The Municipal Council of Sanitation (COMUSA) of Belo Horizonte (MG, Brazil) was created in April, 2004. Since it is recently founded, mainly when compared to other existent municipal councils in Belo Horizonte (environmental and health, among others), COMUSA was conceived with expectations of a good operation, since it could be guided by the previous experience of the oldest councils. However, the Council still has some fragility, mainly structural, which brings barriers to its operation. This study aims to evaluate COMUSA's performance and the role played by this Council in social control and definition of public policies in Belo Horizonte's sanitation area.
municipal council of sanitation; belo horizonte; social control; social participation