separation of city elections from other elections was essential to good city government, separate dates were selected for city elections. "Good gov movements. 130-136. Separate city elections constituted only the first step in reform, as most voters naturally voted party tickets if there ernment" were party nominations. In some cases, temporary fusion movements of all the reform elements gained control of the city governments. As the only bond between these elements Goodnow, was their opposition to the rule of the corrupt politicians City Gov't, who had been in control of municipal affairs, success at the polls was followed by dissensions in the ranks of the reformers, since they desired different policies. Real success has been achieved in several cities by the permanent organization of citizen movements with definite and practical programmes. In some cities these organizations have followed the plan of supporting those candidates of the two parties who favored the citizen programme and in this way have secured a much better class of nominations for city offices. In other cities, the citizens' committees have named candidates of their own for all offices and have secured the election of these men or have compelled the parties to nominate. excellent candidates. tion. 193-214. 73. Administrative Departments. Most of the real work General of a city consists of administration performed through nu- organizamerous departments. The school department is in a sense distinct from the rest because its members are usually elected and have unusual powers in the expenditure of pub- Wilcox, lic money. Most of the other departments are managed by City Gov't appointed boards or heads, a few like the police and fire departments having both boards and chiefs. Two distinct forms of administrative organization are found in American cities. (1) The older of these, at one time practically universal, leaves the departments entirely independent of one another. There may be forty or fifty departments which have no means of coöperating with one another and are not directly responsible to either the mayor or the council. Composi tion and powers of city school boards. (2) In many cities there are four or five grand departments, each of which includes a number of bureaus, these bureaus corresponding to the disconnected departments of the "decentralized" cities. By this means, coöperation and the fixing of responsibility are secured. City school boards are composed of representatives from the wards, except in a few cities where the members are elected by all the voters within the city or are appointed directly by the mayor. All local regulations for the schools originate with these bodies, which elect the superintendents and all of the teachers. Most of the cities allow City Gov't, their boards to expend school moneys, so that they decide what the teachers' salaries shall be, keep the school buildings in repair, and erect new ones as they are needed. Goodnow, 262-273. Other departments. Goodnow, To preserve the peace and maintain the public health, there are, in every city, police, fire, and health departments, which are combined often in a single department of public safety. Among the other departments for administering City Gov't, city affairs are those that look after the streets, the parks, the libraries, the water works, public lighting, and probably a dozen other matters. These may have boards, but usually are managed by commissioners appointed by the mayor or the council. 274-285. Need of selecting city employees solely on ground of fitness. Hart, Actual Gov't, $94. 74. Civil Service in Cities. The employees in these departments are much more numerous than would at first be thought possible. As most of the positions can be filled properly only by persons of considerable skill, the methods used in selecting employees are of the first importance. If the members of the library board may remove any of the library assistants whom they please, and appoint their own friends irrespective of training, the public library will be of little value to the citizens. It has seemed, therefore, necessary to have certain rules to regulate the appointments 1 Some idea of the number of employees may be given by stating that, in 1900, there were 7637 policemen on the pay rolls of New York, that the same year Boston employed 730 firemen, and Philadelphia 5736 schoolteachers. D., in Outlook, 76 (1904), and removal of city employees. For teachers and librarians, Willard, C a course of training is prescribed, often by state law, while for policemen a certain minimum physical standard is made obligatory. Very little has been done to establish a regular 938-941. civil service in which appointments shall be made exclusively on the ground of merit or removal solely for incompetency, but there is good reason to hope that the popular interest taken in this subject will lead to some improvement, without which good government is impossible. tion and officials. 200-212. 75. Village Government. When the population of any Incorporarural district becomes fairly dense, the voters may petition to have a special election called in order to determine whether the district shall be incorporated as a village. If the vote is favorable, articles of incorporation are drawn up in accord- Fairlie, ance with the law of the State. These articles state the Local Gov't, boundaries of the village, as well as the number, terms, and powers of the village officials. Chief among the officials are the members of the village boards, corresponding to the city council, whose presiding officer is "mayor" of the village. Other duties are performed by the clerk, the treasurer, the assessor, and the overseers of the poor. These village governments are therefore quite similar to those of the cities, although their tasks are less numerous and much easier to solve. MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS There has Municipal increasing, but municipal enterprises still uncommon. 76. The Extension of Municipal Activity. been a decided tendency in recent years for all of our activity governments to undertake a larger number of duties, and this tendency has been more marked with our city governments than with any of the others. Yet even with this great extension of municipal functions, American cities do much less for their people than all of the most progressive Fairlie, J.A. European countries. It does not seem probable, however, that the street railways of the United States will soon become public property, or that many of our cities will maintain pawn shops, as some foreign municipalities do. F Am. Acad. Pol. Sci., 25 (1905), 299-310. |