The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1893-09-22

OF the opinion that the power to APP
poin. the standing committees origin
ally lies inherent in the body itself,
and as / have said, it is only by its
permission that the President exer-
cises such privilege. Nothing in the
charter or by laws gives him such
authority, as is the case in our state
House of Representatives, where the
rules provide that all standing COM
mittees shall be appointed by the,
Speaker. Indeed, if the Council saw
fit, no standing committees at all
would need to be appointed. There
fore, in my opinion, the Council as a
body may at any time avail itself Of
the power it now delegates to the
President, and by resolution or other
wise, name the committees and the
members who shall compose them.
After further arguing the question
he said: have arrived at this con-
clusion
FIRST THAT the President, by
virtue Of the power granted to him by
custom and the common consent and
permission of the Council, could prop
erly appoint and remove Mr.. Corey.
SECOND THAT the Council may
at any time assume control Of the
several standing committees and name
the members thereof.
Respectfully submitted,
FRED keller,
Sept, 10Th, 1898. Town Solicitor.
The following resolution was then
offered by Peacock, seconded by
Holmes and agreed to. Yeas-Pea-
cock, Holmes, Housel and Corey
nay-Drinker, Swentzel not voting:
WHEREAS, A dispute has arisen
concerning the authority Of President
to remove Corey from chairmanship
of Committee on Highways and
WHEREAS, An opinion has been
filed by the Solicitor deciding that the
authority to appoint committees is in
the Council itself if it chooses to as
sumo such authority therefore be it
Resoi1ed, That from and after the
filing of this opinion the Committee on
Highways as well as all committees
shall be appointed by the Council
and that the Committee of Highways
for the remainder of this year shall
be as follows: Mess-s. Corey,
Swentzel and Holmes and that all
other committees be and remain as
now constituted.
Thomas Corey also presented and
had read an opinion from his attorney,
Grant Herring Esq, on the subject
Mr.. Herring quoted from the Laws,
Ordinances and Bylaws of the Town
Of Bloomsburg, pages IL to IA, Act
Of April sd, 1851, section as fol.
lows:
"rhe powers Of the corporation
shall be vested in the corporate of.
fcers designated in the Charter.
THEY shall have power ." Ar
ticle aa] to appoint and remove such
officers, prescribe their duties and al
low them such compensation as they
may deem necessary to secure the
peace, order and well being of the in
habitants and to enforce the ordi-
nances and regulations of the Bor-
ough."
The Charter of the Town OF
Bloomsbury which is the Act OF
March 4, 1870, and its Supplements,
in Section 2 of that Act, designates
as the corporate officers of the said
Town "A Town Council to consist OF
President and six members who
shall severally hold their offices for
the term of one year and the said
Council and the President therefore
shall respectively possess all the pow
ers conferred upon them by this Act" "
An Amendment found on page os
of the Laws etc, of Bloomsburg and
passed Oct. a9, 1891, provides:
"The Commissioner of Highways
shall be subject at all times in the
performance of his duties to the di-
rection Of the President of the Coun-
Gil and the Committee on Highways"
Article 10 of the Bylaws pro-
vides as follows:
"Any officer appointed by the
Council may be removed from Office
for reasonable cause at the discretion
of the Council pending his term of
service, but such removal shall be up
on hearing of the matter Of complaint
and by the concurrence lof at least
five votes in Council"
Article 4 of the Bylaws page oa
says:
"Four members in Council shall
constitute a quorum for the transact
ION OF ordinary business, but no ap-
pointment to any Office "
shall be made or passed by less than
four votes in Council"
After discussing the question at is