The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-08-04
Is THE MAYOR A MEMBER OF
TIE CITY coUNcILq
Is Seven Two-Thirds Of Eleyenp

aldermen who have proven false to the
sentiments of a majority of the electors of
their wards as expressed in their vote for
mayor last spring, in effect declares that
vote of these seven wise men of Gotham"
repeats q provision of the city char
ter, our organic law. and which
is superior to all ordinan-
ces or acts of the city council. These
seven wiseacres can not perceive that the
the mayor is a member of the city council,
elected by the people, and by the charter
entitled to be counted as member and
entitled to all the privileges or rights OF
member, except to vote when there is no
tie. The Union, their organ, says:
THE seven sustained the appeal and
settled the councils right to resist an ar
bitrary construction of law-which assum-
ed that the mayor had right to be eoun
ted as voter in the council.
N obody ever assumed" or claimed that
''the mayor had right to be counted as a
Uoterin the council" The claim is just ex-
actly what the charter declares, viz: THAT
hereafter the municipal government of the
city of Rock Island shall consist of the city
council, composed Of the mayor and t,oo
aldermen from each acard." This makes
the mayor just as much a member of the
city council as any alderman. He is the
very first official named in the charter as
a member Of the council, and his member
ship entities him to all the rights and priv
Iiges of any other member, except that
his right to vote is restricted to cases of a
tie.
When DR., Truesdale was Republican
mayor of this city he claimed that the
mayor had q right to vote by
ballot, in electing subordinate officers, and
he exercised that right, and by his ballot
thus cast actually elected every subordi'
nate officer that year, In this he was
wrong. The ARGUS so contended at the
time; and every officer that year was lille
gally and arbitrarily elected by the vote of
a man who had no right to vote. DR..
Truesdale based his right to ballot for Off
GERS on that clause of our charter (ArtIV,
Sec. y which says, "The mayor
shall have only a casting vote" Now, the
right to a'casting vote is wholly inappGca-
BILE to an election Of an officer by ballot, at
which every elector may vote for whom
soever he pleases. 1t can exist only when
the question is taken on the adoption Of
some specific motion, resolution, ordinance
or bill, when every vote cast must be
either aye or no, and in case of tie the
vote of the presiding officer, either in the
affirmative or negative, necessarily decides
the result. A casting vote is correctly de-
fined by Webster, thus: THE vote of s
presiding officer in an assembly or council
which decides question, when the votes o
the assembly or house are equally divided
betUeen the affirmative and the Negative.
But at an election to fill a public Office
: there is no question, no affirmative,
e and no negative" Tie electors are no
= tied up to voting for or against a particu
0 lar candidate, nor to choice between tw'
rival candidates. Each may vote TO
e whomsoever he pleases Every one of tn
aldermen might, if SO inclined, vote for
g different individual from any voted 70
e by either of his colleagues. And the cir
r cumstance that their votes were in fact d
it vided equally between two individuals. OF
IS yiously could not confine the mayor, if b
Il had the right to vote at all. to ehoic
1t between those individuals. He might nc
10 think either of them proper person to f
is the Office, and plainly could not be con
e. PEELED to vote for either. But the right
ne casting vote, when it exists, involves tt
doty to cast it, and the vote itself must
such as will, whichever way cast. decit
the result. DIR. Truesdale arbitrarily a
Oh sumed right to vote in the case allude
or to, and the Republicans of Rock Islar
ne sustained him in it. Both he and tn,
as were wrong. The mayor has no right
IS ballot in the council at all. no right to vo
at all when balloting for any officer no me
10 Iter whether there is tie or not, and
~ has no right to vote.on any measure"
resolution" or motion, or ordinance
or ''bilI." or any other Question" unle
! there shall be a tie, and then it is his du
! to decide the question"
AS But, in counting up the number of mel
0. bers of the council the mayor counts on
er just the same as an aldermau-the charte
ne from which we have quoted in this articl
&c so declares.
al Section 6, of Article II, of the charte
"a providing for removals of subordinate Of
ad GERS, or officers other than mayor or aide
IT. men, is worded as follows: may be I
IN moved from such Office by vote of tw
thirds of all the aldermen authorized
D. law to be elected" In this case the may
he could not be counted iu making up t
number, of which two-thirds must be Q
tanned.
ia But the mayors law, which now supe
ra cedes the section alluded to, gives mayo
90 power to appoint all officers, Whose electi
ia by the people is not provided for) and t
;lv council power to confirm by "a majority
nd all its members authorized by law to
oh elected" And the same law gives mayo
We power to remove all city officers, land
the council, by two-thirds vote of all
bv members authorized by law to be electe
40 disapproUe Of such removal, such offic