, Ci-Rong resigned after being elected as legislators of the Legislative Yuan. 5 members were elected to the Control Yuan at the 3rd supplemental election voted by the council and among them was council member Jhu, An-Syong, who also resigned to assume the new post.
4. Municipality City Council Period (1981 – 2010)
The first-term city council was established on December 25, 1981 following reorganization of Kaohsiung City. The councilor tenure is 4 years. During the 3rd term of the council, the tenure was extended by 1 year for the election of governor and mayors. The Gaofong Building was inaugurated on February 6, 1988 to be used the main site for council subcommittee meetings and reviews.